September 24: In memory of Genrikh Altshuller, the creator of TRIZ and science fiction writer
On September 24, 1998, 71-year-old Genrikh Altshuller, the author of the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ), a science fiction writer known under the pseudonym Genrikh Altov, and a prisoner of Stalin's camps, died in Petrozavodsk.
The key to creative tactics is to ignite the flame of an idea. The key to creative strategy is to carry that flame throughout life.
Childhood in Baku and first inventions
Genrikh Altshuller was born in 1926 in Tashkent. His father fought in World War I and later became a journalist and local history writer.
Altshuller spent his childhood in Baku. He devoured Jules Verne and H.G. Wells and grew up in a competitive environment where everyone tried to invent or do something better. His first innovation was a portable toilet, attached to a car, for use at public celebrations.
His early inventions included a rocket-powered boat, a flamethrower pistol, and a gas-heat-protective spacesuit. In 1943, the 17-year-old Altshuller, along with his friends Rafael Shapiro and Ilya Talyansky, filed a patent for his first invention, a "Breathing Apparatus with a Chemical Cartridge." It was immediately classified, and a patent was not issued until 1947.
War and the Origins of TRIZ
After high school, Altshuller enrolled in the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute. In 1944, as a freshman, he volunteered for the Red Army and attended flight school in the Georgian SSR.
After the war, he served in Baku, in the Invention Inspectorate of the Caspian Naval Flotilla, and commanded the chemical reconnaissance unit. There, he assisted innovators, and for the first time began searching for methods for solving inventive problems. This work later gave rise to TRIZ. Altshuller concluded that different technical problems could be solved using the same methods.
Letter to Stalin and the camp
In 1948, 22-year-old Altshuller, together with his friend and colleague Rafael Shapiro, wrote Stalin a 30-page letter criticizing invention in the USSR. The letter remains in closed archival collections. The authors castigated the chaos, bureaucracy, and ignorance of Soviet officials, which were hindering technological progress. They proposed to Stalin their methodology for teaching invention to any engineer and a new system of nationwide training.
In 1950, both were arrested by the USSR MGB. They were sentenced to 25 years in prison for anti-Soviet propaganda and espionage.
I was at the peak of my powers. I was 24: it's easier to resist at that age than at 18 or 30. I had no family, which also increased my resilience.
And there was a weapon far superior to machine guns—the secrets of creative problem solving. I had an unshakable faith in the power of the mind and its possibilities. This is what helped me endure.
Genrikh Altshuller and the Birth of TRIZ
In 1954, Altshuller was rehabilitated and returned to Baku. In 1956, together with Shapiro, he published the article "On the Psychology of Inventive Creativity." This is considered a starting point in the development of TRIZ. Altshuller later developed an algorithm for solving inventive problems.
In the late 1950s, while working at the Ministry of Construction of the Azerbaijan SSR, he conducted the first seminar on TRIZ training.
Science fiction writer Genrikh Altov
Altshuller debuted as a science fiction writer in 1958 with the short story "Icarus and Daedalus." He published under the pseudonym Genrikh Altov and was one of the leading Russian science fiction writers of the 1960s.
In the early 1970s, old-school science fiction writers staged a "literary trial," in which Altov was accused of idealism, obscurantism, and even fascism: in one of his stories, a spaceship traveled faster than the speed of light. After this, he abandoned science fiction.
Teacher of inventors
Altshuller taught TRIZ to schoolchildren and wrote an invention column for the newspaper "Pionerskaya Pravda." He founded the Azerbaijan Public Institute of Inventive Creativity, the world's first TRIZ training center. He also initiated the creation of the International TRIZ Association.
His ideas were popular abroad. They knew not only his books but also his own intelligent computer program, "The Inventing Machine."
An ideal technical object is when there is no object, but its function is performed
The last years in Petrozavodsk
In 1990, amid the Armenian pogroms in Azerbaijan, Altshuller and his wife moved to Petrozavodsk. Many of his associates lived there, and the city itself was one of the leading TRIZ centers in the USSR. He spent the last eight years of his life in Karelia.
At 69, Altshuller suffered a stroke. Afterward, he continued to correspond with followers of his ideas from around the world, consulted with students, and continued to develop TRIZ.