Developed by Genrich Altshuller as part of TRIZ (Creativity as an Exact Science, 1979).
A three-by-three grid that places a problem in its past, present, and future at three scales (part, system, and surroundings), exposing constraints and resources usually missed.
When to reach for it
When the first framing of a problem feels too narrow and the answer may sit one level up, one level down, or earlier in time.
How it runs
- Draw a grid: past, present, and future across; part, system, and surroundings down.
- Describe the present system in the center cell.
- Fill the cells above and below it with its parts and surroundings.
- Fill the past and future columns for each row.
- Mark the constraints and resources found in the cells usually skipped.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Creativity as an Exact Science, Russian original 1979; English edition 1984, 1979