Inventory available resources before adding anything new
List all time, space, information, and energy already present in or around the problem — solutions often hide there.
Why it works
TRIZ defines a "resource" broadly: any substance, field, property, or time that is present in the system or its environment and is not yet being fully used. Many problems are solved by exploiting an existing resource that was overlooked rather than importing something new. The cognitive habit of scanning for available resources before requesting new ones rewires default solution search away from addition and toward utilization.
How to do it
- Before generating solutions, list all resources already available: time (idle moments), space (unused capacity), information (data collected but not used), energy (byproducts of existing processes), and people (skills not yet tapped).
- For each resource, ask: "Could this be repurposed to address the problem?"
- Prioritize solutions that use existing resources over those that require acquiring new ones.
Evidence
Resource-based thinking is a principle in TRIZ and also appears in lean manufacturing and behavioral economics (using existing commitments and structures). The mechanism — reducing activation energy by working with what exists — is broadly supported, though the TRIZ framing of it is practitioner-derived. (mechanistic)
Over-reliance on existing resources can prevent necessary acquisition of genuinely needed new capabilities; the goal is systematic review, not reflexive minimalism.
Common mistake
Jumping to "we need more budget/headcount" before auditing what is already available but mis-allocated or underused.
Practice this with IX Coach
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More practices for TRIZ: Systematic Invention and the Logic of Contradictions
- Name the contradiction at the heart of the problem
State exactly which parameter you need to improve and which parameter gets worse as a result.
- Sample inventive principles to generate solution directions
Apply one or more of TRIZ’s 40 inventive principles as generative lenses, even without the full contradiction matrix.
- Define the ideal final result first
Describe the perfect outcome as if the solution already exists and costs nothing, then work backward to what could enable it.
- Trim components to find what you can remove
Systematically ask which components in your current solution could be removed if another component took over their function.
- Calibrate whether the problem requires invention or just search
Determine whether your problem is already solved elsewhere before investing in original invention.
Related concepts
- Problem Reframing: Solving the Right Problem First
Why the problem you first name is rarely the problem worth solving
- Constraint Relaxation: Escaping the Walls You Built Yourself
How over-constrained thinking blocks insight, and what to do about it
- Osborn’s Brainstorming Rules, Made Practical
The original four rules, the mechanisms behind them, and what the research actually shows