TRIZ 40 is 40 inventive principles distilled from patent literature for resolving technical contradictions. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0679, within the Reasoning family. The core principle: 40 inventive principles distilled from patent literature for resolving technical contradictions. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
Scientific Definition
40 inventive principles distilled from patent literature for resolving technical contradictions.
Plain-English Definition
40 inventive principles distilled from patent literature for resolving technical contradictions.
Feynman Explanation
Most 'breakthrough' inventions are just a known TRIZ pattern applied to a new domain.
Core Principle
40 inventive principles distilled from patent literature for resolving technical contradictions.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
40 inventive principles distilled from patent literature for resolving technical contradictions.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Structured product innovation without waiting for genius.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Most 'breakthrough' inventions are just a known TRIZ pattern applied to a new domain.
Examples
- Segmentation, asymmetry, the other way around, nesting, and 36 more.
- Structured product innovation without waiting for genius.
Pending editorial review.
Original analysis from The Incentives Lab — how this element behaves inside real payoff structures.
Why this element matters to incentive design
Most organizations meet this element as a personnel problem. It is not one. The mechanism underneath it is straightforward: 40 inventive principles distilled from patent literature for resolving technical contradictions. You can recognize it in the field by its signature: most 'breakthrough' inventions are just a known TRIZ pattern applied to a new domain. Every element in the Cognition dimension changes the perceived payoff of an action before the action happens, which is exactly where incentive design has leverage.
How it gets exploited
Left undesigned, structured product innovation without waiting for genius. It is amplified whenever structured product innovation without waiting for genius. Inside organizations that shows up as structured product innovation without waiting for genius. The pattern is the same one Goodhart's Law describes: the measurable proxy attracts the effort, and the purpose behind it quietly loses funding.
How the Lab designs around it
The redesign move is to when stuck, scan TRIZ principles before brainstorming free-form. Measure the behavior, not the sentiment. A survey will tell you how people feel about this; only observed action tells you whether it changed.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- When stuck, scan TRIZ principles before brainstorming free-form.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- When stuck, scan TRIZ principles before brainstorming free-form.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Deriving general rules from specific examples; the leap from instance to concept.
The brain evolved to reason adaptively, not always truthfully, to reduce the cost of errors.
We solve problems by adding, even when subtracting would be better.
Assuming that if one option is true, another must be false, when both can be true.
Presuming a purposeful actor behind events that may have no actor at all.
What cannot be settled by experiment is not worth debating.
A finite set of well-defined instructions for solving a problem or performing a computation.
Every model simplifies reality; some are still useful.
Researchers favor conclusions aligned with their school, team, or sponsor.
Using personal stories or isolated examples instead of evidence.
Claiming something is true or better because most people believe it.
Assuming something is true because it is probable or possible.
Where TRIZ 40 is cited in the corpus
Essays, field guides, and diagnostics from The Incentives Lab that apply this element.
- EssayGoodhart's Law in the Real World
How measurable proxies capture judgment.
- EssayThe Perverse Incentives Hiding in Your KPIs
Cognitive shortcuts turned into scorecards.
- EssayAI Agents Inherit Your Incentives
How this element propagates into automated systems.
- ReferenceThe Periodic Table of Human Behavior
The full 1,267-element map this page belongs to.
- ReferenceThe incentive glossary
Definitions for every mental model, bias, and fallacy in the corpus.
Questions about TRIZ 40
- What is TRIZ 40?
- TRIZ 40 is 40 inventive principles distilled from patent literature for resolving technical contradictions. It sits in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™ as element HBT-COG-0679, within the Reasoning family. The core principle: 40 inventive principles distilled from patent literature for resolving technical contradictions. In incentive terms, it matters because it changes the payoff people perceive before they choose — which means it can be designed for, or exploited.
- What is an example of TRIZ 40?
- Structured product innovation without waiting for genius. The Incentives Lab catalogs everyday, organizational, and historical instances of this element on its Human Behavior Taxonomy™ page (HBT-COG-0679).
- How is TRIZ 40 exploited?
- Structured product innovation without waiting for genius.
- How do you design around TRIZ 40?
- When stuck, scan TRIZ principles before brainstorming free-form.
- Which behavioral dimension does TRIZ 40 belong to?
- TRIZ 40 is classified in the Cognition dimension (COG) of the Human Behavior Taxonomy™, family "Reasoning", class "Mental Model". Its permanent identifier is HBT-COG-0679 and its evidence grade is B.