You could say it doesn't take much to make me happy, because I was thrilled to see TRIZ (the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving), an innovation methodology, featured in an article by BusinessWeek just before the end of 2008.

The article, "Tech Innovations for Tough Times: How GE and others are using alternative techniques such as TRIZ to make R&D more efficient," isn't long, but it does point out that the little innovation methodology that could is gathering force in some of the biggest corporations around the world - GE, Proctor & Gamble, Samsung included.

Why is this such great news? It means that people are moving beyond the rhetoric of innovation and acknowledging (publicly) that there are methods and tools that can be used to achieve breakthrough innovation, much as Six Sigma did for the world in creating breakthrough process improvement.

Are you one of the companies using TRIZ behind closed doors - counting on the "secret" to provide you a competitive edge for a while longer? Be ready - your competition is catching on!