This is the first time that the TRIZ Journal has had a review article about training. I was asked why I was doing this-doesn’t it just publicize my competition? (My new training class is listed in the TRIZ Calendar, at the top!) The answer is “YES, but…” I think our readers want to know about all possible options-classroom training, on-line training, books, videos, etc. And, I think that many people recognize that they will learn more by getting the views of many instructors with widely differing kinds of experience.

ASIT is “Advanced Structured Inventive Thinking.” It was developed in Israel by Roni Horowitz and his colleagues, based on Altshuller’s development of TRIZ. ASIT uses a small but powerful subset of the TRIZ principles, including ideality, using the resources of the problem, trimming, and breaking contradictions using five of the 40 Inventive Principles.

The on-line course costs US$29 for a 70-minute lesson that uses sound and cartoon video to convey these concepts, and shows how to apply them to a variety of examples. The course has been trailed using DSL, ISDN, and 56k modems, and both the sound and the video were smooth at all three speeds. Note to those who work in public offices-the audio portion of the class is essential, since much of the information is given in short lectures. If your office is not suitable for playing audio, you’ll need to find another location for studying this material.

The ASIT course will be useful to people who are curious about TRIZ but have never studied it, and to people who are users of TRIZ but are looking for new approaches. Although the techniques duplicate TRIZ techniques, ASIT has a unique way of linking the techniques together that will interest TRIZ users.

The site has 2 free videos-one on the history of ASIT and one on the content, and a free demo of the lesson, and a free “e-zine” with weekly notes on ASIT (Dr. Slocum has been receiving the weekly “e-zine” for several weeks and finds it interesting and informative-including a “relevant” quote of the week) . Go to the TRIZ Journal Calendar section on training to access this site, or http://hop.clickbank.net/?ellendomb/star2think to try the free features, and sign up for on-line training that will teach you new skills or give you new perspective on your existing skills.