p.86 An Ideal Machine plays the role of a beacon illuminating the direction in which to proceed.
When an inventor looks for the solution without a beacon, his thoughts are scattered under the influence of too many personal
motivations... Structured searches, on the contrary, organize one's thought processes and increase productivity... The
"Ideal Machine" is a fundamental concept of inventive methodology.
p.90 The designer's art depends, for the most part, on skills for determining what must be gained
and lost through compromise. The essence of inventive creativity is to find a way where compromise will not be needed
(or, where it is disproportionately small relative to an achieved result).
p.97 The inventor, Y. Chepele, from Kaunass, precisely characterizes this most important feature of the
art of inventing:
"It's necessary to find the technical contradictions within a problem, then use methods suggested
by experience and knowledge to remove them."
p.102 Step One: State the problem.
Step Two: Imagine the Ideal Final Result (IFR).
Step Three: Determine what interferes with attaining this result (i.e., find the contradiction).
Step Four: Determine why it interferes (i.e., find the reason for the contradiction).
Step Five: Determine under what conditions it will not interfere (find conditions during
which the contradiction is removed).
p.109 How are opposite problems solved?
p.109 Imagine changing the time of the process (or the speed of an object) from its given
value to infinity... Can this problem now be solved? If so, how?
p.109 Imagine changing the cost of an object or process - its acceptable expenses - from
the given value to infinity... Can this problem now be solved? If so, how?
p.125,126 A correct definition of the Ideal Final Result is extremely important for all creative
processes. Therefore, in seminars on methodology, during the solving of practice problems, the question is stated
in the following formulation:
"Imagine that you have in your hands a magic wand. What kind of result (for the solution to this
problem) will happen if this magic wand can be used?"... There are two rules for helping to precisely determine the
Ideal Final Result. Rule One: It is not recommended to guess beforehand whether it is possible to reach an Ideal Final
Result or not... Rule Two: Do not think about how, and by what means, an Ideal Final Result will be achieved.
