40 inventive principles / #10
#10 Preliminary action
What it says
- Do the needed change, fully or in part, before it is needed.
- Place objects in advance where they can act at once from the most convenient spot.
Examples
- Software
- Precompute and cache results before users ask.
- Business
- Write answers to common questions before customers ask them.
- Engineering
- Pre-glued wallpaper.
- Everyday life
- Lay out clothes the night before.
Where the matrix suggests it
The classic contradiction matrix suggests Preliminary action in 274 of its 1,248 filled cells. Most often for these conflicts:
- Improving Weight of moving object worsens Stress or pressure
- Improving Weight of moving object worsens Shape
- Improving Weight of moving object worsens Loss of information
- Improving Weight of moving object worsens Loss of time
- Improving Weight of stationary object worsens Length of stationary object
- Improving Weight of stationary object worsens Loss of information
- Improving Weight of stationary object worsens Loss of time
- Improving Weight of stationary object worsens Reliability