X-Operator (Exaggeration / Extremes)

{
  "id": "TRIZ-TECH-04",
  "title": "X-Operator (Exaggeration / Extremes)",
  "intent": "Force breakthrough ideas by pushing a system parameter to an extreme and observing what must change to make it work.",
  "technique": {
    "name": "Exaggeration / Extremes (often used in OTSM-TRIZ trainings)",
    "definition": "Deliberately exaggerate a parameter (very high/very low) to reveal hidden constraints and new solution paths."
  },
  "inputs": {
    "target_parameter": "The variable tied to the contradiction (e.g., 'lead time', 'validation strictness', 'cost').",
    "extreme_directions": [
      "make it 10× bigger",
      "make it near-zero"
    ]
  },
  "procedure": [
    "Pick one parameter that matters most.",
    "Run two extremes:",
    "  - Extreme A: 'What if this parameter is 10× bigger?'",
    "  - Extreme B: 'What if this parameter is ~0 (almost eliminated)?'",
    "For each extreme, answer:",
    "  - What breaks first?",
    "  - What must be removed or added to survive?",
    "  - What new constraints appear?",
    "Translate extreme insights back into realistic solutions (often these become Separation-on-Condition or new architecture boundaries)."
  ],
  "outputs": {
    "extreme_A_breakpoints": [],
    "extreme_B_breakpoints": [],
    "solution_hypotheses": [
      "introduce fast/slow lanes",
      "automate the expensive checks",
      "move checks to boundary",
      "change the contract with the environment"
    ]
  },
  "common_mistakes": [
    "Staying realistic too early (kills the point)",
    "Not translating insights back to implementable steps",
    "Picking a parameter that is not the real bottleneck"
  ],
  "example": {
    "consulting": {
      "parameter": "Approval lead time",
      "extreme_A": "If approvals take 30 days, what must be pre-approved?",
      "insight": "Standard cases should be auto-approved; humans handle exceptions only."
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "schema": "dkharlanau.dataset.byte",
    "schema_version": "1.1",
    "dataset": "TRIZ-bytes",
    "source_project": "cv-ai",
    "source_path": "TRIZ-bytes/TRIZ-TECH-04.json",
    "generated_at_utc": "2026-02-03T14:33:32+00:00",
    "creator": {
      "name": "Dzmitryi Kharlanau",
      "role": "SAP Lead",
      "website": "https://dkharlanau.github.io",
      "linkedin": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/dkharlanau"
    },
    "attribution": {
      "attribution_required": true,
      "preferred_citation": "Dzmitryi Kharlanau (SAP Lead). Dataset bytes: https://dkharlanau.github.io"
    },
    "license": {
      "name": "",
      "spdx": "",
      "url": ""
    },
    "links": {
      "website": "https://dkharlanau.github.io",
      "linkedin": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/dkharlanau"
    },
    "contact": {
      "preferred": "linkedin",
      "linkedin": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/dkharlanau"
    },
    "canonical_url": "https://dkharlanau.github.io/datasets/TRIZ-bytes/TRIZ-TECH-04.json",
    "created_at_utc": "2026-02-03T14:33:32+00:00",
    "updated_at_utc": "2026-02-03T15:29:02+00:00",
    "provenance": {
      "source_type": "chat_export_extraction",
      "note": "Extracted and curated by Dzmitryi Kharlanau; enriched for attribution and crawler indexing."
    },
    "entity_type": "triz_technique",
    "entity_subtype": "",
    "summary": "Force breakthrough ideas by pushing a system parameter to an extreme and observing what must change to make it work."
  }
}