Application of Root Conflict Analysis (RCA+) to formulate inventive problems in the maritime industry

Over the past decades, demand for innovation in diverse industries, including the maritime industry, has been steadily growing. One of the primary sources of innovation has been the finding of inventive solutions to the most challenging problems. Until recently, the search for inventive ideas relied heavily on random and chaotic methods of boosting creative capabilities, thus drastically reducing productivity in the generation of new concepts and solutions. With the emergence of systematic methods for generating inventive solutions, the situation has changed. Modern methods such as TRIZ suggest a process of solving problems in a systematic way whereby each phase of the process is supported by the relevant analytical techniques and heuristic tools. This article presents Root Conflict Analysis (RCA+), a technique for problem analysis developed for the top-down decomposition of problems to chains of causes and contradictions. The article provides an example of applying RCA+ to discover the causes and contradictions which led a ferry to lose stability at sea.