"Possibly the biggest hurdle faced by mankind."
Psychological Inertia – the barrier created by the mind when there is an attempt to break the current state to enter a new state. Inertia is the state of rest so long and until an external force acts upon it. Therefore Psychological Inertia is a lack of required action.
One may observe in their daily lives that there generally is no motivation for action until there is a pressure exerted upon them, by either their superiors or signs of loss/damage which prompts them to act.
This may be the furthest reaching malady. Psychological Inertia prevents the human mind from reaching the full potential of its thinking and creative abilities. It is the tendency of people to continue to move in a direction of comfort and security.
It is faced by all people. Even Artists and Writers have to overcome the hurdle of Psychological Inertia before they can achieve success in their chosen profession.
Skilled innovators on the other hand are more apt at their ability to narrow the focus to the core of the problem and to generate many bold and non-trivial ideas to resolve the problem.
Scientists observe this phenomenon of decreasing diversions and narrowing down the focus as a means to overcome Psychological Inertia. TRIZ has recorded it as one of the core traits of successful innovators.
The latent skill required to overcome Psychological Inertia is independent of the technical capabilities of the person.
Known in TRIZ as a function or activity which produces or causes a useful result.
The tools of TRIZ are designed to change the way you think; by breaking down your Psychological Inertia.
On the ground level, TRIZ works by breaking down the process of problem solving and innovation into discrete elements, each of which is expanded through concrete techniques to catalyze engineers' thinking along specific lines. Nowhere in the methodology is there to be found so facile an instruction as "Let your mind roam free." As Altshuller writes, "It is not enough to say, 'Extend your imaginative thinking about something.' The methods for achieving this must be explained." Part of TRIZ's task is to explain these methods by using the host of technical principles culled by Altshuller and his disciples through close examination of innovations gone by.
I-TRIZ is a knowledge-based approach to creativity. The System Thinking methodology is specifically designed to surpass this hindrance and overcome any inconsistency.