Explore the tool and matrix on http://www.triz40.com/TRIZ_GB.php to see how this can work in practice. Consider the example of an offshore pile driver. This needs to be sharp so it can drive efficiently into the seabed. However it also needs to be blunt so that it has sufficient surface area to support heavy loads. This is an apparent contradiction.

One obvious option would be a compromise solution – creating the tip of the pile driver to be halfway between sharp and blunt. This carries the downsides of guaranteeing risk (less stable than a blunt pile), and being time consuming (taking longer to dig than a sharp pile).

The ideal solution would be one that is both sharp and blunt.