One of life’s small annoyances. First up, a watched pan of water or milk never boils. So you go and do something else. Then, by the time you return, half the contents have boiled over and left you with a charred mess to clean up.

The simple solution to this problem would be to just wait. Don’t try and do other things. But that’s inefficient. In which case, it’s time to consider whether TRIZ might be able to help solve the boiling over contradiction.

The problem is basically a conflict between the desire to not have the pan boil-over (stability) being prevented by the fact that there’s a continuing energy supply into the pan. Here’s what the problem looks like when mapped onto the Matrix:

Third on the list of Inventive Principle suggestions is number 24, Intermediary. Which in this specific case equates to perhaps one of the simplest use of existing resource solutions ever… place the wooden spoon you were probably using anyway on top of the pan. Something like this…

Easy when you know how.