SCAMPER is a
technique you can use to spark your creativity and help you overcome any
challenge you may be facing. In essence, SCAMPER is a general-purpose
checklist with idea-spurring questions — which is both easy to use and surprisingly
powerful. It was created by Bob Eberle in the early 70s, and it definitely
stood the test of time.
In this posting, I present
a complete SCAMPER primer, along with two free creativity-boosting resources:
a downloadable reference mind map and an online tool that generates random
questions to get you out of a rut whenever you need.
SCAMPER Primer
SCAMPER is based on the notion that everything new is a modification of
something that already exists. Each letter in the acronym
represents a different way you can play with the characteristics of what is
challenging you to trigger new ideas:
- A = Adapt
- M = Magnify
- P = Put to Other Uses
- E = Eliminate (or
Minify)
- R = Rearrange (or
Reverse)
To use the SCAMPER
technique, first state the problem you’d like to solve or the idea you’d like
to develop. It can be anything: a challenge in your personal life or business;
or maybe a product, service or process you want to improve. After pinpointing the
challenge, it’s then a matter of asking questions about it using the SCAMPER
checklist to guide you.
Consider, for instance,
the problem "How can I increase sales in my business?"
Following the SCAMPER
recipe, here are a few questions you could ask:
- S
(Substitute): "What
can I substitute in my selling process?"
- C
(Combine): "How
can I combine selling with other activities?"
- A
(Adapt): "What
can I adapt or copy from someone else’s selling process?"
- M
(Magnify): "What
can I magnify or put more emphasis on when selling?"
- P (Put to
Other Uses): "How
can I put my selling to other uses?"
- E
(Eliminate): "What
can I eliminate or simplify in my selling process?"
- R
(Rearrange): "How
can I change, reorder or reverse the way I sell?"
These questions force you
to think differently about your problem and eventually come up with innovative
solutions.
A classic
example is MacDonald’s founder Ray
Kroc. In hindsight,
it’s easy to identify many of the ideas he used through the SCAMPER lens:
selling restaurants and real estate instead of simply hamburgers [P = Put to other
uses]; having customers
pay before they eat [R=Rearrange]; letting customers serve themselves, avoiding the use of
waiters [E=Eliminate] — just to mention a few.
SCAMPER Reference
You will find below a
comprehensive help guide to using SCAMPER. There are more than 60 questions
that can be asked, along with almost 200 words and expressions you can create
associations with.
Substitute
Think about replacing part
of the problem, product or process with something else. By looking for
replacements you can often come up with new ideas. You can change things,
places, procedures, people, ideas, and even emotions.
Helper Questions
- Can I replace or change any
parts?
- Can I replace someone
involved?
- Can the rules be changed?
- Can I use other ingredients
or materials?
- Can I use other processes or
procedures?
- Can I change its color,
roughness, sound or smell?
- What if I change its name?
- Can I substitute one part
for another?
- Can I use this idea in a
different place?
- Can I change my feelings or
attitude towards it?
Trigger Words
alternate, colorize,
exchange, fill in for, locum, proxy, relieve, rename, repackage, replace,
reposition, reserve, shape, stand in for, surrogate, swap, switch, take the
place of
Combine
Think about combining two
or more parts of your problem to create a different product or process or to
enhance their synergy. A great deal of creative thinking involves combining
previously unrelated ideas, goods, or services to create something new.
Helper Questions
- What ideas or parts can be
combined?
- Can I combine or recombine
its parts’ purposes?
- Can I combine or merge it
with other objects?
- What can be combined to
maximize the number of uses?
- What materials could be
combined?
- Can I combine different
talents to improve it?
Trigger Words
amalgamate, become one,
blend, bring together, coalesce, come together, commingle, conjoin, fuse,
intermix, join, link, merge, mingle, mix, package, relate, unite
Adapt
Think about adapting an
existing idea to solve your problem. The solution of your problem is probably
out there already. Bear in mind that all new ideas or inventions are borrowed
to some degree.
Helper Questions
- Is there something similar
to it, but in a different context?
- Does the past offer any
lessons with similar ideas?
- What other ideas does it
suggest?
- What could I copy, borrow or
steal?
- Whom could I emulate?
- What ideas could I
incorporate?
- What processes can be
adapted?
- What different contexts can
I put my concept in?
- What ideas outside my field
can I incorporate?
Trigger Words
acclimatize, adapt
oneself, adapt, adjust, alter, amend, become accustomed, bend, change,
conform, contextualize, copy, emulate, familiarize, find your feet, fit, get a
feel for, get used to, incorporate, make suitable, match, modify, readjust,
refashion, revise, rework, settle in, transform, vary
Magnify
Think about ways to
magnify or exaggerate your idea. Magnifying your idea or parts of it may
increase its perceived value or give you new insights about what components
are most important.
Helper Questions
- What can be magnified or
made larger?
- What can be exaggerated or
overstated?
- What can be made higher,
bigger or stronger?
- Can I increase its
frequency?
- What can be duplicated? Can
I make multiple copies?
- Can I add extra features or
somehow add extra value?
Trigger Words
amplify, augment, boost,
enlarge, expand, extend, grow, heighten, increase, intensify, lengthen, make
seem more important, multiply, overemphasize, overstress, raise, strenghten,
stretch out
Put
to Other Uses
Think of how you might be
able to put your current idea to other uses, or think of what you could reuse
from somewhere else in order to solve your own problem. Many times, an idea
only becomes great when applied differently than first imagined.
Helper Questions
- What else can it be used
for?
- Can it be used by people
other than those it was originally intended for?
- How would a child use it? An
older person?
- How would people with
different disabilities use it?
- Are there new ways to use it
in its current shape or form?
- Are there other possible
uses if it’s modified?
- If I knew nothing about it,
would I figure out the purpose of this idea?
- Can I use this idea in other
markets or industries?
Trigger Words
abuse, apply, avail
yourself of, behave, benefit, bring into play, contextualize, deplete, draw on
consume, employ, enjoy, exercise, exhaust, expend, exploit, get through,
handle, luxuriate, make use of, manage, manipulate, mistreat, operate,
reposition, source, spend, take advantage of, take pleasure in, tap, treat,
use up, utilize, waste, wear out, work
Eliminate
(or Minify)
Think of what might happen
if you eliminated or minimized parts of your idea. Simplify, reduce or
eliminate components. Through repeated trimming of ideas, objects, and
processes, you can gradually narrow your challenge down to that part or
function that is most important.
Helper Questions
- What parts can be removed
without altering its function?
- What’s non-essential or
unnecessary?
- Can the rules be eliminated?
- What if I made it smaller?
- What feature can I
understate or omit?
- Should I split it into
different parts?
- Can I compact or make it
smaller?
Trigger Words
abolish, control, curb,
destroy, disregard, do away with, eradicate, exclude, excrete, expel,
exterminate, get rid of, jettison, kill, lessen, limit, liquidate, lower,
moderate, modulate, pass, play down, purge, reduce, reject, remove, restraint,
restrict, shorten, simplify, temper, throw out, tone down, underemphasize,
waste, wipe out
Rearrange
(or Reverse)
Think of what you would do
if part of your problem, product or process worked in reverse or were done in
a different order.
Helper Questions
- What other arrangement might
be better?
- Can I interchange
components?
- Are there other patterns,
layouts or sequences I can use?
- Can I transpose cause and
effect?
- Can I change pace or change
the schedule of delivery?
- Can I transpose positives
and negatives?
- Should I turn it around? Up
instead of down? Down instead of up?
- What if I consider it
backwards?
- What if I try doing the
exact opposite of what I originally intended?
Trigger Words
adjourn, annul, back up,
change the date, change, delay, drive backward, go backward, invalidate,
invert, move backward, move, overturn, postpone, put off, quash, readjust,
rearrange, relocate, render null and void, reorder, reorganize, repeal,
reposition, reschedule, reshuffle, retreat, swap, switch, transpose, turn
around, undo, withdraw
SCAMPER Resources
1. SCAMPER Random Question
Tool
There are many ways to use
SCAMPER. For example, you can sequentially go through all the questions in the
previous section as fast as you can; or you can stay on each question until
you think you exhausted all possibilities.
However,
when it comes to creativity, getting random — and unexpected — input can really help your
mind find a solution for that ‘impossible’ problem. With that in mind, as a
companion to this article, I created the SCAMPER Random Question Tool: it shows you an unexpected
question drawn from all the SCAMPER questions in the previous section. Think
about a problem that has been nagging you then give the tool a try to see how
many options you can generate.
2. SCAMPER Reference Mind
Map
I’ve put together all the
SCAMPER questions from the previous sections in a mind map, formatted for a
single printed page. Think of it as a handy one-page reference you can use
whenever you are stuck or just need a kick start to get your creative juices flowing.
3. Thinkertoys Book
The best
resource I know about SCAMPER is Michael Michalko’s wonderful book Thinkertoys: it has more than 40 pages dedicated to SCAMPER alone.
Michael’s book is the most comprehensive creativity reference I have put my
hands on: there are more than 40 creativity techniques that should suit every
taste — from
the most logic to the most intuitive types. Highly recommended!
