Before talking about SCAMPER in idea generation and mangament, some background: The invention of SCAMPER (or S.CA.M.P.E.R.) is attributed to Bob Eberle, but (as you can read on Wiki) SCAMPER was proposed by Alex Faickney Osborn in 1953 first, and was further developed by Bob Eberle author of books about creativity for children aimed at teachers. His book Scamper is out of print but a follow-up Scamper On is available.
Today’s pill is about idea generation/management and innovation. Scamper is one of the most famous and used methodologies in the area, but what is it?
S.C.A.M.P.E.R is an acronym and stands for:
S Substitute
Remove some part of the accepted situation, thing, or concept and replace it with something else.
C Combine
Join, affiliate, or force together two or more elements of your subject matter and consider ways that such a combination might move you toward a solution.
A Adapt
Change some part of your product (or thing in general) so that it works where it did not before.
M Modify
Consider many of the attribute of the thing you’re working on and change them, arbitrarily, if necessary. Attributes include: size, shape, other dimensions, texture, color, attitude, position, history, and so on.
P Purpose (Put to other use)
Modify the intention of the subject. Challenge all of these assumptions and suggest new and unusual purposes.
E Eliminate
Arbitrarily remove any or all elements of your subject, simplify, reduce to core functionality
R Reverse
Turn it upside-down, inside-out, or make it go backwards, against the direction it was intended to go or be used.
R Rearrange
Similar to Reverse, modify the order of operations or any other hierarchy involved.
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