Are you looking to ignite your teams creative thinking, and problem
problem-solving skills, then I have a technique for you, it's a scamper
technique, and it's one of the most easiest, and straightforward techniques
that you can start using today, while we're talking about teams, if you run
projects, stay to the end of this video because I have an amazing guide for you
on why projects fail, hi if you're new here, welcome, for the best advice on
careers, and project management, subscribe to my channel, hit that bell
button, and I'll be getting a new video to you every Wednesday, the scamper
technique is a fantastic brainstorming method that I have used with my teams
whenever we're trying to find something new, different, innovative, and creative, so
let's get to what exactly is this brainstorming technique called scamper,
well it's an acronym, and this is what it stands for, S stands for substitute, C is
combine, A adapt, M modified, P put to another use, E eliminate, and R is for
reverse, now that we know what the acronym means let's get to it so I can
explain each one in detail for you, so if you're excited about this, please give
this video a like, alright the first S substitute this is a trial and error
method where you replace one thing for another until you find the right
solution, okay so there's definitely some questions that you can ask, and when you
do this you can look at in a couple of ways, you can take a look at it from a
product perspective, as well as, you can take a look at it from a process
perspective, so some of the questions from a process is, is there anything we
can substitute within our process to make it better, or even from a product
perspective, is there anything we can substitute within this product to make
it better, that's the whole goal with substitution, is finding creative and new
ways that you can make whatever it is that you're doing better, okay I'm gonna
give you an example on substitution so here is my product that I want to do, I
have to put these papers together, now regarding an option, is I could easily
just put a paperclip with it, but I'm finding that that's not
really staying together properly, so I'm gonna substitute my paperclip for a
staple, and as a result of that, guess what, they're not coming apart, so that is
a good example of substitution, I took the paper
clip, and I substituted it with the staple, Combined, so for this one can you
merge two ideas to make it into one, and so some of the questions around this
would be, for a product, can you take two different products, and combine it into a
one, and for a process perspective question, it could be, can you take two
different ways of working and combine them to make it more efficient, and into
one process, okay, so my example for you is this, going around the same theme that
we had last time, how do I combine this the power of a staple, right, keeping
things together, without it falling apart, but with the power of a paper clip, where
I don't have to worry, and it's easy to pull my papers apart, guess what the
solution is, bullnose clips, right there, where it has the power of a staple,
because of the spring-loaded action, but the power of a paper clip, because I
don't have to worry about trying to get the staples apart, so that's a really cool
idea of taking two separate ideas, and combining them with a new idea, Adapt, is
there anything that you can add, a new element, to an existing product, the goal
here is, you want to make it better, so a really good example for this, from a
process perspective, is there any way that we can make a process more flexible
so that we can get to things faster, and with the product is, a good question to
ask, is there anything we can add to the product to make it better, so my example
for you is this, let's take a look at our paper clip, we have the paper clip right,
excellent, but what we find sometimes with these metal paper clips is that
paper slip through it quite easily, because it's not really grippy, well here
comes the coated paper clip, very simple, they've just adapted the concept of the
paper clip, and put a coating on it of rubber to ensure that your papers don't
fall apart quite easily, Modify, this is about changing, not making an adjustment
like we did just earlier on to the product or a process, so from a process
perspective, a question to ask is, can we make any modifications so that we
actually have a different process that's maybe more effective, and for a product,
is there any change to actually make the product better, need to have it go to
sort of to the next so here's an example for you, we have
this lovely paperclip, remember here's our example, so how do we make this
better, because ever have a lot of papers, and then this paperclip is not working,
it bends, and things fall through, so how do you modify this paperclip to make it
better, guess what, you do one of these clips, which I forget the name by the way,
so if you know the name, put it in the comments below, this then can take on a
lot more paper, and it has the stability, but it's the same premise, so a good
example of modification, ok the P for the scamper technique is about putting it to
another use, so just what that said, is there any way
that the product or process can be used in a different way than its initial
attended use, so a question to ask for a process would be, can another part of the
organization, can they use what it is that we're doing, and for a product is,
can I take this product and actually use it for something else, that it wasn't
originally designed for, so an example for you, I love this paper clip, we got
another one, here's this paper clip, how do I make it so that I can put it to
another use, now if you've done this, put it in the comments below, because I
promise you, I've done it, you bend it, and what does it become, I hate to do this,
toothpick ,ever do that when like you really were in a bind, I have, so, but, what
a cool way, that again, you could use this as a toothpick, Eliminate, for this one
you want to ask yourself is there anything in the process or the product
that you can actually get rid of, so this becomes an interesting question, because
from a process perspective, you want to know, we were doing this a certain way,
can I take out steps, and not even have to worry about them whatsoever, and for a
product, is there something that we normally use and can I get rid of it, so
a really good example for this is this good ol stapler or haha stapler,
staple, now, you think, Adriana how can you do any elimination with that, well I wish
I had one of these, but I don't, but there's two things that you can do to
eliminate the actual staple, you can a, bend the corner, but let's be honest, that
it's not going to keep it, but have you ever seen in stores, where people, there
is a stapled list staple, where they actually bend the corner, and it actually
takes a piece of paper and hooks it, so you actually don't
need staples, but it looks like a stapler, that is an excellent example of
eliminate, Reverse, so is there anything in what you're doing that can be
reversed in order to actually make the process or product better, perhaps even
more innovative than you thought before, so, some of the questions that you can
ask from a product perspective is, if we were to take this and reverse it, in
whatever way that we have it originally planned out, is it going to give us a
better product, and the same thing could be said for process, now here's your
example, ah don't have one for you, here's my paperclip, I was actually thinking
about it, how can I reverse this, I honestly don't know if you have any
ideas, put it in the comments below, okay, now that you know how to use a scamper
method technique, and some examples around it, I am dying for you to try it
out, and let me know how it goes, but before you do that, don't forget go to
the link below, and grab your guideline on why projects fail, on that note, thank
you so much for watching this video, I look forward to seeing you at the next
one, and let me know if you use a scamper technique