Brief Description:

Analogies are a natural way to see new possibilities. When we use analogies, we answer the question “Where else do these conditions occur, and what has been done to solve them?”

Quick Guide:

Convert the user´s circumstances into a list of attributes and then brainstorm other situations that share some of those attributes.

You will “steal” element of the analogous solutions, and the you will fit to your context.

Brief Description:

Diversity of thought can be invaluable resource when generating ideas, but often we share similar experiences and expertise with our teams. This helps you try to adopt a different experience.

Quick Guide:

Select at least five different perspectives to help you generate ideas.

Possible perspectives include:

• An organization you really admire
• Middle school teacher
• Bill Gates
• Superhero
• Your primary competitor
• Oprah
• Used car salesman

Consider how each of your chosen perspectives might approach your problem. Try to generate at least ten possibilities from each of your selected perspectives.

How can you adapt these perspectives to help solve your problem?

Brief Description:

Focus on intentionally bad ideas first. This will reduce barriers and spark breakthrough thinking.

Quick Guide:

Make a list of 20 (or more) intentionally bad ideas. The worse, the better.

These includes:

• Ideas that would achieve the opposite of your objective.
• Ideas that are so extreme, that they are impractical.
• Ideas based on resources that do not exist or technology has not been developed yet.
• Ideas that go against convention or have a significant flaw in logic.

Then try to flip each idea into a relatively good idea.

Brief Description:

A list of questions that should provide “food” for thought toward solving the problem. SCAMPER is an acronym that stands for: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify or Magnify, Put to other use, Eliminate, reverse or rearrange.

Quick Guide:

Ask SCAMPER questions to each step of the challenge or subject and see what new ideas emerge.

SUBTITUTE

• What can be substituted? Who else? What else?
• Can the rules be changed? Other ingredients? Other materials? Other process or procedure? Other power?
• Another place? Other approach?
• What else instead? What other part instead of this?

COMBINE

• What ideas can be combined? Can we combine purposes? How about a collection? How about a blend, an alloy, an ensemble? Combine units? What other article could be merged with this?
• How could we package a combination? What can be combined to multiply possible uses? What materials could be combined? Combine appeals? How might certain parts be connected? Which purposes could be combined?

ADAPT

• What else is like this? What other idea does this suggest? Does the past offer a parallel? What could I copy? Whom could I emulate? What idea could I incorporate? What other process could be adapted? What else could be adapted? What different contexts can I put my concept in? What idea outside my field can I incorporate? Have there been similar situations in the past?

MAGNIFY

• What can be magnified, made larger, or extended? What can be exaggerated? Overstated?
• What can be added? More time? Stronger? Higher? Longer?
• How about greater frequency? Extra feature? What can add extra value? What can be duplicated? How can I carry it to a dramatic extreme? What can be increased? What can reduce? What could be modernized?
• Can the meaning be changed? How might the color or shape be changed? Can it be enlarged? Can it be downsized?

PUT TO OTHER USES

• What else can this be used for? Are there new ways to use it as is? Other uses if modified? What else could be made from this? Other extensions? Other markets?

ELIMINATE

• What if this were smaller? What should I omit? Should I divide it? Separate it into different parts? Understate? Streamline? Make miniature? Condense? Compact? Subtract? Delete? Can the rules be eliminated? What is not necessary?

REARRANGE

• What other arrangements might be better? Interchange components? Other patterns? Another layout? Other sequence? Change the order? Transpose cause and effect? Change pace? Change schedule? What could be replaced?

REVERSE

• Can I transpose positive and negative? What are the opposites? What are the negatives? Should I turn it around? Up instead of down? Down instead of up? Consider it backwards? Reverse roles? Do the unexpected?
• How can a failure be turned into a success? What negative can be reverse? Would the opposite work?