Think Fast Act Faster How To Generate Innovative Ideas And Make Them Happen Gregg Rainer Ebook Edition Published Dec 2014 Copyright Š Rank Books All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher or the publisher.
Why Should You Buy This Book?
Do you constantly need to think about how to increase sales and profits for your business? Do you need innovative solutions to improve your products, services, and business processes to transform your business? Do you need to solve problems smarter and not harder? Do you have a critical problem to solve right now for your business?
If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, this is the solution for you. You are reading a book that will give you the techniques to come up with innovative ideas that you can execute to get the results you want. The power to think out of the box and to execute great ideas is now in your hands.
Introduction There are a few hundred idea-generation techniques in the study of innovation and creativity, but many of them are complex and not used often. You don’t have to know them all, you
only need to learn one or two and make sure you use them regularly. Learning has no value without application. Besides brainstorming, which is the most popular, the SCAMPER technique is one used frequently by many companies and individuals. Instead of wasting time learning so many techniques and not using them, this book will focus on the application of SCAMPER and will show you how to use these techniques in many different aspects of your business. But this book is NOT just about SCAMPER. If it is, I don’t have to write about it and you don’t have to buy it because you can Google SCAMPER and find out what it is all about. I don’t just teach you the techniques either, I have added many examples of innovative products and services which use the principles behind SCAMPER. I have added videos of the concepts behind what I am sharing and I have created thinking exercises to boost your creativity so you get can get the most out of it. I have added color images that will provoke your thinking process. This is more than a book and more than what you can get for free on the internet. I have structured this book in such a way that it is like attending a course on business innovation, which could
easily cost a few hundred dollars for a full day course. So, why pay more? You can learn to be innovative in a fun way, if you start learning now.
What Is SCAMPER? The SCAMPER technique uses a set of questions to try find solutions to a problem or to come up with new opportunities. It can also turn old boring ideas into something new and different. Unlike brainstorming which is unguided, this technique uses a series of questions to trigger new ideas. SCAMPER offers a framework that guides your thinking to think out of the box. Scamper also helps you to reframe the question. Scamper asks you questions that change your thinking and challenge your existing assumptions. SCAMPER stands for: • S—Substitute (e.g., components, materials, people) • C—Combine (e.g., mix, combine with other assemblies or services, integrate) • A—Adapt (e.g., alter, change function, use part of another element) • M—Magnify/Modify (e.g., increase or reduce
in scale, change shape, modify attributes) • P—Put to other uses • E—Eliminate (e.g., remove elements, simplify, reduce to core functionality) • R—Rearrange/Reverse (e.g., turn inside out or upside down) Let’s watch a short video to get a sense of what it is before we go deeper into the technique. VIDEO:
SCAMPER: a creative thinking technique By Amanda Graham Source: http://youtu.be/G8w0rJhztJ4
Getting Started Before you start, you need to identify the problem. What is the problem you want to solve? Be clear and specific in defining the problem. Defining the problem is important because how you define it determines the kind of solutions you will get. So, frame your questions properly.
If I ask you, “What is 6 +4?” Your answer will be 10. But if I ask, “What adds up to 10?” The answers can be 5 and 5, 3 and 7, 1 and 9, 2 and 8….etc. …+… = 10 If I ask you, “How many legs does a chair have?” The answer is 4. However, if I ask, “Can you make a chair with no legs?” Well, why not? There are many possibilities. So, do you see why framing the problem is important?
S.C.A.M.P.E.R TECHNIQUE S
Substitution: Substituting a part of the product or process for something else. Questions: What can be substituted? Who can be substituted? What other materials, ingredients, processes, power, sounds, approaches, locations or forces might I substitute?
Substitute Examples: I am making potato chips. I can substitute potato with yam, sweet potato or corn and come up with chips of different kinds. If I want to make the product lighter, I may substitute metal parts with plastic parts. To reduce cost, a full-time staff member in the company may be substituted with a part-time staff member. People buy our products at our showroom, so to reach out to more buyers, we can substitute the showroom with an online store. I withdraw money from a bank. What if I substitute the bank with something else? Hey, the ATM machine is invented.
S.C.A.M.P.E.R TECHNIQUE C
Combine: Combine two or more parts of the product or process to make something new Questions: What products can I mix together? Which materials can I combine?