SCAMPERing

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the current number of unemployed persons in the U.S. is 14.9 million (unemployment rate at 9.6 percent).


I know that because in August I was added to the list. Since then, I've been discovering what it is like to be unemployed (something that I have not been pretty much since I was in my teens -- a long, long time ago). I'm here to tell you that it is true: It's hard work being out of work. After all, the second I wake up, I'm on the job!

Yes, for the past couple of months I've been busy crafting my resume, helping friends and family members with projects, and trying to re-invent myself career-wise. What do I want to do when I grow up?

One of the things that I've discovered is that my resume -- that one page description of who I am by way of what I've done for the past 30 years -- has pigeonholed me. Or, better put, I have not yet creatively crafted my "sales brochure" into a something that at least gets me a lot of interviews. So, I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately. I've been SCAMPERing.

SCAMPER?

Developed by Bob Eberle, SCAMPER is an acronym for useful list of words that can be applied as stimuli to make you think differently about the problem area.

Substitute: What can you substitute? What can be used instead? Who else instead? What other ingredients? Other material? Other process? Other power? Other place? Other approach? Other sounds? Other forces?
Instead of ... I can ...

Combine: What can you combine or bring together somehow? How about a blend, an alloy, an assortment, an ensemble? Combine units? Combine purposes? Combine appeals? Combine ideas?
I can bring together ... and ... to ...

Adapt: What can you adapt for use as a solution? What else is like this? What other idea does this suggest? Does past offer a parallel? What could I copy? Who could I emulate?
I can adapt ... in this way ... to ...

Modify: Can you change the item in some way? Change meaning, colour, motion, sound, smell, form, shape? Other changes?

Also: Magnify: What can you add? More time? Greater frequency? Stronger? Higher? Longer? Thicker? Extra value? Plus ingredient? Duplicate? Multiply? Exaggerate?

And: 'Minify': What can you remove? Smaller? Condensed? Miniature? Lower? Shorter? Lighter? Omit? Streamline? Split up? Understate?
I can change ... in this way ... to ...

Put to other uses: How can you put the thing to different or other uses? New ways to use as is? Other uses if it is modified?
I can re-use ... in this way ... by ...

Eliminate: What can you eliminate? Remove something? Eliminate waste? Reduce time? Reduce effort? Cut costs?
I can eliminate ... by ...

Rearrange: What can be rearranged in some way? Interchange components? Other pattern? Other layout? Other sequence? Transpose cause and effect? Change pace? Change schedule?
I can rearrange ... like this ... such that ...

For more information, you can go to CreatingMinds.org for "Wise ways and words in all matters creative" including:

Creativity is more than tools and techniques. This pages links to descriptions of critical principles about being creative.

* Creative Problems: Defining creative problems and solutions.
* Diffusion: Spreading ideas through social networks.
* Divergence and convergence: Staying open and staying focused.
* Exploration: Going where no one has gone before.
* Forced association: Banging things together to create new things.
* Ground Rules: Shared rules that enable safe creativity.
* Jumping: Jumping to new idea domains.
* Practice!: Build you 'creative muscle' with regular practice.
* Questioning: Asking things to get the mind going.
* TRIZ 40 Principles: Principles that have been used to gain many patents.
* Stimulation: Prodding your subconscious into giving you new thoughts.
* Use What Works: There are many tools, so use what works for you.


At CreatingMinds.org you'll find many other very creative ways to be, well, more creative.

Sir Bowie "off this day and this week to continue to re-invent myself and create creative ways to create or acquire a fullfilling career" of Greenbriar

My Beer Bucket List

If there are 50 ways to leave your lover, then of course there has to be at least 50 Beers you must try before you die!

I've had the pleasure of drinking at least more than half of those mentioned, including the absolutely wonderful Allagash White, brewed in Portland, Maine at their brew pub in Portland and available at my favorite Chicago restaurant, Bistro 110.

If you click on the title of this blog, it will take you to CBS News, where you will find the list and tasting notes of the "50 Beers You Must Try Before You Die", as composed by GQ Magazine.  Of course, this is an American Craft Brew list, so my apologies to the UK Clan and their fine brews.

Right, now I'm off to continue to put a few more notches on my bucket...and my belt!

Cheers!
Sir Hook the Thirsty of Warrick

The Wounded Warrior: A Day of Grace in Southern Illinois

This week drew a contrast between life in America, both equally inspiring, yet diverse in presentation.  After a thrilling and most satisfying trip to New York City, filled with the bustle of life, drama and sensory elation...I found myself making the drive to Fairfield, Illinois, my home town, returning to my roots and humble beginnings.


My uncle Ralph, another of the great generation, passed away while I was in New York.  I was able to make the drive early the morning after my return to his funeral.  Proceeded by my father and three uncles in death, Ralph was part of a generation of Americans who left the farms of Southern Illinois and helped to defeat it's generations evils on the battlefields of Europe and Asia and returned home to build the America that increasingly we tend to forget.


As I grew up I always thought of my uncle Ralph as a scary man.  Married to one of my father's sisters, Aunt Toots, he was dark and mysterious.  It wasn't until his declining years that he finally opened up to me and allowed me to see his soul's scars, the kind that only horrific battle can produce, which opened my eyes to why this man was who he was in 2010.


Ralph, of all my family who served in WWII, was the least vocal of his time in service, yet was the most decorated and battle hardened veteran of the bunch.  You see, Ralph was an Army Ranger, the elite special forces of the day, who immediately enlisted the Monday after Pearl Harbor, and found himself in every major landing and battle from North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Europe from 1942 to 1945.  My uncle Ralph saw, and made, killing an everyday occurrence.  On June 6, 1944, Ralph was one of the 225 Army Rangers who stormed the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, which they assaulted in support of the Omaha Beach landings, more recently made famous by the movie Saving Private Ryan.  He was also one of the 90 left standing once relieved.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointe_du_Hoc


Stretched out in his coffin, with the folded flag of a soldier and his 30 plus medals that he never showed anyone until the year before his death, family and friends gathered in a small wooden chapel to say their goodbye's to the the empty body that once contained this wounded warrior.  I searched the room as ancient faces from my past reminded me of my own humble beginnings.  The part time pastor, and full time farmer, dressed in blue jean overalls, white oxford shirt and a thin black tie, delivered a simple, humble and loving eulogy.  His peaceful presence covered the grief in the room like a soothing balm on sunburned skin.  Death, always Ralph's closest companion, finally freed him of his self-inflicted prison.  


The procession made the nine mile journey from the Chapel at Wayne City, passed Simms, where my family took roots in the early 1800's and finally to the burial ground at Fairfield.  During that silent trip, wind caressing me like a mother's embrace, I was reminded of my particular brand of America.  Every car, truck, semi pulled over in respect.  As we passed the farmers in their fields, busy harvesting corn, they stopped their tractors and stood erect with their hats over their hearts in respect.  I was moved to tears as I remembered my roots and why I am who I am today.


Finally, as we arrived at the cemetery, I sat down at the grave site, my seat nearly on top of the grave that holds my mother and father, with my Uncle Oran (92), my Aunt Toots (85) and my Aunt Short (81), the last of my father's clan.  The honor guard rifles pierced the silence and made my aunt's shudder with their violence.  The men remained stoic as men from Southern Illinois do so well.  It took the sound of the bugle playing taps to melt the hearts of the old warriors, reducing them to crying babies as their souls were cleansed with their own tears.


Grace came down and replaced Death that sunny Wednesday afternoon in Southern Illinois.


Sir Hook, who after Oran is next in line, of Warrick