http://bhusanchand.blogspot.com/2010/04/scope-management-how-projects-result.html
Sometimes, scope creep can be when you add new features or when your group goes completely off track. (Think of it like going to the store to buy bread and coming home with a TV. And no bread.) If your job is not well-defined you can very easily get off track.
A personal example of scope creep could be identified in my role as an assistant varsity basketball coach. Over the last few years we have built a pretty decent program. I believe much of the success can be credited to how the varsity coach and I have developed a youth program. We sat down five years ago and look at where the entire school districts girls basketball program was and what we needed to do to get better. The sad reality was we were not going to win any championships that season. Instead, I suggested that we turn our focus towards the youth. Those students in sixth seventh and eighth grade will eventually be playing for the high school. That was where we needed to focus our efforts.
We decided to create a youth basketball camp. We also decided to start a fifth and sixth grade traveling team. These are both things that I've done in my previous job in another school district. The other school District was much bigger and so that met many of our traveling teams had a lot of students. It also meant that our summer league programs in our youth camps were much bigger. We would easily have 150 basketball players from 10 different school districts at our camp. It was a great experience and everyone enjoyed it.
Fast forward to my new job as an assistant a much smaller school district. Our team was bad and the coach and I wanted to try to improve our chances over the next few years. I suggested a camp similar to what I had at the larger school District. I was excited to invite as many students from the districts around us as possible. Our goal was to get over 100 basketball players in the gym for a weeklong summer camp. Essentially, I wanted to do something very similar to what I had done in my previous position.
Unfortunately, the head coach wanted to do something much smaller. I had all of these grand ideas and big plans that were cast aside. I did hours of work on my own to present a unified idea for our camp. But, because I was not in charge we did not go through with it the way I wanted to. In all actuality, because I was trying to re-create something from my past and not listening to what the head coach wanted I was the scope creep. (Scary, right?)
I did not qualify the actual desire and needs of our program. I simply wanted to do what I done previously because that is what I know. I did not analyze the needs of my new situation. I did not involve the head coach in my plans effectively. And because I do not understand the level of complexity he wanted with in this project I made mistakes.
What did I learn from all this? I need to have a clear a unified goal of what I want to accomplish and how I plan on accomplishing before I start anything new. When it comes to any project I need to understand how I want to get from point a to point B in the most effective way as possible. Hopefully I won't be a scope creep again.
http://feltpresence.com/articles/20-vital-elements-of-the-product-design-process