Making’s impact on today’s businesses by Nicole Victor

February of 2013, during Obama’s State of the Union, marked what many believe as the highpoint of the Making movement. To many, his address validated and legitimized Makers everywhere:

“A once­shuttered warehouse is now a state­of­the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3­D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything” Obama said.

His address spurred unprecedented interest in Makers and Maker culture. More Hacker and Maker spaces emerged in the US and abroad. More people attended and hosted Maker Faires than ever before. More leading publications covered Maker culture and its stars. And more businesses with making at its core emerged.

Some have argued that the State of the Union marked Making’s zenith — and that its popularity is now in decline. Certainly, when MakerBot, the “poster child” of the Next Industrial Revolution closed its models and was purchased by a big, established, manufacturer Stratasys, signaled to many that the battle was lost before it quite begun. (Full disclosure: I am a former MakerBot employee).

Others have argued that the Making culture is simply normalizing. While it is no longer the topic du jour of industry and non­industry media, Making is still impacting in small ways the way we in work. Etsy, Kickstarter and other funding and selling platforms are more popular and profitable than ever before. Amazon just announced that it too will create a marketplace for makers and craftspeople to sell directly to consumers. Gartner’s Jim Tully has said that by 2018, nearly 50% of the Internet of Things solutions would be provided by startups. DIY companies like Adafruit, TechShop, and LittleBits, the latter recently receiving $44.2 million in new funding, are providing kits and tools for professionals as well as hobbyists. And according to Wohlers Report 2014, the worldwide 3D printing industry is now expected to grow to $12.8B by 2018.

The effect of Making on business, large and small, is indelible. Makers and making culture are revolutionizing how we do business, how we manufacture and how we sell. While home­based factories are not yet taking over modern industrial plants, the Making culture has resulted in a democratization of invention. Chris Anderson, the former Wired editor­in­chief and current CEO of 3D Robotics says: “Three guys with laptops’ used to describe a Web startup. Now it describes a hardware company, too.” Every invention has the possibility of becoming the next great consumer product; every inventor can become the next big entrepreneur.

Making culture’s contribution to the democratization of business can be seen in how new ways of working are emerging in established companies:

• GE and Dremel are hosting numerous hacking events in order to create a nimble product­development pipeline
• KBS, BBH and R/GA offer and sponsor accelerator programs in order to be a part of the development ofnewer technologies and applications
• Coca­cola, PepsiCo, and Oreo are sharing and turning to crowdsourcing for both product and marketing development
• Companies are allowing consumers to hack its product and services even publishing tips and tricks. Netflix recently released a tutorial on how to make a button that would turn on netflix and order you a pizza out of a Raspberry Pi
• Adidas and Nike are 3D printing shoes to better customize and personalize its product to fit and appeal to individual needs

It’s exciting to think about how the tools and technology are allowing those who would previously be unable or uninterested in making things will be able to do so. How 3D printers and Arduinos are transforming hobbies into careers. But what’s more exciting is how companies and agencies should embrace the notion of making and hacking in how they do business:

• Give up even more control: Give permission to consumers to build upon, expand and hack your products and marketing as they demand more control than ever before
• Get to done faster: Embrace the “Done Manifesto” by Bre Pettis and Kio Stark. “The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.”
• Embrace Beta­thinking: Allow for your products and services to change and improve at any moment and not just at regularly scheduled intervals
• Push collaboration: It’s not about setting up group brainstorms. It’s about adding and enhancing ideas and creating a participatory culture
• Be curious: Ask, tinker, learn and grow skills at every point of your making experience.
• Create a way to get feedback and share to learn even more along the way.

The Next Industrial Revolution is indeed here, but perhaps not with the bang that many speculated. In The Maker Movement Manifesto by Mark Hatch, CEO of the leading makerspace community, TechShop he writes: “Make. Just make. This is the key. The world is a better place as a participatory sport. Being creative, the act of creating and making, is actually fundamental to what it means to be human.”