The Intentional Makerspace: Operations (Book)

See also:

Maker Work’s Makerspace Operations Bootcamp

Using Recipes for a Great Makerspace

One of our goals at Maker Works is to encourage the growth of makerspaces, whatever the size, audience, or organization (e.g., non-profit, for-profit, L3C, etc.). Since 2014 we’ve offered the week-long Makerspace Operations Bootcamp to share the tools and techniques we use for a safe and efficient makerspace.

Our new book The Intentional Makerspace: Operations is based on the bootcamp content and expands on it. Content includes using recipes (Standard Operating Procedures), organizing using 5S, the Business Perspective Chart, mission, vision, values, culture, systems (many, many systems), bottom lines, instruction and learning, giving great service, safety, and more. The chapter on SOPs is an expanded version of the Using Recipes for a Great Makerspace booklet above.

Now available at Amazon. We’ll also try to keep some copies available at Maker Works for local purchase. Maker Works members receive a discount.

We end the book with a few pages of interesting quotes.  So while you're waiting for your copy, here are some thoughts:

(Page numbers in parentheses. “SOP” means Standard Operating Procedure.  See https://www.maker-works.com/great-recipes)

• Make it easy to do the right thing, and hard to do the wrong thing. (17)

• You can’t push a rope. (Dale’s Dad) (17)

• Ask "Why are you here?" (11)

• Watch for "freedom from" vs. "freedom to". (15)

• It is "continuous improvement", not "continuous change". (16)

• Never underestimate the ability of a motivated member to do the wrong thing if that’s what they set their mind to. (18)

• Is it a failure to learn on the part of the member, or a failure of a system? (18)

• Consistency is a necessary condition for continuous improvement. (20)

• In many cases, 80% of the effects come from just 20% of the causes. (20)

• Fix what bugs you. (21)

• You never run out of problems, but as you improve you get more interesting problems. (Paul Saginaw) (22)

• The best is the enemy of the good. (Voltaire) (23)

• In the absence of SOPs, members will take up all your staff time. (26)

• An SOP that no one is allowed to improve is about as useful as a knife that no one is allowed to sharpen. (28)

• The harder an SOP, jig, template, etc. is to change or modify, the more likely it is that you’ll need to. (Consequence of Murphy’s Law.) (33)

• The non-negotiable part is that we’ll have an SOP; the negotiable part is the form it takes. (Tom) (35)

• Beware the SOP in a clean binder. (37)

• When there’s a problem, ask if there is a change to the SOPs or other systems that could prevent this from happening in the future. (18)

• You don’t get to claim credit for reducing the waste of an operation that isn’t value-add or necessary. (47)

• In the absence of 5S, you might succeed in finding a tool, but you’ll never know if you put it back in the correct place. (49)

• If you can’t see it, you don’t have it. (Adam Savage) (49)

• Avoid drawers and doors! (49)

• For-profit or nonprofit, it’s still a business. (88)

• The most costly machine you can have in your shop is a free/donated old CNC machine. (88)

• It is the responsibility of leaders to make sure there is a clear, shared vision for the mak- erspace. (92)

• In the absence of a unified vision, everyone will have their own. (94)

• No one has enough time to create a mediocre vision. (96)

• Your vision should surprise everyone in at least one aspect. (102)

• A guiding principle is a best practice that you’ll do even if it costs you. (via Paul Saginaw) (105)

• You should not underestimate the ability of people to project their own viewpoint and values onto any situation. (107)

• SOPs are necessary for instruction and improvement. (109)

• Asking someone to learn something may not be the best solution to a situation. (109)

• We get one best chance when the learner is open to learning. (111)

• If the worker hasn’t learned, the instructor hasn’t taught. (Training Within Industry) (112)

• If we expect the member to act on something, it must be in the SOP. (112)

• When is the best time to correct errors of understanding? Now. “Now” is always the best time to provide feedback. (114)

• In the class and on their own, using the SOP is part of the SOP for using the tool. (115) Teaching is the ultimate level of learning. (118)

• Did person X follow the SOP for Y? That’s all we ask. (120)

• The meeting facilitator is a servant of the group. (125)

• A task without a person and a deadline is just a wish. (127)

• “Genchi genbutsu”—go and see the actual situation, not just think about it at a desk. (128)

• Everything from the customer point of view is either 1) value-add, 2) necessary but not value-add, or 3) neither. Do more of 1, optimize 2, and eliminate 3. (143)

• Experiments allow us to expand our threshold of knowledge; the Improvement Kata uses ex- perimentation and the scientific method to solve problems outside our current knowledge. (133)

• You don’t get to choose if you’ll have a culture. But you can choose what culture you want to have and work to create it. (137)

• Diversity is a solution, not a problem to solve. (The Diversity Project) (140)

• Makerspaces tend to be relational vs. transactional operations. (135)

• What complaints should you handle? All complaints, even if they don’t have anything to do with you. (Zingerman’s) (151)

• At the core of Lean/TPS is the idea of maximizing value to the customer while minimizing waste, and that this is a process that will never be done but is instead a journey of continuous improvement. (161)

• The TPS has the following goals: To produce the best quality, at the lowest cost, with the shortest lead time, and the best safety and morale. It promises sustainable efficiency. (162)

• The 8 Deadly Wastes: Defects, Overproduction, Waiting, Not Utilizing Talent, Transporta- tion, Inventory, Motion Waste, Excess Processing. (Lean) (162)

• Batching is usually not the best approach. (164)

• Mistakes are inevitable—we’re just humans. But we can have a goal to eliminate defects— mistakes that make it to the customers. (Toyota Production System) (166)

• Safety is the product of the systems, culture, and guiding principles of the organization. (167)

• Servant leadership says our priority is the development and well-being of staff, and the flow of service is toward the front-line staff and the member. (171)

• Every moment brings an opportunity to serve. (171)

• Spend 20% of your meeting time on the past, and 80% on your preferred future and how to get there. (176)

• Resistance to change is proportional to the amount of dissatisfaction around the issue, the presence of a vision for a better future, and the existence of a reasonable first step. (Zinger- mans) (176)

• When there are significant changes in an organization, it may get harder before it gets better. (ZingTrain) (178)

• It is indeed costly (in time and money) to train staff, and would be unfortunate if they left after we trained them. But it would be worse if we didn’t train them and they stayed. (Tom) (97)

• We have (probably) failed in our responsibilities as leaders if our staff are badly surprised by our actions. (186)

• Everyone believes themselves an expert on how you should market, price, locate, and op- erate your space. They are often the people that will not show up to help paint or rip up carpeting. (191)

• Space is freedom to allow more activities. Keep space open. Clutter is your enemy. (191)

• You can not be everyone’s ideal makerspace. (192)

• Very few people have enough time to rush. (192)

• Time and money are great filters of people who say they want to help. (192)

• An interesting test of a makerspace is what happens when you break a tool due to a mistake. (192)

• How the space operates (open books, Lean, servant leadership, etc.) may be as useful a resource to members as the tools. Make these accessible. (192)

• Measuring a process makes it more likely to improve. (192)

• The only mistake you can make is not following the SOP. (203)

• Value delusional optimism! (1-203)