How to Build a Maker Mindset & Its Importance in Conscious Problem Solving for Youth & Young People

Let's begin a fascinating journey through the annals of history to map out the remarkable evolution of the Maker Movement. This extraordinary entity has given birth to a global community driven by the fundamental principles of collaboration, sharing, creativity, and problem-solving thereby setting the stage for a new era of innovation.

The Maker Movement is a social and cultural phenomenon that emphasizes and celebrates DIY (Do-It-Yourself) and DIWO (Do-It-With-Others) activities, particularly in the domains of technology, craft, and invention. It encourages individuals and communities to create, tinker, prototype, and invent using a wide range of tools and materials. This phenomenon as we know it today has its genesis in various earlier DIY and crafting movements, but it gained significant momentum in the early 21st century. While it's challenging to pinpoint an exact starting date, the Maker Movement began to take shape in the mid-2000s.

India has always been at the forefront of a specific variant of creative innovation termed alternatively as jugaad and frugal innovation. But in addition to this unique mindset one of the significant events that contributed to the emergence of the Maker Movement was the establishment of maker spaces, hackerspaces, and fab labs in major cities. These spaces provided the infrastructure and resources for individuals and communities to engage in hands-on making, tinkering, and innovation without attracting the fear of failure and judgment and most importantly to bring their ideas to life!

When my partner Vaibhav Chhabra established Maker's Asylum in 2013 one of the first community makerspaces in India a lot of people questioned him as to the need for such a space and what could be effectuated there. But 10 years down the line, we are witnessing an inflection point in India and powered by the New Education Policy, a lot of educational organizations are now comprehending the benefits of experimentation, hands-on learning while aligning with the pressing need to truly create a culture where students can imagine and actually get their hands dirty!

The world as we know is facing a unique convergence of environmental, economic and social crises and there is an urgency to address this. Furthermore, problems today are multidimensional in nature which implies there is a requirement for people from all walks of life to congregate, share and solve these together. The dynamical model best suited for this is a transdisciplinary group so that a multiplicity of energising perspectives can be fruitfully harnessed.

This scenario bears a close resemblance to the story of the six blind men and the elephant. The only thing being different is that it is a story about 8 billion people on this planet. Yet, the most important segment of this population is the youth and young people who are going to be the inheritors of our planet earth. Having stated that, let's now take a look at what does having a maker mindset really encompass. I am also keenly taking this golden opportunity to define the persona of my favorite individuals in the world - the Makers:

• Curiosity: Makers are naturally curious and eager to understand the mechanics of things and how they work. They ask probing questions, take things apart, and explore to satisfy their insatiable curiosity. For example, a child who probes a broken toy to see what's inside exhibits a maker mindset.
• Problem-Solving: Makers view challenges as opportunities to find innovative solutions. They are resourceful and use a trial-and-error approach to tackle problems. An example is an engineer who builds a custom device to automate a repetitive task in people's daily lives.
• Hands-On Learning: Makers prefer learning through hands-on experiences. They may grasp nuances of electronics by building circuits, of programming by writing code, or of woodworking by creating furniture. Learning through making is a fundamental aspect of the maker mindset.
• Innovation: Makers are not limited by convention; they strive to find new, more efficient, or more creative ways of doing things. An innovator who designs a solar-powered water purifier for communities without access to clean water embodies the maker mindset.
• Tinkering and Prototyping: Makers often tinker with ideas and materials. They create prototypes to test their concepts and iterate on their designs. A product designer who continually refines a 3D-printed prototype until it meets user requirements demonstrates this dynamic aspect of the maker mindset.
• Collaboration: Makers frequently collaborate and share their knowledge with others. They recognize that combining skills and expertise can lead to more innovative solutions. For example, a group of artists and engineers working together to create an interactive art installation showcases the collaborative nature of the maker mindset.
• Open Source and Sharing: Makers often embrace open-source principles, sharing their designs, code, and instructions freely with the community. They believe in open innovation because it accelerates solutions for the real world while making them better.
• Diverse Interests: A maker mindset is not limited to a specific field or area of expertise. Makers can be found in various domains, from electronics and robotics to art, crafts, and cooking. An architect who explores ceramic pottery as a hobby or a musician who builds her own instruments illustrates the diversity of interests inherent to the maker mindset.
• Resilience: Makers are not discouraged by failures; they view them as opportunities to learn and improve. A maker mindset includes the resilience to overcome setbacks and keep pushing forward in pursuit of fascinating goals.
• Sustainability: Makers often evaluate the environmental impact of their projects. They may repurpose old materials or employ sustainable practices in their creations. For example, someone who transforms discarded materials into functional furniture exhibits a maker mindset with an emphasis on sustainability.

Creating a maker mindset in the youth is crucial for nurturing their creativity, problem-solving abilities, and innovative thinking. To foster this mindset, it's essential to encourage their curiosity, provide hands-on learning experiences, grant access to tools and resources while challenging them with real-world problems to solve. Exposure to a community of passionate makers who live by these principles daily and demonstrate a new way of thinking, in my opinion is the most important aspect of it all. When teenagers and the youth meet makers or go to makerspaces - they are challenged by an alternative way of thinking which changes the way that they learn and perceive the world for the entirety of life!

But more on this in my next article...