Adam Savage’s 10 Commandments Of Making

Adam Savage took a few minutes on Sunday at the Maker Faire Bay Area to share what he feels are the 10 Commandments of Making. Braving the somewhat precarious elevated stage of the crowd-favorite Life-Sized Mousetrap, Adam addressed the audience with bits of wisdom and jewels of experience. It was obvious from the laughter that many of these insights and observations struck close to home.

Here is the short version of the commandments according to Adam:

1. Make something
2. Make something useful
3. Start right now
4. Find a project
5. Ask for help, advice, and feedback
6. Share
7. Recognize that discouragement and failure is part of the project
8. Measure carefully
9. Make things for other people
10. Use more cooling fluid

While he was here, Adam also carried on the now 5-year tradition of taking a picture with Super Awesome Silvia, holding a picture of the two of themselves from the previous year.

It is always fun when Adam comes to Maker Faire. The crowd immediately started coming up with their own commandments as he left the stage. Some of the more fun ones that I overheard while standing there were:

• Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s tools
• Love your fellow Maker
• Thou shalt not commit immediate negative criticism

I would love to hear what other Maker commandments you can come up with.