Page 162 - Design meets Business:An Ethnographic Study of the Changing Work and Occupations of Creatives
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                150 Design Meets Business
In organization studies, liminality has been used to explain a wide variety of phenomena, among which organizational change (Czarniawska and Mazza 2003; Sturdy et al. 2006; Howard-Grenville et al. 2011), iden- tity (Ellis and Ybema 2010; Beech 2011), learning (Tempest and Starkey 2004), entrepreneurship and innovation (Henfridsson and Yoo 2013; Garcia-Lorenzo et al. 2017), work rhythms (Vesala and Tuomivaara 2018), education (Simpson et al. 2010) and creative agency (Garsten 1999; Swan et al. 2016). Much of the previous studies on liminality in organizations, has emphasized how liminality is an opportunity for individuals and collectives to re-invent themselves, covering a wide range of actors such as consultants (Czarniawska and Mazza 2003; Sturdy et al. 2006), scientists (Zabusky & Barley 1997), strategy managers (Johnson et al. 2010), knowl- edge brokers (Swan et al. 2016), and employees (Howard-Grenville et al. 2011; Shortt 2015).
The first study that broke ground in organizational research on limi- nality is the work of Garsten (1999). In his study on temporary workers, Garsten (1999: 603) uses the concept liminality to give an alternative perspective to the idea of being ‘just a temp’. He suggests that the role of a temporary worker offers a lot of freedom in comparison to others who are less flexibly embedded in those existing normative structures, as maneu- vering outside of the “normative structures” offers them the opportunity to act as ‘knowledge brokers’ and create new knowledge. Moreover, he shows that the liminal position of temporary workers could be consid- ered as “a seedbed of cultural and social creativity, a position in which new models, symbols and institutions arise” (Garsten 1999: 615). From this we can conclude that liminality can be beneficial for organizations, insofar that liminal personae such as temporary workers can infuse organizations with “new aspirations, identities, and structural models” (Turner 1982: 28).
Taken together, the literature demonstrated that liminality is condu- cive to creativity, but so far has primarily emphasized the ‘limen’ (liminal space), ‘liminal personae’ (the ones that undergo the transition) and the process of transition. As a consequence, the current literature overlooks the role and behavior of those who facilitate liminality. This is surprising as Turner already mentioned in his early work that liminality is facilitated by ‘ceremony masters’ (2008 [1969]: 98).
4.2.2. Creative workers as ceremony masters
In his early work, Turner (1982; 1987; 2008 [1969]) suggested that ‘cere- mony masters’ are often the elders or respected headmen of a village, people who are legitimized to be in charge of preparing youngsters to their





























































































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