Page 225 - Design meets Business:An Ethnographic Study of the Changing Work and Occupations of Creatives

5. Discussion 213
freedom to express their doubts, insecurities and even frustrations along the way. In a way, as teachers, we were the ceremony masters that facili- tated liminality for the students, just like the creative workers at Waag who facilitated liminality for their clients (Chapter 5).
An alternative option is to include design in all courses instead of presen- ting it as a separate course, as we did in Digital Innovation Lab. A reason for this is that a separate course in design might come in just ‘too late’. For example, in business schools, students commonly learn that reducing uncertainty and minimizing risk can be helpful in managing business more efficiently. Hence, when students only get familiar with design in their late career, such as in their Masters, it might be too big of a jump for them to change what they learned over the years (e.g. about reducing uncertainty etc.). In such case, it might take more efforts of teachers to make the students comfortable with the open-endedness of creativity and innovation. Indeed, as Dunne and Martin (2005: 522) write: “If design thin- king were added to the current curriculum, there is a risk that it would become another silo alongside finance and marketing. ...design thinking needs to pervade everything business students do: It would necessarily affect their approach to “traditional” MBA courses.” A benefit of including design into the entire curriculum, might be that students are challenged to think of design as an approach rather than as a toolkit, something that deeply shapes work and organizing instead of being ‘merely’ instrumental to it. Taken together, this dissertation research highlights that for business it might be difficult to collaborate with creatives because of their diffe- rent work approach, the difficulty in estimating the value of design and in developing a negative capability. At the same time, it is suggested that it is relevant to add design, as a separate course or as part of various courses, to the curriculum of business schools, encouraging business professionals to better understand how creatives do their jobs.
5.4. Methodological Reflection: Mastering the Craft of Doing Ethnography
“If this book of mine fails to take a straight course, it is because I am lost in a strange region, I have no map” (Graham Greene)
Doing ethnography is a journey into the unknown. You are off the map, charting an unknown territory. There are no clear signs, short-cuts, and traffic lights. It is riddled with ambiguity and uncertainty. Naturally, then, the journey is accompanied with all sorts of feelings, varying from anxiety