Page 173 - Design meets Business:An Ethnographic Study of the Changing Work and Occupations of Creatives

4. Facilitating Liminality 161
well-known Dutch journalist, a top researcher in the field of online behav- iour, and a successful business professional specialized in cyber security.
Second, activating was achieved by introducing clients to new technologies and creative methods. Especially in their labs, the Waag’s creative workers introduced their clients to new technologies including technologies like 3D printers, Arduino boards, and laser cutters. Next to experimenting with the technologies, creative workers introduced their clients to creative methods: “we draw inspiration from design thinking and co-creation activ- ities”, one of them said. While creative methods differed in each project, a common exercise was to prototype with “cheap and socially engaging technologies”. Through directly engaging with such methods and technol- ogies, the clients had the chance to connect these to their own experiences while at the same time envisioning solutions for the innovation challenge on which they worked.
Third, the creative workers activated their clients by encouraging their clients to play and experiment. Rather than dictating how to use technologies or how to conduct certain activities, clients were given carte blanche and were encouraged them to engage in their own sensemaking processes. One of the creatives highlighted in an interview that this was intentional:
“We let them muddle along. We do not take over from them. It is not like, ‘give us an assignment and we come up with a turnkey solution’. ... They need to play and figure it out by themselves.”
Moreover, activating allowed Waag’s creative workers’ clients to explore novel solutions by offering them a collective, hands-on experience in which they worked with new technologies and creative methods around a specific innovation challenge.
4.4.2. Morphing
Waag’s creative workers also engaged in morphing. Morphing refers to the efforts of creative workers to adapt their own performances and roles to what is needed in a specific situation. This practice can be compared to the way the 1980s children’s cartoon character Barbapapa fluidly changes shape — from hammer to a house, one after the other — according to the needs of the situation he is confronted with: “We are exactly like Barba- papa — we can change into anything, take on all sorts of roles . . . [by] iden- tifying what is going on, and what is needed”, one of the creative workers said. Moreover, morphing is a responsive and dynamic practice and takes place through performing three activities.