Page 260 - Design meets Business:An Ethnographic Study of the Changing Work and Occupations of Creatives

248 Design Meets Business
al. 2006; Henfridsson and Yoo 2013; Swan et al. 2016). Creatives facilitate liminality through empowering their clients to freely experiment with new technologies and connect with actors beyond their own networks (activating), while fluidly adapting their own role and involvement as they sense what are client needs (morphing). This study enlightens how limina- lity is facilitated by ceremony masters, therefore adding to existing studies that focus on those undergoing liminality (Garsten 1999; Czarniawska & Mazza 2003; Swan et al. 2016). It is demonstrated that creatives shift between roles in facilitating liminality for others, and thereby show adopt a liminal position themselves. Also, it is demonstrated that a key challenge of facilitating liminality is making sure that clients do not lose their commitment in creative process that sometimes can be chaotic. So, this study gives insights into the collaborative interactions that trigger crea- tivity, by highlighting the relevance of understanding creative processes through the lens of liminality.
Taken together, this dissertation research shows that as a result of new collaborations with business, on the one hand, the work and occupations of creatives are changing, and that on the other hand, work practices of creatives have stayed the same. It is argued that creative work is becoming more and more abstract, and creatives struggle to stay connected to their craft. In their new work contexts, creatives are encouraged to expand their roles and skills, using their craftmanship attitude to create new experiences rather than new products. At the same time, creatives put efforts in conti- nuing former work practices. Even though their work is oriented at deve- loping abstract outcomes for their clients, they search ways to continue making artifacts. Bringing in ‘the tangible’ in their primarily ‘intangible’ work, helps to connect with their craft and creative identity.
How will the work and occupations of creatives change as collabo- rations with business continue to develop? As we move further into the 21st century, in which digital technologies are ubiquitous (Yoo et al. 2010; 2012), demands for work are rapidly changing (Barley & Bechky 2017) and creativity is high on the agenda of business (Boland & Collopy 2004), new collaborations between creatives and business are likely to emerge. Colla- borations might not be limited to creatives and business, but also include other actors such as technical parties. Further, as most organizations are developing their own design and creativity skills, creatives might take different roles and for example help business to develop cultures (Elsbach & Stigliani 2018) or networks of innovation.
Even though it remains to be seen how collaborations between creatives and business develop, this dissertation research highlights the relevance of exploring the changing work and occupations of creatives through the lens