"Creativity is a skill that everybody has": Product designers talk about creative work

Creative workers are often seen as in a world of their own, as free spirits that care for their community and resist conventional management practice. But what do creative workers say about themselves? Based on a film made by product designers and featuring product designers, this talk analyses creative workers’ perceptions of work processes, skills, careers, locations and networks. It compares the product designers’ views with Richard Florida’s notion of the creative class and reveals a gap between the product designers’ self-perception and the representation of the creative class in academic and policy discourse. The talk will conclude with some methodological remarks about how we should – and shouldn’t – research creative workers.

Doris Ruth Eikhof is a Lecturer in Organisation Studies at the Stirling Management School, University of Stirling. Her research interests include creative industries, work-life boundaries, social theories in organization studies and women’s work. She has published in international and German academic journals and books, including Journal of Organizational Behavior and Creativity and Innovation Management, and is co-editor of ‘Work less, live more? Critical analysis of the work-life boundary’ (Palgrave 2008).

The talk draws on a study undertaken with Katharina Chudzikowski (Wirtschaftsuniversitaet Wien).

The seminar is free of charge and everyone can participate. No registration is needed.