Communities of play – a collective unfolding

Traveling concepts: Performative movements in learning/playing

“…To this end, we draw on the explicitly performative theorizations of Vygotsky (1978) and Mead (1932), as well as others who have sought to work in performative ways (e.g. Bal, 2002; Ingold, 2011; Shotter, 2006; Thorsted, 2016; Urry, 2007), to open up a more dynamic understanding of learning/playing as an ongoing social process of becoming. In particular, we argue that it is in the improvisational performance of learning/playing that what is can be transformed into what is yet to be.…”

“…Indeed, the pervasiveness of play in contemporary organizational practice is well demonstrated by Latusek and Vlaar (2015), whose comparative studies in Poland, the Netherlands, and the United States found playing was one of three persistent metaphors (the others being performing and fighting) that characterize how the work of managers is perceived. At the same time, play is increasingly valued in the practitioner domain, as exemplified by companies such as Google, 3M, LEGO, and IDEO where play-time is explicitly figured into working life (Mainemelis and Ronson, 2006; Thorsted, 2016).…”

“…As March (1979) argued, we need a playful “technology of foolishness” to complement the serious “technology of rationality” that currently dominates the organizational literature. Responding to this challenge, Thorsted (2016) advocated moving beyond the realism that underpins notions of play as a variable or a construct in theory, toward a processual ontology that recognizes the ongoing, relational continuity of human living wherein playing and learning are integral and co-emergent dynamics of organizing. While this alternative ontology has attracted increasing attention from organizational theorists and philosophers (Helin et al, 2014), critical questions remain about how to actually do empirical research that is informed by this perspective.…”

Skønne øjeblikke i sygepleje - en kilde til innovation? En fænomenologisk og dialogisk aktionsforskningsundersøgelse af skønne øjeblikkes natur og mulige forbindelser til en sygeplejefaglig udviklings- og innovationspraksis

“…Som mig forholder hun sig også kritisk, når det kommer til Scharmers forståelse af, at kilden til den bedst mulige fremtid skal knyttes til selvet. Igennem et aktionsforskningsprojekt i LEGO-koncernen har Thorsted ud fra et faenomenologisk og hermeneutisk udgangspunkt undersøgt, hvad man kan laere af leg blandt voksne i en organisatorisk kontekst (Thorsted, 2011(Thorsted, , 2013(Thorsted, , 2016. Thorsted konkluderer i undersøgelsen, at leg kan udgøre et transformerende rum som et springbraet for, at noget nyt kan emergere (Thorsted, 2011 s. 242).…”