The liminal playground: identity play and the creative potential of liminal experiences

Ibarra, H and Obodaru, O (2020) The liminal playground: identity play and the creative potential of liminal experiences. In: The Oxford Handbook of Identities in Organizations. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 9780198827115

Abstract

Liminality is the individual or group experience of being betwixt and between states, roles, and/or identities. For both individuals and organizations, liminal experience is pervasive, often permanent, intrinsically problematic and a crucible for innovation and growth. Yet advances in our understanding of liminality in organizational life have remained fragmented, uninformed by empirical research in adjacent fields of scholarly inquiry or theorizing at different levels of analysis. This chapter aims to bring together disparate research and theorizing on liminality’s contemporary manifestations to conceptualize liminality as a creative process that affects the renewal and adaptability functions that are so vital to personal and organizational thriving.