Desktop Playground:

Transitional objects at play for everyday creativity in the workplace

INSEAD

Executive Masters in Coaching and Consulting for Change

THESIS

(Word count: 12,807)

Enoch Li

May 2015

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Adults are just outdated children

~Dr Seuss~

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To Flimmie, Poo Loo Poo Loo,

and my Bears

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ABSTRACT

Recognition of the merits of play in encouraging creativity is not new. Nor is

workplace design to stimulate creativity a novel concept. However, academic

research has overlooked individuals’ immediate workspaces – the desks. Few

studies have looked at how executives personalized their desks with objects.

Psychoanalysis, on the other hand, has long delved into the meaning of objects;

Donald Winnicott theorized that playing with transitional objects inspires creativity.

Yet, his theories have been confined to applications on children or therapeutic

treatment for adults.

This study connects the dots to investigate the role of non-work-related

objects in the workplace, and how interacting with these objects impacts

workplace creativity. Findings, interpreted through thematic analysis and

complemented by photo-documentation, confirmed that executives were

emotionally attached to their desktop objects, and that objects were used for fun

and thinking. Through semi-structured interviews, this study submits that

executives’ interaction with objects constituted play, through which everyday

creativity is stimulated – desktop objects became transitional objects.

A breakthrough finding was that desktop objects pointed to corporate

culture, and whether executives felt a sense of belonging towards their

organizations. Practical suggestions are proposed to executives, HR,

organizations, and consultants, on how personalizing workspaces with desktop

objects could boost everyday creativity, dissect corporate culture, and promote

team cohesiveness.

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KEYWORDS

Transitional objects, transitional space, Donald Winnicott, play, playfulness,

personalize workspace, workplace creativity, thematic analysis, photo-

documentation

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CONTENTS ABSTRACT 4 KEYWORDS 5 1. INTRODUCTION 7 2. RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 9 3. LITERATURE REVIEW 10

A) Transitional objects at play 10 B) Play 12 C) Creativity 14 D) Personalizing desktops 15

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 16 A) Analysis methodology 17

I. Thematic analysis 17 II. Photo-documentation 18

B) Data collection through semi-structured interviews 18 5. RESEARCH SETTING 19

A) Interview guide 19 B) Sampling 20

6. DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS 21 A) Gathering data 21 B) Analyzing data 22 C) Thematic analysis 24

I. Theme 1 – Object 24 II. Theme 2 – Owner of objects 42 III. Theme 3 – Space 50 IV. Concluding the thematic analysis 54

7. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 57 A) Everyday creativity from playing with desktop (transitional) objects 57 B) Personalizing desktops with transitional objects 61 C) Professional camouflage 64 D) Practical recommendations 66

8. LIMITATIONS 67 9. FUTURE RESEARCH 68 10. CONCLUSION 69 EPI (MONO) LOGUE 70 BIBLIOGRAPHY 75 LIST OF TABLES 90 LIST OF FIGURES 91 APPENDICES 94

A) Appendix I – Interview guide 94 B) Appendix II – Sampling statistics 95 C) Appendix III – Hierarchical organization of the thematic map with description of codes and examples from data sets 98

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1. INTRODUCTION

We, mature adult executives, have lost the ability to play. “But playing is for

children! What does it have to do with executives?” one might protest. This paper

aims to answer this question by bringing the familiar concepts of play, creativity,

and transitional objects, on to a new territory by exploring how executives could

boost everyday creativity with personalized objects on their desks.

Research dating back to the 1900s (Russ & Fiorelli, 2010) shows the

importance of play in children’s learning to stimulate creativity (Kozbelt, Beghetto,

& Runco, 2010). In contrast, it has only been a recent interest to look at the

benefits of play in adults or to assess playfulness (Proyer, 2013). There have been

attempts to highlight the value of play on executives’ workplace creativity (Ford,

Newstrom & McLaughlin, 2004; Kets de Vries, 2012), but most research on the

impact of play in adults is limited to mental health treatment using play therapy

(Fowler, 1999), stress management and well-being (Costea, Crump, & Holme,

2005; Lu, Kao, Siu, & Lu, 2011), team building (Chan, 2010; Maxwell, Reed,

Saker, & Story, 2005), and executive training (Kark, 2011; Kristiansen &

Rasmussen, 2014). However, there is nothing on incorporating play in daily work.

On the other hand, creativity is a widely researched topic (Runco & Albert,

2010), ranging from its definition (Kozbelt et al., 2010), genius abilities (Kozbelt et

al., 2010), assessment (Plucker & Makel, 2010), mental health (Silvia & Kaufman,

2010), fostering individual and group creativity (Acar & Runco, 2012; Ward, 2012),

and to workplace designs that could encourage creative thought (Kristensen,

2004; Puccio & Cabra, 2010). Yet, how playing impacts executives’ creativity is not

fleshed out. Aside from the typical example Google office’s slides (Puccio &

Cabra, 2010), and social gatherings (Chan, 2010), there is hardly any discussion

of what play means in the work context. Does every office have to be painted in a

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rainbow colours to be playful (Moultrie, Nilsson, Dissel, Hanner, Jannse & Van der

Lugt, 2007)? Is creativity only merited when there is an innovative product

(Richards, 2010; Styhre, 2008) or could devising different ways to solve work

issues suffice (Richards, 2010)? What elements of play and creativity are we

missing in the workplace?

I argue that one answer lies within reach: non-work-related objects on our

desks and workspaces. Central to my contention is Donald Winnicott’s

psychoanalytic theories on transitional objects – objects that infants could control

to learn the difference between playing and reality in the transitional space, a

space where creativity flourishes (Winnicott, [1971] 2005). Winnicott intended his

theories to be applied to adults too and explicitly talked about the benefits of play

to health (Winnicott, [1971] 2005). Pity then, the focus of subsequent research was

predominantly in psychotherapy (Mack & Milton Vierderman, 2000; Smith, 2009b),

and childhood development (Aliprandi, 2001; Caper, 1999; Perlow, 1995).

Winnicott’s contributions are not found in organizational studies, save for some

suggestions in creating transitional space for executives through training (Arya,

2011; Cerdin & Dubouloy, 2004; Dubouloy, 2004; Florent-Treacy, Guillen & Van

de Loo, 2013; Korotov, 2005; Küpers, 2011). Indeed, transitional objects’ effects

go further than infants. My study shows that personalizing the work desk and

playing with objects have implications beyond individual creativity; the presence or

absence of desktop objects speaks to the organizational culture and the sense of

belonging employees feel in their respective organizations.

Firstly, I will outline literature on play, creativity and transitional objects to

set the theoretical framework of this research, highlighting the contributions and

shortcomings. I seek to confine the scope of this research to Winnicott’s theory of

transitional objects without fading into a theoretical debate on object-relations à la

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psychoanalysis. Secondly, I will present the research methodology of thematic

analysis, supported by photo-documentation. Thirdly, I will illustrate my findings

from semi-structured interviews on how non-work-related objects impact

workplace creativity through play. Fourthly, I will discuss how desktop objects

function as transitional objects when executives play with them to help stimulate

different perceptions for everyday creativity to flow. There is emotional attachment

to the objects beyond aesthetics, which extends to executives’ attachment to the

workplace, or not. Lastly, I will conclude with limitations and suggest future topics

for research.

2. RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This research questions the role of non-work-related objects in the

workplace. It explores how personalizing workspaces affect our emotions and

behaviours. I aim to reveal hitherto unconscious elements that inspire creativity.

Accordingly, this study discusses the following questions:

- How do we interact with objects? Is this interaction, play?

- Do objects inspire daily creativity? Are we unknowingly using these

objects as transitional objects?

- Are there cultural differences in the way we approach objects?

- How can we dissect organizational culture through objects?

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3. LITERATURE REVIEW

This paper uses a psychoanalytic theory, Donald Winnicott’s transitional

objects to support boosting executives’ everyday creativity through play (Winnicott,

[1971] 2005). It is surprising that not more has been done to review the effects of

playing with transitional objects in organizational studies (Fotaki, Long, &

Schwartz, 2012; Korotov, 2005), especially when organizations are concerned with

promoting creativity. In this section, I will first delineate the theory of transitional

objects, play, and creativity from the psychoanalytic perspective, then review play

and creativity in organizational studies to point out key omissions, and lastly

highlight the limited studies in desktop personalization.

A) Transitional objects at play

One of Winnicott’s acclaimed contributions to psychoanalysis was the

concept of transitional objects (Winnicott, [1971] 2005). From his observations on

children as a pediatrician and a child psychoanalyst, Winnicott noted that infants

became attached to objects, such as “a bundle of wool or the corner of a blanket

or eiderdown, or a word or tune, or a mannerism” (Winnicott, [1971] 2005, p.5).

When playing with these objects, a space emerges between babies’ fantasies and

realities, where they create, test the environments, and learn (Winnicott, [1971]

2005). This space is the transitional space, made possible by the transitional

objects that infants used to play with as their “first creative act[s]” (Bollas, 1987,

p.15), to experience the extent of their control over the environment through play.

It is in this space of play that creativity prospers; Winnicott claimed: “perhaps only

in playing, the child or adult is free to be creative” ([1971] 2005, p.71).

From the psychoanalytic tradition, the term “object” varies, depending if one

is studying objects from the schools of Freud, Klein, Fairbairn, or Jung, to name a

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few prominent figures in the field (Greenberg & Mitchell, 1983). Objects in clinical

theories could refer to other persons, mother figures body parts, internal wishes,

fantasies and phantasies, or physical objects such as toys (Bollas, 1987;

Brickman, 2009; Caper, 1999; Greenberg & Mitchell, 1983; Perlow, 1995). The

focal point of this paper is Donald Winnicott’s premises of “transitional objects”

(Winnicott, [1971] 2005), referring to both physical objects or mental thoughts, as

long as they had meaning to the participants (Perlow, 1995).

To describe this emotional attachment to objects, Gibson reminds us of the

term, “Cathexis”, that Freud (Freud, [1911] 1958, p.221 in Gibson, 2004) used

(2004). Simply put, objects incite emotions, feelings, and thoughts in us. Winnicott

referred to catheted objects in his essays, and explained object-relating: “The

object has become meaningful. Projection mechanisms and identifications have

been operating, and the subject is depleted to the extent that something of the

subject is found in the object...” (Winnicott, [1971] 2005, p.117) Without delving

into object-relations theories, I emphasize the clarification Winnicott made

between the use of the object and object-relating. The use of an object is the

object’s function in reality, whereas object-relating refers to the projections of

selves on to objects, or the symbolic meanings and emotions the objects carry.

Over the years, the method of play and object-relating enriched

psychotherapeutic techniques (Fowler, 1999; Green, 2001) and Winnicott’s

transitional objects undeniably enlightened the psychoanalytic world (Issroff,

2001). It is a pity, however, when transitional objects are attributed to adults, the

context is confined to medical implications (Mack & Milton Vierderman, 2000) or

therapeutic treatments (Peabody, 2015), such as for developmental disabilities

(Demanchick, Cochran & Cochran, 2003), depression (Erkolahti & Nyström, 2009;

Weiss & Lang, 2000;), or borderline personality disorders (Lamb & Latona, 1989).

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A few brave souls investigated how transitional space is created in organizations

through coaching and executive training (Arya, 2011; Dubouloy, 2004; Florent-

Treacy, Guillen & Van de Loo, 2008; Korotov, 2005; Küpers, 2011), and analyzed

organizational boundaries using psychoanalytic object-relations theory (Diamond,

Allcorn & Stein, 2004), but none discussed playing or creativity with transitional

objects in the work context

Indeed, Winnicott’s hope was to spread the good news instead of

imprisoning play to psychoanalysis:

… it is play that is the universal, and that belongs to health: playing facilitates growth and therefore health; playing leads into group relationships; playing can be a form of communication in psychotherapy; and lastly, psychoanalysis has been developed as a highly specialized form of playing in the service of communication with oneself and others. (2005, p.56)

The worth of playing is elucidated by Greenberg & Mitchell for through playing, we

test possibilities and are imaginative and creative in a safe space (1983). Play is

crucial in children’s development; healthy adults must engage in play, too, to open

their minds to “fantasies, ideas, and the world’s possibilities in a way that

continually allows for the surprising, the original, and the new” (Greenberg &

Mitchell, 1983, p.196), a space for creativity to find its expression (Abadi, 2001;

LaMothe, 2005; Schacht, 2001).

B) Play

Then, what is play? One finds a kaleidoscope of definitions (Kristiansen &

Rasmussen, 2014). Many have tried to summarize the elements that compose

play but none have done it better than Johan Huizinga in his book, Homo Ludens.

Scholars regard him as a forefather in the research of play, which is:

1 Fully absorbing, 2. Intrinsically motivated, 3. Includes elements of uncertainty, or surprise, and 4. If it involves a sense of illusion or exaggeration. ([1949] [1955] (1971), in

Kristiansen & Rasmussen, 2014, p39). [formatting added]

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Scholars continued over the years to elucidate the concept of play. Eberle noted

that play is fun (2014) and set up a museum in the US dedicated to play. Gordon

contributed to the discussion by pointing out that the related concept of playfulness

is a personality disposition (Gordon, 2014), encompassing the traits of

spontaneity, expressiveness, fun, creativity, and silliness (Glynn & Webster, 1992,

in Gordon, 2014).

Sadly, the majority of researches on play centered on children (Maxwell et

al., 2005). Developmental theories of play and its significance in childhood

education and creativity floods literature, (Kozbelt et al., 2010), but is limited for

adults (Barnett, 2011; Proyer, 2012). Only in recent years did academics pay more

attention to adult play (Barnett & Magnuson, 2013; Gordon, 2014), with hopes to

devise an Adult Playfulness Trait Scale that lists traits of playful personalities

(Proyer & Wagner, 2015; Xiang, Shen, Chick, & Zinn, 2014).

From the organizational standpoint, some scholars were needlessly

concerned that playing could distract from work (Klein, 2014; Maxwell et al., 2005;

Ofori-Dankwa & Julian, 2004), was unprofessional (Berg, 1995) and immature

(Costea et al., 2005). Studies showed that the advantages of play far outweighed

these concerns (AJP, 2012). Play is developmental skill for learning (Kristiansen &

Rasmussen, 2014) – contributing to leadership development (Kark, 2011). Play

positively impacts health and well-being by relieving stress, building social bonds

and inspiring creativity (Barnett, 2011-2012; Barnett, 2012; Barnett & Magnuson,

2013; Gordon, 2014). Baptiste reiterated that a healthy workspace is dependent

on play and fun at the workplace (2009), such that events like company dinners,

employee appreciation weeks, and charity events, are known to boost staff

morale, promote group collaboration, and encourage loyalty towards the

organization (Chan, 2010). Ford at al. asserted that fun could lead to increased

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productivity and higher morale in the organization (2004). Along the same line,

Vijay & Vazirani’s research demonstrated that play and fun at work enhanced

employees’ creativity to devise brighter and better solutions (2011).

C) Creativity

Literature on creativity could be traced back to the ancient Greeks

(Kaufman & Sternberg, 2010) and covers many areas: scientific assessment

(Plucker & Makel, 2010), cross-cultural perspectives (Batey, 2012; Lubart, 2010),

innovation (El-Murad & West, 2004), organizational creativity (Dunne & Dougherty,

2012), developmental theories (Kozbelt et al., 2010), creativity and mental illness

(Silvia & Kaufman, 2010), and divergent thinking (Acar & Runco, 2012; Runco,

2010). Nevertheless, scholars admitted that studying creativity was difficult due to

the diversity of methodology and definitions, making it hard to draw consistent

correlations (Batey, 2012).

Most definitions involve an aspect of “newness” and “problem-solving” (El-

Murad & West, 2004; Roos & Victor, 1999). Creativity is the production of new and

useful ideas, distinguishing it from the related concept of innovation, which

involves implementation (Dunne & Dougherty, 2012). This paper does not aim to

add veneer to the grandiose intricacies of creativity research already present so it

is unnecessary to review each theory of creativity.

Rather, I concentrate on everyday creativity – individuals’ originality in daily

lives (Richards, 2010). It could be coming up with another way to write an email

response, or making a shelf to prop up the computer screen for easier viewing.

Everyday creativity is concerned with originality and meaningfulness (Richards,

2010), contributing to any organization in ways not limited to devising new

strategies or new models of gadgets, but to group collaboration and leadership

(Maimone & Sinclair, 2014). Everyday creativity carries the element of newness.

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D) Personalizing desktops

Play and creativity are inextricably linked (Aliprandi, 2001; Farhi, 2001).

Play provides a culture of innovation and encourages imagination and creativity at

individual, group, and organizational levels (Statler, Roos, & Victor, 2009) by

stimulating divergent thinking and generating new ideas or novel associations

between existing ideas (Power, 2011). Kets de Vries reminded senior executives

of the need to play, for it fosters creative thinking (2012).

Much of our play involves projecting our feelings, emotions and even

personalities onto inanimate objects (Styhre, 2008). We take comfortable objects

that are familiar to us to defend against separation and anxiety such as adults

rearranging temporary places like hotel rooms into settings similar to their homes

(Tabin, 1992). Other objects such as stuffed animals, or daily objects such as

mobile phones, are recipients of love and attachment, the absence of which

causes agitation or stress (Barlow, DeMarni Caron, Freyd, & Jennifer, 2012). Play,

which involves projection, is a way of exploring the link between external objects

and internal reality (Winnicott, [1971] 2005). In turn, this personalized play forms

safety and allows us space to be creative.

Taking this premise to the work context, organizations invested in office

designs to nurture creativity. Google decided that lava lamps encouraged fun and

play (Puccio & Cabra, 2010). Others like IDEO and Cisco prioritized visual

environments and infrastructure to encourage collaborative creativity in groups

(Moultrie et al., 2007). Literature has concentrated on office design, lighting, and

other hardware as cubicles, to improve creative output (Gunn & Burroughs, 1996;

Haner, 2005; Kristensen, 2004; Lewis & Moultrie, 2005), but unfortunately, omitted

analyzing the immediate workspaces of individuals – the desks and surrounding

spaces.

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A few researchers fleetingly alluded to personalizing desktops and spaces

(Swan, Bresnen, Newell, & Robertson, 2007; Puccio & Cabra, 2010). Tian & Belk

(2005) and Elsbach & Bechky (2007)’s research were more extensive, arguing that

the symbolism of personal possessions such as photos and mementos displayed

on desk surfaces, was to mark personal territory and identity, and to defend

against anxiety by acting as transitional objects to ease the pain of separation from

home and family for the temporary period of time at work. Laksy investigated

“executive toys” designed for display on desktops for play and distraction (2015),

though little was mentioned about other personal objects such as photos or

souvenirs. This leads us back to the research question of desktop objects. Could

play be present in normal everyday lives, where we use transitional objects to

discover our everyday creativity?

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Whilst the three areas of play, creativity, and transitional objects are not

new, the combination of the three in the realms of the work environment and its

application in organizational development is an under-researched area. Therefore,

instead of testing hypotheses, I framed the research question to allow for diverse

answers. I opted for a qualitative research method of thematic analysis,

complemented by photo-documentation. Data collected through semi-structured

interviews allowed for new topics and openness and so would provide the best

source for interpretation. Below is the reasoning for my research methodology and

data collection.

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A) Analysis methodology

I. Thematic analysis

This paper does not dwell on finding an objective reality (Lyons & Coyle,

2007) but is concerned with interpreting data to find meanings (Smith, 2009a). I

aimed to discover common threads in varied answers to explore the mesh of

playing with objects and workplace creativity, so flexibility was paramount (Attride-

Stirling, 2001; Braun & Clarke, 2006) and thematic analysis as a method “for

identifying, analyzing and reporting patterns themes within data” was most suited

(Braun & Clarke, 2006, p.79).

On one level, the paper investigates how participants interacted with their

desktop objects. On another level, what this interaction means for workplace

creativity and organizational culture. So, the contextualist approach in analyzing

themes is the most appropriate to “report on the experiences, meanings and the

reality of the participants…” (Braun & Clarke, 2006, p.81), and concurrently, shed

light on the unconscious emotions towards and interactions with the objects.

Thematic analysis is used as a process to code the qualitative information

as well as to interpret the data (Attride-Stirling, 2001; Braun & Clarke, 2006). The

data corpus is coded to identify themes from a theoretical perspective, driven by

my analytic interest of play behaviours in adult executives instead of the inductive

approach where the analysis is data-driven (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The analysis

is done primarily on the “latent level” (Boyatzis, 1998, in Braun & Clarke, 2006), to

look beyond semantics for underlying ideas, and unconscious thoughts and

behaviour (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Within each theme, the analysis would refer to

corresponding data sets that were identified by the specific analytic interest (Braun

& Clarke, 2006).

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II. Photo-documentation

Understanding of objects would be enriched if one could see the objects

participants described. Photos are essential to support the discussion of findings.

Photo-elicitation, one form of photographic research methods, whereby

photographs are viewed during data collection was unnecessary because

participants were either at their desks or could remember the objects so there was

no need to prompt their memories (Butler, Finniear, Doherty, & Hill, 2014; Parker,

2009; Slutskaya, Simpson, & Hughes, 2012). Rather, photo-documentation, the

other form of photographic method, is apt for recording the research setting and to

supplement thematic analysis by giving the words life through visuals (Banks,

2007, Collier & Collier, 1986, and Harper, 1988, in Ray & Smith, 2011; Bramming,

Hansen, Bojesen, & Olesen, 2012; Davison, McLean, & Warren, 2012). Photos

were collected by primary means by the participants (Ray & Smith, 2011). I

decided not to collaborate so participants were free to photograph their objects,

desks and workspaces as they chose to (Parker, 2009; Ray & Smith, 2011;

Warren, 2005), giving insights into how participants interacted with their objects.

B) Data collection through semi-structured interviews

Data were collected through interviews so I could converse with participants

in real time and react to their answers, as opposed to mere observation or surveys

(Abell & Meyers, 2008; Creswell, 2007; King, 2004; Smith, 2009a). Also, I could

focus on nuances of the answers instead of being distracted by steering

conversations as in focus groups (Smith, 2009a).

Interviews were semi-structured so I could ask participants similar questions

and stay focused on the topic, but allow flexibility for new ideas I had not thought

of (King, 2004). For consistency, I would open interviews with the same question

and had in a mind similar questions to ask, but was not glued to a script.

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5. RESEARCH SETTING

This section explains the preparation before conducting the research, and

comments on the sampling.

A) Interview guide

I devised an interview guide to identify the key elements to cover during the

interviews but preserved flexibility with open-ended questions (Smith, 2009a). The

first questions were easy and simple and the more sensitive ones about inner

thoughts and emotions were left till later in the conversation (King, 2004). I was

prepared for face-to-face and phone interviews. Understanding how participants

interacted with objects was more important than the actual venue of the interviews

so whether I was with the participant was not essential. Rather, the priority was to

find participants who could contribute meaningful data for this qualitative research

(Creswell, 2007).

The first questions set the scope to non-work-related objects – those that

were not essential for producing the work that participants needed to, and were

confined to the work environment, specifically the immediate work desks and

surfaces. I prepared “prompts” to explain my questions in case there was

confusion, and used the “funnelling technique” to probe for specific ways that

participants interacted with the objects (Smith, 2009a). Below are some examples

of questions I asked (see Appendix I (pp. 94) for the detailed interview guide):

- What do you have on your desk in the office that is not work related?

- Can you describe the object?

- What are thinking when you see/ touch the object?

- How does ….. make you feel?

- If you left this office and could only take one thing with you, what

would you take?

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- What do you mean when you say… ?

As I interviewed participants, I was mindful of observing their body

languages or changes in voice over the phone to look for clues and hidden topics.

B) Sampling

For the research to generate meaningful data, I decided on the sample with

purpose (Creswell, 2007). The number of participants was not predetermined but I

stopped conducting interviews after I found no more new topics or ideas in the

interview answers. For detailed sampling statistics, please see Appendix II (pp.

95).

I used a maximum variation approach in selecting my sample, to allow for

diverse variations (Creswell, 2007). I selected participants to cover a cross-section

of demographics, as I was interested in the role of desktop objects across gender

and age, ethnicity, and nationality. Nevertheless, I combined the stratified

purposeful direction when varying the sample, so that roughly half of the

participants would be of Chinese culture, so as to facilitate comparisons and to

look for differences between the roles of objects for Chinese and non-Chinese.

There were 34 participants in total, 1/3 male and 2/3 female, with ages

ranging from 25 to 64 years old. Participants were from 11 different industries and

represented 11 different types of roles within their organizations. I included

participants in transition or did not have permanent work desks to explore how

they personalized temporary spaces. Some of the participants I found from the

INSEAD network, others were friends in Beijing, and some were colleagues in

friends’ companies. This variation between people I knew and strangers meant I

could balance data amongst those I knew were ready to open up and those who

might not be.

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About 60% of participants were at their work desks while others spoke from

memory. It was not relevant that they had to be at their desks because it was not a

memory test and what participants remembered instinctually also pointed to their

emotional attachment towards specific objects. Approximately 30% of the

participants offered to send me photos of their objects during the conversations.

As I was using photos for documentation in the study, timing of receiving the

photos were not pivotal. The interest was in the participants’ viewpoints and how

they interpreted the objects, not a critical analysis of the objects aesthetics.

Appendix II (pp. 95) includes tables of sampling statistics with details.

6. DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS

In this section, I will first explain the process in collecting data, how I

analyzed the data using Braun & Clarke’s 6-step approach to thematic analysis

(2006), and then present the thematic analysis with photographs.

A) Gathering data

After selecting participants, I approached them to fix logistics for the

interviews and confirmed their permissions to record the conversations. During the

interviews, I paid attention to what the participants said to pick up nuances for

deeper investigation, observed any changes in voices and body language, and the

ambiance surrounding the conversation. I was mindful of not exhibiting positive

affirmations to avoid influencing participants’ mood, even though I steered the

course of the conversation. During the conversation, I took notes on my

observations or questions I would like to follow up on. After the interviews, I stored

recordings and photos on my computer.

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The interview recordings were transcribed with corresponding photos

attached to each transcription. Transcripts were done in the verbatim format,

including the laughs, and pauses; transcripts reflected the way non-native English

speakers spoke. Interviews done in Chinese were translated during the

transcription directly. Names were changed to protect confidentiality, unless

participants specified otherwise; Anglo-Saxon names were used to mask the

nationalities and ethnicities. Any other proper nouns were changed. Transcripts

were checked for accuracy a second time whilst listening to the recordings. A

paper audit trail, including the coded transcripts, notes, memos to myself, and

brainstormed codes and themes, is kept (Yardley, 2009)

B) Analyzing data

I used Braun & Clarke’s (2006) 6-step guide to thematic analysis and

adopted a contextualist approach, looking for latent themes in the data corpus. As

the first step, I familiarized myself with the data by reading the transcripts, with and

without listening to the recordings, a few times.

The second step was to generate initial codes. I highlighted relevant

phrases and words on the transcripts when jotting down codes. As I adopted a

theoretical perspective on the thematic analysis, I was engaged with relevant

literature from the beginning. When coding data, I was mindful whether data

pertained to my research aims (Abell & Meyers, 2008; Braun & Clarke, 2006). To

focus on the research topic, I concentrated on analyzing data relating to non-work

related objects, i.e. objects not necessary for the production of the specific work

for the specific roles participants had. This was because for work-related objects,

those essential to get their work done, the participants would have less choice in

selecting them, nor would these objects be the participants’ possessions. I was

interested in how participants’ selected objects played a part in their workspaces,

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which I defined as their desks, immediate work spaces, including some drawer

spaces connected to the desks, or for those applicable, their office rooms or

cubicle spaces.

The third step was to search for themes. After coming up with a list of

codes, I categorized those that were similar and eliminated overlapping ones. I

searched for themes not simply based on what participants verbalized, but looked

for hidden significances that I judged could be meaningful for the research topic.

Each category of codes represented subthemes or themes, with a sub-subtheme

in one case.

As the fourth step, I reviewed the themes.

Figure 1. Thematic map of the role of objects in the workplace

Then as the fifth step, I defined and named the themes, and drew the final

thematic map (see Figure 1). I entered the themes and subthemes into an Excel

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spreadsheet to form a hierarchical organization of the thematic map (Fay, 2011;

Monteiro Pascoal, de Santa Bábara Narciso, & Monteiro Pereira, 2014).

Simultaneously, I consolidated relevant data sets to discuss each theme. See

Table 1 (pp. 22) for the condensed thematic map; see Appendix III (pp. 98) for a

detailed one.

The sixth step was to write the analysis, based on what was meaningful,

and not statistics, i.e. number of participants who had the same or different

thoughts did not conclude significance. As this is a qualitative research, I

interpreted what would most illuminate the topic.

C) Thematic analysis

This section explores how participants personalized their workspaces and

the roles of objects in the workplace as per the data. I identified three themes: (1)

object, (2) owner of the objects, and (3) space. Within each theme, there were

subthemes that related to physical descriptions, and those that related to emotions

and unconscious thoughts. I will present the themes with examples, using quotes

and photos from participants, and where applicable, highlight the correlations

between subthemes by italicizing the codes and themes for easy reference.

I. Theme 1 – Object

This theme goes beyond describing what was physically present on

participants’ desks to elucidate emotions and behaviours associated with the

objects. I concentrated on non-work-related objects, for these were objects over

which participants had control whether or not keep on their desks. These choices

would shed light on the roles of the objects. Before the research was conducted, I

defined “object” as anything that was physical, 3-dimensional and could be held. I

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concentrated on the desks on which participants worked as the scope of location,

for I was interested in what was easy to reach and was in sight for the participant.

However, as a few interviews went on, the scope of objects and work desks was

refined. Firstly, I discovered that objects included tangible ones, as well as

intangibles, such as routines or window views. Secondly, some participants had

nothing on their immediate desks but I discovered drawer spaces near the desks

that had plentiful objects on display.

The Object, as an overarching theme, includes the following subthemes:

(i) Type: the different kinds of objects participants had, with 2 sub-

subthemes of tangible and intangible objects

(ii) Physical characteristic: the appearance and make of the object

(iii) Interaction: what participants do, or not do, with the objects

(iv) Use of object: what purpose the objects serve when participants interact

with the objects

(v) Emotional attachment: the emotions and underlying feelings

participants have towards the objects

These subthemes, while separate, were inextricably linked, for the physical

aspects of the objects led to understanding the purposes and uses of objects

beyond their intended functions, providing insights into the emotions these objects

brought about.

i) Types

This subtheme was divided into 2 sub-subthemes. Under the tangible sub-

subtheme, the codes I gave to the objects were those that were living, and those

that were non-living. The distinction is self-explanatory: living objects included

those that could breathe like plants or pets. There was a wide range of non-living

objects: toy cars, stuffed animals, figurines, postcards, photos of colleagues or

26

family members, edible snacks and vitamin supplements, hand creams, candles,

mood calendars, souvenirs and mementos from travels, and art items like

sculptures and paintings.

Figure 2. Toy figurines and plants (Evelyn, 25, female)

Figure 3. Toy figurine and plant (Lea, 44, female)

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I had not expected to look at intangible objects. However, a few participants

brought up the routines such as the time schedules they followed, or habits like

cups of coffee or herbal tea at hand.

Figure 4. Cup of coffee as routine habit (Mandy, 34, female)

Others mentioned views they looked out to for taking a break instead of toying with

the figurines on their desks. Thus, I included intangible objects as a sub-

subtheme, with routines and views as the codes.

Figure 5. Window view (Jacob, 41, male)

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ii) Physical characteristics

The codes here were aesthetics and material. Aesthetics referred to the

appearances of the object, whilst material referred to of what the objects were

made. The interest is less so in the actual material or the description, but what

spiked my focus was how participants described their objects. I observed

excitement in their voices, and participants became animated when they described

their mercury mechanical clock or leather bags. The detail with which they

described the appearances of their objects to the exact measurements showed

strong emotional attachment to the objects – a related subtheme.

Figure 6. Mercury mechanical clock (George, 36, male)

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Figure 7. "Young looking bag" (Amanda, 45, female)

The description of the material of a computer case became the primary

conversation with Michelle (54, female). We discovered childhood memories, for

her blankets were of the similar material as the computer case, and she felt a

particular attachment to this “simple” case.

Figure 8. "Simple" computer case (Michelle, 54, female)

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Participants gave details of intangible objects, such as routines with the

exact timing, and descriptions of scenery from their windows. They pointed out

that having a window view over the water reminded them of childhood homes and

so a view was paramount in choosing offices or temporary desks in cafés.

iii) Interaction

The codes here were conscious and unconscious. Conscious interaction

referred participants being aware that they were engaging the objects, and that

they intended to do so. Some reached out for the objects, touching, talking to,

looking at, or playing with them. Some, as Zee (26, female), would rearrange the

objects on the top of their desks regularly, and for those who had plants, took care

that their plants had water and sunlight. Others would dust off the objects, or fly a

remote control helicopter around the room. If toys were broken, participants took

immense effort to fix and re-fix the objects. Yen recalled: “… it keeps breaking,

either break a leg or the tail will fall off, so I have to fix (the funny horse) …” This

interaction points to an emotional attachment towards the object, explained under

a separate subtheme.

Figure 9. Zee (26, female) rearranges her desktop objects regularly

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Figure 10. Yen (42, female) fixes toys broken by the wind

Unconscious interaction referred to engaging with the objects without an

astute awareness. Some participants were performing another activity at the same

time they engaged with the objects. This included staring at the quotations stuck

on the cubicle space or flicking a pen while thinking, moving block puzzles around

while on a conference call, or touching the figurines on their desks. Weslia (30,

female) said, “I don’t remember… sometimes I didn’t even realize I turned the

globe.” Others turned to the intangible objects of window views when stuck on a

particular problem and needed a break. Interaction with objects is related to the

subtheme, the use of the object, within or beyond its intended function.

Figure 11. Bob (38, male) stares at the quotations near his desk

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iv) Uses of objects

This subtheme refers to what purpose the objects served when participants

interacted with them, thus closely related to the subtheme of the interaction with

objects. The codes encompassed the functional uses, but what was insightful to

the research was how the minds were engaged, and the corresponding moods

when the objects were used beyond their intended functions. Some participants

were aware that the objects served such purposes, especially if they interacted

with the objects consciously. Others were less aware of the uses until we spoke

about them.

On the surface level, the uses of the object referred to the intended function

of the specific thing, so one code was functional. Examples were using a ceramic

bowl to hold keys and coins, an aromatherapy fragrance dispenser, or putting on

hand cream for the dry weather.

On the latent level, moods and emotions were involved. Some participants

articulated the code of fun. Shana (43, female) enjoyed flipping through a mood

calendar to let others know what mood she was in.

Figure 12. Shana's (43, female) mood calendar (front)

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Figure 13. Shana's (43, female) mood calendar (back)

In relation to mental activities, a code was reflection, to think and muse over

anything. This was related to having fun in some cases. Shana explained that by

flipping through the mood calendar, it made her reflect on the moods she was in.

Another example was Andrew (42, male) looking (interaction) at his daughter’s

“splotches of ink”, for the abstract nature of the painting allowed his mind to “turn

inward to reflect and think”.

Figure 14. Andrew (42, male) looks at his daughter's painting for reflection

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The opposite of reflection, was the code distraction, disengaging the mind

or setting aside the task at hand. Habits such as browsing the Internet took

participants’ minds off whatever they were doing. Instead of wanting to think or

reflect, the point was to stop thinking and take a break. Another use of distraction

was from boredom; some looked at their plants or stared at their toys. A common

behaviour was touching or playing with objects when participants were bored on

phone conference calls.

A related code was de-stress. The distinction between de-stressing and

distraction was that de-stress referred to a relaxation from fatigue or exhaustion.

Examples were participants who were tired from looking at the computer and

soothed their eyes by looking at their plants. There was the element of feeling

relieved or comfortable, as opposed to the mental disengagement from the activity

as under the code, distraction.

Figure 15. Evelyn (25, female) looks at her plants for soothing tired eyes

Inspiration referred to new ideas, or coming up with ways to solve

problems. Andrew’s puzzle block served as a real life metaphor for complex

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problems. When faced with an issue at work, playing with the puzzle helped him

see things in a different light:

I feel that the puzzle helps my brain tune in to problem solving mode and it helps remind me to look at the problem from many different angles. The block puzzles can only be solved by rotating the blocks lots of different ways and I think this unconsciously helps me to think of solutions to the business problems by looking at it from many different ways. (Andrew, 42, male)

Figure 16. Andrew (42, male) plays with geometric puzzles when solving complex issues

Sam (43, male), echoed this inspiration:

I think, just to think really, and dream and somehow come upon new ideas in my workplace is when I’m looking at those wonderful, beautiful scaled models of racing cars.

Thus, this code was concerned with how interacting with the objects helps

participants think of different solutions or look at a issues from different angles.

What surprised me was that what I thought would be distraction was rather,

focus. One participant described it as a “focus in a distracted way”, so that when

on the phone, the distraction of staring out the window to look at ships in the

harbour helped the mind focus on phone conversations instead of distracting from

them.

Another code I did not expect was grounding, a sense of purpose in life,

and a reminder of the original goal. Seeing the objects such as family photos and

greeting cards from hometowns reminded participants of their families, and that

work was not the only thing in their lives. Lauren (40, female) put photos of her

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family members on her desk not for display, but to remind herself to stop working

such long hours. Jacob, who moved to China from the US, (41 male) explained:

…this makes me think more about my purpose of being here right now... I'm not home with my family, why am I not there and just makes me try to basically, makes me refocus… keeps me somewhat grounded and my roots, my, my family um, my general purpose…

Figure 17. Photos of grandmother and family members (Jacob, 41, male)

v) Emotional attachment

After looking at the surface characteristics of the objects and the mental

activity during interaction, I turn now to the emotions associated with the objects. I

first looked at the emotions participants felt when they interacted with objects, as

well as the attachment they felt towards their possessions. Then, I explored what

symbolism the objects had, the memories elicited, and how the givers of the object

gave rise to the objects’ meanings, thereby explaining the emotions and

attachment.

Emotions referred to how one felt when the objects were around. All were

positive emotions. Many talked about feelings of “comfort” and “happiness”, and

others mentioned feelings of “peace,” or “smiles” on their faces.

Attachment went beyond positive emotions to describe how participants felt

about the object. The participants expressed liking for the object, or that they

37

would never throw the object away even though it was derelict, such as Yen fixing

her “funny horse”, mentioned under conscious interaction. One question I asked in

the interviews was “If you could only take one object with you, which one would it

be?” This obliged participant to choose an object with which they were most

attached to expose their affections, and to explain why they felt so. Yane (28,

female) rejected the idea of only taking one thing, and said she would put

everything in one tray, and regarded that as one, “I can’t just take one thing” was

her proclamation, for she liked them all and could not part with any of them.

Figure 18. Mini brick animals (Yane, 28, female)

Figure 19. Yane (28, female) especially liked the animal, deer, and kept deer figurines on her

desk

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I discovered that such emotions and attachment were brought about by

something deeper than the appearances and physical characteristics of the object.

Objects bore symbolism – what the objects represented for participants in their

lives. For some, it recorded milestones. Matthew (40, male) described a stone he

kept on his study desk:

....that rock is a pretty unique item. You can't buy it. You can't make it. It’s a one of a kind thing. And it was given to me at a very, very, I guess a very vulnerable transformational period in my life that has become a very significant part of my life now.

Figure 20. Matthew (40, male) kept a cornerstone on his desk as symbolism of a life

transition period

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What looked like a plain, bowl, symbolized craftsmanship for Beatrice (34, female),

an architect:

…because it was very beautifully made by hand. To me, it’s a subtle message that says, “you can do nice things,” no matter whether it’s a bowl or you know, a building. It’s a very small object that has a lot of umm, intensity, and comforts in it...

Figure 21. Beatrice (34, female) has a passion for craftsmanship. Ceramic bowl (Top)

Figure 22. Beatrice's (34, female) ceramic bowl (Bottom)

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For Noah (44, male), a red smile-ly ball symbolized a sense of belonging, “…it’s

like ‘Appartenance’ in French, like I belong here.” It was an object that resided on

every desk he has worked on, travelling with him across continents for over 10

years. A link with symbolism in Noah’s case was material – the red smile-ly ball

was made of the same rubber as a red heart he had in the past, a gift from a

significant other.

Figure 23. Red rubber smile-ly ball that travelled with Noah (44, male) for over 10 years

As can be seen, there was more to Noah’s story. The material of the red

smile-ly ball, reminded Noah of memories, another code under this subtheme that

referred to people or events from the past. These memories made the object

symbolic, and as a result, his emotional attachment of not throwing away the ball

even though it was worn out.

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Similarly, Frank’s (58, male) sculpture reminded him of his grandmother,

who he considered a great person for surviving the concentration camps in World

War II. His attachment to the sculpture, i.e. the thing he would take with him if he

could only take one, was glued to his memories associated with his grandmother,

rather than simply the aesthetics from an artistic perspective, made by a renowned

artist.

Figure 24. Sculpture by renowned artist that reminds Frank (58, male) of his grandmother

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Emotional attachment could arise also from the giver of the object. Vivian

(30, female) talked about the ru yi on her desk, a Chinese object that means

prosperity:

The ru yi was from my mum, after she went to Taiwan. She said to put it on the office desk, so I did.

Figure 25. Vivian's (30, female) Ru yi (middle object)

So, for some participants, even though interaction was limited to occasionally

seeing the objects out of their peripheral visions, they chose to keep their objects

on their work desks primarily because of who gave them their objects, regardless

of aesthetics. Most objects participants spoke about were gifted to them by friends,

colleagues, parents, or children; a few participants bought things to put on their

own desks, but these objects tended to be plants or books they read.

II. Theme 2 – Owner of objects

This theme, describes the owner of the objects. However, rather than a

physical description of what the owner looks like, the interest here lies in their

inner theatres. This theme is concerned with what we cannot see about the

person, with three subthemes:

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(i) Past influence: how events from the past affected our present

behaviours

(ii) Present experience: how participants interpreted their own actions

and feelings towards objects on a day-to-day basis

(iii) Unconscious thoughts: emotions and thoughts about objects brought

into awareness

i) Past influence

We are all made up of our past. I coded this subtheme with childhood

traumas and childhood memories, referring to experiences during childhood that

left negative and positive impressions respectively. Nancy (40, female) told a

heartbreaking story of how her mother destroyed her world of stuffed animals:

I used to love dolls. But at sometime I feel the need to really graduate from there. I have… this dramatic episode in my childhood… when I was in fifth grade… I used to have a kingdom of stuffing animals. So I had this corner of this paradise, and I was just playing with the bears and dolls and in an imaginary world. Then my mother got really worried about me… one day finally she came to destroy my world. “You are not to play this way!” … and she just clean all the stuff… it was quite shocking...

Figure 26. Nancy 's (40, female) beloved bear on her desk

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This traumatic episode impressed upon her so much that 30 years later, still

affected her behaviour towards keeping stuffed animals. Nancy was attached to a

yellow bear on the desk, but she almost rejected the idea of having the bear there

for it was not “grown up.” Yet, she could not throw it away, and mended it with

threads when the bear fell apart and could not sit properly.

Other participants recalled positive impressions, and the objects on their

desks reminded them of such childhood memories. Shana (43, female) bought 5

stones, little bags that she used to play with:

I bought this because… I thought, ‘Hey, reminds me of childhood.’ So, I just bought it for fun.”

Figure 27. Shana (43, female) played 5 stones as a child, and her mood calendar peeps out

from the back

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Or, Ralph’s (64, male) enthusiasm when talking about his remote controlled

helicopter:

… with the helicopter, it’s me regressing to about age 8-10 and just having fun. As a kid, I used to fly remote controlled airplanes… I loved gadgets, and I still do love gadgets and remote controlled cars…

Figure 28. Ralph (64, male) would fly his remote controlled helicopter in his study room

To this day, Ralph would play with the helicopter on his desk when he wanted to

take a break from his work – a kind conscious interaction for fun and distraction.

Without a doubt, these past experiences affected the way we behave in the

present.

ii) Present experience

This subtheme was concerned with how participants interpreted their own

actions and feelings towards the objects in the present. Two codes I devised were

image and camouflage. These two codes spoke to how they conducted

themselves in relation to the objects at the conscious level.

Image was the persona that participants created and maintained in front of

others, usually with set ideas of how they wanted to appear to others. Most were

46

wary that toys, such as bears, indicated they were “childish” or “unprofessional,”

and would not match the identities they had in the society. Dina (34, female), who

had a toy bear to whom she defers when she has had a hard day, said:

I don’t want anyone from outside to see me as some secretary, ‘she has bears and she is financial controller so it’s not really suited to have all this stuff.’ So that’s why I put it on top of the drawer.

Figure 29. Dina (34, female) puts her bears in charge of the office sometimes

Dina had an idea of what was considered acceptable for her role in the office, and

adapted her interaction with the bear. She continued to explain:

Because I understand that nobody should see this {LG}1 in the office. I can put him on the chair, put the chair inside. And then I can say something to him ‘you take care of this place.’”

She masked the interaction from others, believing that her interaction with the bear

was not conducive to maintaining the image she would like. Likewise, Noah (40,

male) had an idea of what was professional:

I think red heart is too much in professional setting. I don’t find it professional enough, because the image I give to people.

However, when probed on why it was not professional enough, Noah was

uncertain. 1 In verbatim transcripts, {LG} refers to a laugh.

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Nevertheless, there were those who, despite thinking that toy figures on the

work desks were childish, relished the childlikeness. Yane (28, female) elaborated:

Yes, to keep a child’s heart is good. Sometimes we don’t need to care too much about others’ opinion. Whatever others say, I’ll be myself, do what I want. Most obvious in conserving this image in front of others was how

participants camouflaged the objects -- discounting the significance of objects, or

even denying they had any. Participants referred to these objects as, “silly” “really

stupid.” Some, as Dina, just pretend they were there for a different reason

altogether:

I can pretend they are not my bears {LG}. I can say that, ‘No, this is just gift from company.’ Even though participants were emotionally attached to their objects, their defenses

were strong and they found justifications of why the objects were displayed on

their desktops.

My observation was that some participants were embarrassed to admit they

possessed objects. There were long pauses, shuffles of the body, awkward

chuckles and giggles when discussing their objects. Most of them seem to have

the idea that playing or keeping toys were for children, thus felt uncomfortable that

they were seen to not only own objects, but interacted with them in different ways.

It was contradictory, that participants protested that they were not attached to the

objects, but subsequently explained how they took care of the toys or how happy

they were to see their objects. Perhaps it was the association of “play” to being a

child that caused the embarrassment, for they did not want to be seen as childish,

so they did not classify their interaction as play. Yet, after dismissing their objects,

most participants went into great lengths to describe the objects’ aesthetics and

their interaction with them.

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iii) Unconscious thoughts

This subtheme is about bringing unconscious ideas to the conscious. I was

interested in whether the participants had thought about their objects or were

aware of their emotions towards these objects. The codes were new objects

discovered and new insights.

New objects discovered were intriguing. Some participants were resolute

that there was nothing they liked or did not keep anything in their workspaces, but

our conversations revealed otherwise. Lillian (43, female) explained she had a

hippy upbringing and so did not have things that were dear to her, but eventually,

we discovered she was “attached to sunglasses.”

Figure 30. A few pair of sunglasses from Lillian's collection (43, female)

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Jacob (41, male) who presented himself as “not a knick knack guy,” was surprised

to discover that he kept magnets from places he had travelled to on the

whiteboard next to his desk. It was as if he did not realize these objects were

there, even though he knew unconsciously that he had them.

Figure 31. Jacob's (41, male) magnets from around the world

A conversation with Matthew (40, male) also reminded him of other objects he had

on his desk apart from the cornerstone.

Participants discovered new insights about themselves through the

interviews too. Most of them had not contemplated this topic before. I intended to

ask participants if they had talked about objects before our interviews. In most

cases, they pointed out they had not even before I asked. Frank (58, male) stated:

In the first place I want to mention that it was also for me a surprise to see how much I have on my desk, actually… which is not work related and had a specific meaning to me.

Noah (43, male) echoed this revelation:

Now that I have spoken to you, I realize that the ball gives me a feeling of anchor, and I will be more aware of it…

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To reveal whether participants had thought about the objects on their

desks, I asked them why they chose to put things on their desks or not, or why

they chose some objects over others. Beatrice (34, female) explained:

I didn't ‘choose’ not to. I just didn't think about it.

Some found the notion of what they were doing with the objects “weird” or that

they had not noticed their desks were plain; others started to think about the

objects’ significance during the interviews.

III. Theme 3 – Space

In talking about the space as a theme, I was concerned with how

participants interpreted their personal workspaces. As I conducted the interviews,

participants mentioned the tops of drawers next to the desks, cubicles, and offices.

Therefore, I expanded the definition to include these spaces in addition to their

desktops, but still confined to the workspaces that belonged to the participants.

This theme was not limited to the physical environment; I found that the desk

spaces were metaphorical for thinking and reflective spaces. Another dimension of

this theme was the participants’ workspaces in relation to that of the teams’ and

the organizations’. The 3 subthemes were as follows:

(i) Physical space: desktops and immediate workspaces

(ii) Mental space: the space in the participants’ minds when referring to

objects

(iii) Contextual space: personal workspaces vis-à-vis that of the teams’

and organizations’

i) Physical space

Some participants had fixed desks at offices; others who did freelance work

or were in transition, had more mobile desks, hopping from study desks at home to

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cafés. Others had offices but did not have fixed desks. The codes for this

subtheme were fixed location and temporary location.

Figure 32. Carl (48, male) has a study at home, and sticks to a routine starting at 10am

Fixed locations remained descriptive of the physical locations. Temporary

locations revealed participants’ thoughts and emotions, citing that temporal places

made them feel unsettled, so they did not keep many objects on their desks. This

sense of belonging could be interpreted with emotional attachment, for how the

participants felt about their personal workspaces, affected whether they placed

objects they liked them.

ii) Mental space

I did not anticipate this subtheme. Mental space referred to how the

participants saw their physical workspaces in their minds. Participants’ desks or

drawer spaces were metaphors for their thinking spaces in addition to the objects’

uses for reflection or inspiration.

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Sam (43, male) regarded his racecars on his drawers as such:

When I look at them… it takes me back to a very, very open minded place because to dream is to be open minded… When I achieve that open-minded state… I am able to come upon ideas that are unique, or ideas I might never have thought of in a brainstorming meeting....

Figure 33. Race cars free up Sam's (43, male) mind to think

Others spoke of de-cluttering their desks to clean up their mind. Bob mentioned,

Yeah, I think once you remove those files, you also helps you to clear your minds because you don't need to worry about those files ‘what are these?’

Tidying desks was a common behaviour for participants to organize their thoughts.

Home was another space that came up. Participants described images and

feelings of their homes when looking at their decorated and personalized

workspaces, linking back to emotions of comfort and peace, Whilst individual

objects brought positive emotions, the amalgamation of the objects in the spaces

conjured up feelings of home, a place where one could be oneself “without

pretense.” Zee (26, female) brought up wanting to make the workspace

comfortable because she stayed in the office for long hours. Patty (28, female)

reiterated:

Staying for long time, you'll consider this to be an indispensable part in your life. So you'll treasure it very much and then you want to decorate this place.

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Home was somewhere participants felt natural and comfortable. James (49, male),

explained:

It's just like my home. So I make sure that office is comfortable and – oh, home means er, a place where you are comfortable and you are natural in the way you are mentally… when you asked me this question then I realize that I'm creating things which are giving me a homelike feeling… it's an unconscious process… I have yellow flowers in the office, and you will find yellow flowers in my home…

Figure 34. James (49, male) recreates his home in the office with yellow flowers

His explanation also highlighted the new insights he had into his unconscious

thoughts, and emotions of comfort.

iii) Contextual space

In most cases, individual workspaces were situated in the context of

corporate offices or public spaces. The participants were not alone, and were

surrounded by colleagues or strangers in cafés. This subtheme explored the

personal spaces in the context of others’.

One code for this subtheme was groups, looking at the cluster of desks

near the participants, usually of the same functional team. Objects brought groups

together with common topics. Zee (26, female) believed that the toys on her desk

functioned to bring her team together:

Yeh, and you can see it on my desk because everyone can play it and borrow from me. We find a way to be a connection I think.”

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In contrast, Lauren (40, female) found that objects drew a line between her and

her colleagues, citing:

To me, colleagues are just colleagues, it will be difficult for us to be friends… Objects delineated personal territory and space vis-à-vis others in the surrounding

environment.

Another code was organization, which referred to how personalized objects

reflected on the companies. This was an unexpected discovery. Participants

asserted that if they were planning to leave the organizations, they would not put

their beloved objects at their work desks. Patty’s (28, female) observations were

acute:

For example, you can see the colleagues who will resign have less things. {LG} You can see it. Yes, less and less.

Participants would not feel the urge to decorate their desks if there were no

senses of belonging to the organizations – what was on the participants’

personalized workspace gave insights into the respective organizational cultures.

Equally, participants with mobile desks hardly have objects displayed, succumbing

to routines such as a cup of coffee to help them ease into unfamiliar surroundings.

IV. Concluding the thematic analysis

I presented 3 themes gleaned from the data corpus, and within the themes,

explored the data sets to explain the subthemes and codes. I drew linkages

between the themes and will discuss these interpretations further in the

Discussions. See Table 1 (pp. 56) for a summary of the thematic map in

hierarchical organization; see Appendix III (pp.98) for the detailed version.

Before I proceed, I would like to highlight one theme I decided to omit. I had

combined a stratified purpose approach in sampling to include a significant

number of participants with Chinese culture to explore comparisons. Prior

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research indicated that Chinese had different characteristics in terms of creativity

because of Chinese values of modesty, harmony, and respect for authority and

hierarchy (Bollas, 2013; Bond, 1996; Lu et al., 2011; Song, Wu, & Zhou, 2012;

Zhang & Spicer, 2014; Zhu, 2007). I expected Chinese participants to exhibit

different behaviours towards interacting with objects. However, I was unable to

find any distinctive attitudes between the Chinese and non-Chinese participants

from my data. Consequently, I am unable to answer the question of whether there

were differences in the way different cultures approached objects. Nevertheless,

my data is not conclusive on this matter.

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Table 1. Hierarchical organization of the thematic map with examples (condensed version)

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7. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

In the thematic analysis, I explored the roles of objects in the participants’

workspaces, and how they interpreted the objects. I analyzed what desk spaces

meant to participants and how this impacted the presence or absence of objects. I

now take these findings into the work context by applying and connecting the

theoretical frameworks of transitional objects, play and creativity. Firstly, I will

discuss the impact of desktop objects on workplace creativity through play.

Secondly, I will elaborate on personalizing desk spaces to inspire creativity. Lastly,

I will suggest practical recommendations for executives, organizations, and

consultants and coaches.

A) Everyday creativity from playing with desktop (transitional)

objects

Winnicott’s acclaimed theories centered on the significant worth of play to

inspire creativity, but how could transitional objects contribute to organizational

studies? From the clinical perspective, transitional objects referred usually to a

teddy bear or a safety blanket to which the child was attached. Extending this to

the context of adults, I submit that if one were emotionally attached to objects that

could stimulate everyday creativity, then it functioned as transitional objects.

Carrying this idea to the workplace and executives’ desktops, there was an

array of non-work-related objects: plants, pets, bears, pens, toy car models, toy

figurines, photos, magnets, rocks, calendars, toy helicopters, sculptures, paintings,

cookie jars, bowls, cups… At first glance, most participants did not think much

about these objects; some did not even remember they had those objects on their

desks or overlooked them even whilst sitting at their desks. However, there were

proclamations of excitement as participants rediscovered their beloved objects,

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recounting memorable trips or drawings by their children. The aesthetics appealed

to their senses. Maybe it was pleasant to look at, or the material of the object

reminded them of a happy moment in the attic as a child. Emotional attachment

was unequivocal.

These objects had meaning to the participants – “catheted” objects from the

clinical perspective, and would be a painful loss to anyone. Participants called

these possessions “mine” and irreplaceable”, demonstrating intense attachment

towards their desktop objects, for they could see themselves in the objects,

projecting their experiences and memories, and inferring meaning onto these

objects (Arthern & Madill, 1999). There is profound symbolism in the objects.

Unforgettable moments, wishes, and (unfulfilled) dreams were contained in lumps

of plastic or steel, which, for anyone else, bore no relevance. Some objects had

the excuse of being useful and functional, such as a bowl, but more could be said

of a decrepit key from years ago that could not be used anymore because the door

has ceased to exist. Yet, the participant kept it on his desk in remembrance of

days gone by, and in his mind, to go through a symbolic door to reenter a period of

time in his memory.

Figure 35. A key that cannot open any doors (Frank, 58, male)

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The next question then was, were interaction with desktop objects, play?

Although scholars might not agree on the exact definitions or assessment of play,

they rightly agreed that play was essential for a healthy life. The elements listed by

Huizinga, the forefather in the study of play ([1949] [1955] (1971), in Kristiansen &

Rasmussen, 2014), was that play was an act that was fully absorbing, self-

motivated, surprising, and included a sense of illusion. It follows that then, flying a

remote controlled helicopter around the office was an act of play for fun. Likewise,

pushing toy cars or moving the bears’ arms and legs around was play. More

ambiguous would be the actions of cleaning the toys, rearranging them, or patting

them. Could we call this play? It might be a mere look at the postcards, the simple

flick of a pen, or a light touch of the brick flamingo while thinking about next year’s

strategy. But if these acts were enjoyable, absorbing, and self-motivated, then this

must be play.

Of particular interest were the unconscious interactions with the desktop

objects. Many participants unknowingly interacted with objects regularly. They did

so while they were thinking or engaged in another activity. Others got up

consciously because they needed a break, so they went to water the plant, and

talked to it, coaxing it to grow and flourish – silly or delusional, one might

skeptically query. Yet, this is the exact essence of play – to carry an element of

exaggeration or illusion for enjoyment during a fully-absorbing activity that was

completely self-motivated (Huizinga, [1949] [1955] (1971), in Kristiansen &

Rasmussen, 2014). Parts of our brains were fully absorbed in this interaction,

whether we were conscious at the time or not.

A key here was that all the interaction was self-motivated. Job descriptions

did not specify “rearrange the figurines on your desk every two days”, “build

geometric shapes with blocks when you are bored on a conference call”, or “swivel

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your Mont Blanc pen as you think about 2016’s strategy”. The interaction came

from within the participants. They enjoyed it. They were engrossed in the

interaction with the object, albeit be staring at a small ceramic bowl containing an

mélange of stuff. During the interaction, a thinking space was created, whether for

reflection or distraction.

What was unexpected from the findings was the fact that intangibles as

routines, schedules, habits, and views from the windows, were just as important in

creating thinking spaces. Participants were equally attached, if not more so, to

their routines of needing a cup of coffee or herbal tea when they think, a magazine

to flip through, or a sea view that reminded them of their childhood country house,

without which they became anxious and agitated. These were hard to hold in the

hand if we took a straightforward definition of “objects,” but why not expand this

box of objects as Winnicott intended, to include mental thoughts and emotions too

(Perlow, 1995)? Admittedly, It was not clear from the data I had, on whether there

was any interaction with intangibles that could constitute play. Perhaps one could

entertain the notion that the sheer act of following a routine or staring out the

window, is a form of interaction, a form of silent play which was equally absorbing,

and fully self-motivated, with undeniable enjoyment, otherwise, why engage in this

activity?

Having established objects and deducing play, we turn to explore the

correlation to creativity to determine whether executives’ desktop figurines served

as transitional objects. Play stimulates creativity, ideation, and divergent thinking –

thinking from different perspectives and coming up with new ideas (Power, 2011;

Statler & Victor, 2009). Clearly demarcated in the data, was that participants would

sometimes play when they needed to think or reflect. Some objects such as art,

helped participants open up their minds to fresh ideas. Creativity is not only

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stimulated by the objects we could hold in our hands –participants asserted that

harbour and mountain views, and the predictability of routines helped when they

had to think through complex issues. This is in line with McCoy & Evans’ study, in

which they pointed out that “natural view from a window may be a method of

achieving exposure to the natural environment, while remaining present in the

interior physical environment,” and that this sense of freedom and openness from

the view is one that promoted creativity (2002).

Everyday creativity is exactly so: to contemplate the same issue from

different angles, engineer new solutions, and expose oneself to the possibilities of

an ah-ha moment, when one has learnt something new or saw through the

complexity of the spider web that it is but one long string. Coming back full circle to

desktop objects, I established that participants were emotionally attached to their

objects, whether it was toys or cups of herbal tea. They played with the objects,

consciously or unconsciously, which encouraged their everyday creativity by

generating thinking and reflective space. It follows that these desktop objects

functioned as transitional objects. This brings us to the next mystery: how can we

make use of desktop objects in the work context?

B) Personalizing desktops with transitional objects

The ultimate goal of creativity is to find new solutions to existing problems,

and to find new ways of thinking. Organizations are obsessed with creativity to

keep up with societal and economic development. Research that looked at

methods to stimulate creativity in individuals, groups, and organizations, is not

lacking. Deliberations about designing environments to promote creativity are

endless; architects, designers, and scholars delved into creating spaces for team

collaboration, temporary relaxation, cultivating loyalty to the organization,

brainstorming new ideas, and for fun. Questions hovered around cubicle or not,

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desk dimensions, ergonomics of swivel chairs, cushion colours, and pantry

locations. Neglected though, are executives’ immediate desktops and workspaces.

Specifically how to stimulate creativity with things executives already had on their

desks?

The desk was what contained the objects, enabling play and thereby

creativity to prosper. What I did not expect to find, was that the desk spaces,

cubicles, and offices, were more than physical locations to display objects, to put

the coffee cup that was pivotal in the routine, or to juxtapose the window view;

desks became metaphors for de-cluttered thinking spaces and feelings of home.

Figure 36. Beatrice (34, female) tidies her desk

Figure 37. A d-cluttered desk helps Weslia (30, female) to think

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Desks were second homes to some participants, who wanted to decorate

them with catheted objects instead of designer items that meant nothing. The

showcase of desktop objects pertained to a sense of belonging and loyalty to the

organization. On the flip side, when participants felt that the organization was a

temporal space and they intended to leave, they took less care to personalize their

desks. One participant even started to remove objects over the course of a few

years as she became disheartened at the company. Displayed desktop objects

also became topics of chatter amongst the team members, facilitating

collaboration at work by informal brainstorming sessions. Those in transition or

were freelancers had more trouble feeling anchored, for they had no desks on

which to display their catheted transitional objects. To battle this feeling of

instability, some found solace in carrying the same bag each time they had to

work, or photos on their mobile phones (Ribak, 2009).

Objects might stand on desks in silence, but their messages are loud and

bold – we just have not heard them. On an individual level, desktop objects

functioned as transitional objects when executives interacted with them, a form of

play that brought about enjoyment and fun, and was motivated by the executives

who became absorbed in the activity. Playing with the desktop objects inspired

creativity for everyday work and living by creating a space for executives to think

through issues.

On the group level, these objects formed points of reference for building

team relations. From the organizational perspective, desktop personalizing

advanced feelings of belonging and loyalty, so that employees felt that they were

working in home-like, comfortable environments. Extending this notion, desktop

objects provide a lens through which to discover the organizational culture.

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C) Professional camouflage

My study revealed another fascinating dimension of play. Executives did not

think play was appropriate in the workplace, deeming it unprofessional. Not many

participants used the word, “play”, during the interviews. Some found the notion

strange and had not thought about their desktop displays prior to the interviews.

Some chuckled awkwardly when they acknowledged that they had fun when they

talked to their plants or toy bears; others were reticent and seemed discomfited to

admit that they cared to clean the thin veneer of dust on their figurines. Still others

defended their actions by dismissing the objects or denying they had any. The

idea of playing in the office was not entirely novel, but strange to them, as if it

made sense in the academic journals but not so much in the offices – they were

not Google, and some even found such vibrant offices over the top.

Or, because, as adults, we reject the idea that we play, pigeonholing play

for children – that we must grow up and “graduate” from playing? A worn out bear

peaks out from a desk corner, wearing a T-shirt bearing the logo of another

company, representing a suppressed desire for what was once a much-loved

activity in childhood but for fear that society would not approve, and so

camouflaged play as a corporate gifts. Why is play unprofessional? Participants

could not agree, or even begin to understand their own stereotypes.

Playing was not intended solely for children; adults too, could not do without

play if we were to have a healthy life (Winnicott, [1971] 2005). Play has been

associated with relaxation, de-stress, and we could see in the research, that

indeed participants interacted with their objects when they needed to take a break

or unwind. The concern of image could diminish objects’ potential to spur

creativity, but at the same time, clichéd examples of toys could just be props on

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desks. It would be hard to qualify the difference and the data in my study had not

reached such depths of investigation – perhaps an idea for the next paper.

Figure 38. A reminder to relax when faced with difficult issues at work (Vivian, 31, female)

I expected to find cultural differences in the way Chinese participants played

compared to non-Chinese participants. Generalization of Chinese values such as

humility, respect for authority and following instructions, led me to wonder if

Chinese were considered less playful or less creative in the organizational context

because they were bound by societal values. Bollas pointed to the opposite when

discussing the nature of free associations and imagery in ancient Chinese

literature (2013). I was interested in this paradox but could not find convincing data

sets in my study to draw parallels or comparison between how people of different

cultures played. Nevertheless, this does not mean that differences do not exist.

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D) Practical recommendations

This research revealed the roles of desktop objects, demonstrating how

objects could perform as transitional objects for participants to play with, and in the

process, inspired their everyday creativities. It is noted that creativity could be

stimulated in multiple ways. Likewise, play’s contribution is not only in arousing

new ideas. Nevertheless, this study addressed a research gap by exposing

hitherto unconscious thoughts, behaviours, and emotions relating to objects, and

bridging the studies of play and creativity in psychoanalysis into organizational

studies. Desktop personalization contributes to stimulating everyday creativity

through playing with objects. As such, some practical suggestions are as follows.

For individual executives:

- Be aware of how objects function as transitional objects in your

work (and life) to boost everyday creativity

- Personalize workspaces to create a thinking space

- Play with objects to relieve stress and tackle roadblocks

- Dispel fears of childishness or silliness

For human resources professionals:

- Ask job interviewees to describe their desktops to gain insight into

their thinking and personalities

- Consider desktop displays as a measure for looking at personality

fit into the organization and allow staff to express themselves

through objects

- Advocate playing with objects to maintain employee well-being

through using objects as relaxation and de-stressing

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For organizations:

- Go beyond traditional modes of fun such as social gatherings by

allowing employees to place their favourite objects on their desks

to stimulate everyday creativity

- Build team work and loyalty to the company by encouraging

desktop personalization to ensure staff retention

- Rethink ‘clean desk policies’ (apart from confidential documents)

to allow catheted objects on desktops to reinforce creative thinking

For the consultant and coach:

- Dissect organizational culture using desktop objects as a lens and

tool

- Use objects in executive training. Ask executives to bring

something from their desks and see what might be revealed

- Create workshops focused on desk spaces and desktop objects.

8. LIMITATIONS

As with all research, there were limitations to mine. In conducting qualitative

research, subjective researcher bias on my part was inevitable. Firstly, in

collecting data, I might have missed out nuances that could be valuable for the

analysis. My responses during the interviews could have influenced participants

and steered their answers in certain directions, especially if they knew what I was

looking for. As some interviews were conducted in Cantonese and Mandarin, there

could be translation biases and errors in the transcripts.

Although I ensured I kept a record of interviews, and a paper trail of

transcripts and coding, I played an active part in interpreting the data. Thus, in

looking for what would be relevant for my research topic, I could have missed out

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other data sets that were equally important for the study. In addition, I had to

ignore data sets that I could not address within the scope of this paper, but could

be valuable for future research topics.

9. FUTURE RESEARCH

As I focused on play, creativity and the application of transitional objects in

the work context, some interesting data sets in this research was ignored.

Moreover, this study hinted at other topics of research possible in the related field

of play and creativity. The following are some suggestions for future research:

- Comparisons between how different age groups, genders, and cultures

kept desktop objects or played

- Investigate what executives kept hidden inside drawers compared to

what were displayed on desktops

- Explore the effects of projections and transferences on to these desktop

objects and how it affects our workplace personas and archetypes,

especially in maintaining the images executives wanted

- Discuss what is considered “professional” in the work context and how it

affected executives’ play behaviours and their authenticity

- Expose executives’ vulnerabilities by looking at their desktop objects

through fewer in-depth interviews

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10. CONCLUSION

“If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good.” So said

Dr Seuss. And Dr Seuss is very wise. We have not forgotten how to play – we just

did not know we were playing, or were too embarrassed to admit we were having

fun.

This study showed that executives almost universally kept catheted objects

on their desktops. Some did not understand why they were so emotionally

attached to the objects, and most did not see that the objects functioned as

transitional objects at times. They interacted with the objects in different ways,

playing silently and unknowingly. Whatever the small movement, it helped

executives think. It helped them create. It helped them relax.

I did not make a profound discovery that play stimulates creativity. My

contribution is in addressing research gaps by showing executives what to play

with. We already know how to play. Instead of looking outwards for tips to boost

creativity, we need to turn inwards and look at what we readily have on our desks.

We need to tap into our inner childs. Organizations do not need to purchase

expensive light bulb arrangements; rather encourage executives to play with

something that bear meanings to them for creativity to flourish. Judge not your

managers by a fluffy pencil case on their desks – it could well be the remedy to a

business problem.

Play is the process, creating transitional space.

Object is the tool, embedding unconscious thoughts and emotions.

Creativity is the harvest, enlightening reflections.

Be bold and express playful natures. It is inherent in us. After all, “we are all mad

here!” – so said Lewis Carroll.

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EPI (MONO) LOGUE

Serendipity was how this paper came about. From collecting Snuffles toy

bears during my days of clinical depression stemming from burnout, to being

ashamed with playing with toys at the age of 30+, to one day writing a paper that

advocates play was beyond my imagination.

When I started talking to my bears four years ago, giving them names and

personalities, I did not understand I was projecting myself onto them. I created a

safe space to analyze myself through inanimate objects. I conceived the idea of

Bearapy (http://bearapy.me), a term my husband coined, by using play to help

those in depression understand their realities. Yet, I was met with ridicule. Most

friends thought I was weird enough to have a study room called, “The Bear Room”.

Figure 39. The Bear Room with Snuffles bears and jigsaw puzzles

Over time, however, they understood that this was who I was. I became less

embarrassed and accepted that this was me – I just wanted to play. I rediscovered

my hidden creativities through play. So, I soldiered on with the idea, developing it

into a workshop for executive training, such as role play through bears and other

71

projection techniques, with the aim of increasing self-awareness, expressing the

inner creativity and thereby improving employees’ well-being.

Figure 40. Reminder of what's important – “It's not the age, it's the attitude.”

I thought I would test the Bearapy workshop as an action-research project

for the EMCCC thesis. However, it felt like vindication, to showcase Bearapy as

credible. Nonetheless, I tested the Bearapy workshop idea with a few EMCCC

classmates. Some of them were so avidly passionate about Bearapy that I felt they

could be mascots. During the workshop, we role-played with bears. We laughed at

our voice changes in the activities. We discussed transitional objects. I was

intrigued that some classmates did not know what their transitional objects were.

Some found it difficult to play.

Play came naturally for me, and I have many catheted objects. So I

wondered, if one person did not know what their objects meant to them, then there

must be a second one. If our work desks were plastered with toys and photos,

were we aware of their presences or their impacts at work? Amidst these

discussions, the thesis topic shot across the sky like a comet, brilliant in the dreary

night of confusion. Unless I understood how objects affected and impacted our

72

behaviours and emotions, I could not design a workshop that utilized objects. So I

scaled back from the action-research topic idea, and focused on first

understanding the roles of objects.

Figure 41. Figurines from my favourite cartoon as a child

During the research, I took time to look at my own desktop space. Each

meant something. Each bore a silent message to me. They were always there, but

I was not always aware of them. This thesis gave me a chance to engage with the

objects once again, to reevaluate their meanings to me.

73

Figure 42. My attempt at drawing bears

Figure 43. Rediscovering my creativity –“Express yourself, Delay no more!”

A few months ago, “The Bear Room” was demolished to form a joint study

room with my husband, as we had to create space for our new baby. I was

devastated – and was angry at the baby’s invasion into my life. But as the process

went on (and I did get to keep a Bear Corner in the living room), I realized that the

lesson for me has changed from projecting myself onto bears for self-reflection, to

74

letting go. Which ones do I keep and which ones do I put away? As I evolve, so

did my objects.

Figure 44. My daughter fascinated by the wastepaper basket

I believe in the Bearapy idea. I believe it can be translated into the

corporate environment. I believe we need to play and have fun, if only for our own

sanity and health. Creativity is in us. This thesis reminds me, as I take on the role

of being a mother, to never stifle the enthusiasm or crush the imagination my baby

has, for I had mine boxed up for the sake of achievements and maturity. I hope, in

the same way, that this essay could remind others, to preserve our curiosity and

inner child, for there is fun in even a wastepaper basket!

May the world play more!

Yours Bearly,

Nochie

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LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Hierarchical organization of the thematic map with examples (condensed

version) 56 Table 2. Age and gender divide of participants 95 Table 3. Ethnicities of participants 95 Table 4. Nationalities of participants 96 Table 5. Industry of participants 96 Table 6. Functional roles of participants 97 Table 7. Location of participants at the time of interview 97 Table 8. Number of participants who offered to send photos of objects versus my

request 97 Table 9. Hierarchical organization of the thematic map with description of codes

and examples from data sets 98

91

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Thematic map of the role of objects in the workplace 23

Figure 2. Toy figurines and plants (Evelyn, 25, female) 26

Figure 3. Toy figurine and plant (Lea, 44, female) 26

Figure 4. Cup of coffee as routine habit (Mandy, 34, female) 27

Figure 5. Window view (Jacob, 41, male) 27

Figure 6. Mercury mechanical clock (George, 36, male) 28

Figure 7. "Young looking bag" (Amanda, 45, female) 29

Figure 8. "Simple" computer case (Michelle, 54, female) 29

Figure 9. Zee (26, female) rearranges her desktop objects regularly 30

Figure 10. Yen (42, female) fixes toys broken by the wind 31

Figure 11. Bob (38, male) stares at the quotations near his desk 31

Figure 12. Shana's (43, female) mood calendar (front) 32

Figure 13. Shana's (43, female) mood calendar (back) 33

Figure 14. Andrew (42, male) looks at his daughter's painting for reflection 33

Figure 15. Evelyn (25, female) looks at her plants for soothing tired eyes 34

Figure 16. Andrew (42, male) plays with geometric puzzles when solving complex

issues 35

Figure 17. Photos of grandmother and family members (Jacob, 41, male) 36

Figure 18. Mini brick animals (Yane, 28, female) 37

Figure 19. Yane (28, female) especially liked the animal, deer, and kept deer

figurines on her desk 37

Figure 20. Matthew (40, male) kept a cornerstone on his desk as symbolism of a

life transition period 38

Figure 21. Beatrice (34, female) has a passion for craftsmanship. Ceramic bowl

(Top) 39

92

Figure 22. Beatrice's (34, female) ceramic bowl (Bottom) 39

Figure 23. Red rubber smile-ly ball that travelled with Noah (44, male) for over 10

years 40

Figure 24. Sculpture by renowned artist that reminds Frank (58, male) of his

grandmother 41

Figure 25. Vivian's (30, female) Ru yi (middle object) 42

Figure 26. Nancy 's (40, female) beloved bear on her desk 43

Figure 27. Shana (43, female) played 5 stones as a child, and her mood calendar

peeps out from the back 44

Figure 28. Ralph (64, male) would fly his remote controlled helicopter in his study

room 45

Figure 29. Dina (34, female) puts her bears in charge of the office sometimes 46

Figure 30. A few pair of sunglasses from Lillian's collection (43, female) 48

Figure 31. Jacob's (41, male) magnets from around the world 49

Figure 32. Carl (48, male) has a study at home, and sticks to a routine starting at

10am 51

Figure 33. Race cars free up Sam's (43, male) mind to think 52

Figure 34. James (49, male) recreates his home in the office with yellow flowers 53

Figure 35. A key that cannot open any doors (Frank, 58, male) 58

Figure 36. Beatrice (34, female) tidies her desk 62

Figure 37. A decluttered desk helps Weslia (30, female) to think 62

Figure 38. A reminder to relax when faced with difficult issues at work (Vivian, 31,

female) 65

Figure 39. The Bear Room with Snuffles bears and jigsaw puzzles 70

Figure 40. Reminder of what's important – “It's not the age, it's the attitude.” 71

Figure 41. Figurines from my favourite cartoon as a child 72

93

Figure 42. My attempt at drawing bears 73

Figure 43. Rediscovering my creativity –“Express yourself, Delay no more!” 73

Figure 44. My daughter fascinated by the wastepaper basket 74

94

APPENDICES

A) Appendix I – Interview guide Requesting for interview

1. My research topic is on how objects at your work desk impact creativity. The interview would take approximately 30-45 minutes. Would it be possible to interview you?

2. All answers are kept confidential and anonymous. Requesting for recording

3. Do you mind if I record our conversation?

Opening question 4. What do you have on your desk in the office that are not work

related?

Physical qualities of the objects 5. How long have you had it for? 6. Can you describe the object? 7. Where do you put them?

Exploring the interaction with the object

8. What do you do with the object? 9. How does it make you feel when you interact with the object? 10. Why do you look at it? 11. What are you thinking when you see / touch it? 12. When do you interact with the object? 13. What do the objects remind you of?

Probes and Funnelling questions

14. Do you rearrange the objects? 15. If you left this office or moved desks and could only take one thing

with you, which one would you take? Why? 16. How do you feel when you touch the object? See the object? 17. What do you mean when you say …. ? 18. It has been suggested that playing could inspire creativity, such as

Google’s work environment. What do you think of this?

95

B) Appendix II – Sampling statistics

AGE 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 Sub Total

GENDER Female 7 5 7 2 0 21 Male 1 4 6 1 1 13

TOTAL 34

Table 2. Age and gender divide of participants

ETHNICITIES NO. OF PARTICIPANTS American 1 British 6 Chinese 16 Danish 1 Dutch 1 Indian 3 Israeli 1 Italian 1 Japanese 2 Kazakkh 1 Russian 1

TOTAL 34 Table 3. Ethnicities of participants

96

NATIONALITIES NO. OF PARTICIPANTS American 5 British 3 Canadian 1 Chinese 12 Danish 1 Dutch 1 Indian 3 Italian 2 Israeli 1 Japanese 2 Kazakh 1 Korean 1 Mauritian 1 Russian 2 Singaporea 4 Swiss 1

TOTAL 41 Table 4. Nationalities of participants2

INDUSTRY NO. OF PARTICIPANTS Architecture 1 Management Consultant 4 Education 4 Finance 5 Government 2 Heavy Industries 1 Hospitality 3 Human Resources 2 International Organization 1 Public Relations / Agency 7 Shipping 1 In Transition 3

TOTAL 34 Table 5. Industry of participants

2 The number of participants here is higher than the actual number as some participants

have more than one nationality, which gives insights into the diverse cultures and backgrounds of the participants.

97

FUNCTIONAL ROLE NO. OF PARTICIPANTS Consultant 7 Designer 2 Finance Controller 2 Freelance 3 IT 2 Human Resources 8 Management 13 Professor 2 Sales 1 Social Media Relations 3 In Transition 3

TOTAL 46 Table 6. Functional roles of participants3

LOCATION AT INTERVIEW NO. OF PARTICIPANTS At Desk 19 Not at Desk 15

TOTAL 34 Table 7. Location of participants at the time of interview

PHOTOS NO. OF PARTICIPANTS Offered to send photos 13 Sent photos at my request 21

TOTAL 34 Table 8. Number of participants who offered to send photos of objects versus my request

3 The number of participants here is higher than the actual number as some participants

have more than one functional role at their organizations.

98

C) Appendix III – Hierarchical organization of the thematic map with description of codes and examples from data sets

This hierarchical organization of the thematic map includes selected examples from interviews.

Table 9. Hierarchical organization of the thematic map with description of codes and examples from data sets

MAIN THEME

SUB THEME

SUB-SUB THEME

CODE DESCRIPTION

EXAMPLES FROM INTERVIEWS -Oh sorry, I have a plant -Others...this is the cage I put my rabbit before.

Living Physical objects / 3D objects that can be held in hands, and can breathe / has a life

-I have a nice ceramic bowl, that -I put my keys and coins and stuff inside… -I have photos of all the participants including myself… -I have a block puzzle in a little yellow bag. These are blocks of different geometric shapes. -She also put her “masked man” here -It’s a yellow bear, and I cannot throw it away, it’s been like 7 years. -the toy car is a common gear convertible which I have owned before

Tangible

Non Living Physical objects / 3D objects that can be held in hands, and cannot breathe / does not have a life

-my windows, my office looks at Guomao and like all of downtown and everything so... -I have a view overlooking the ocean of Singapore, boats and stuff going by…

The Object

Types

Intangible Views Cannot be held by the hand. An amalgation of tangible objects to make up a scene that is always changing

-I have a patio door, kind of top to floor window that overlooks, uhm, some trees. Uhm, the road is kind of hidden by

99

trees and then, if you look further out along the horizon, you can see the sea

-It does sound crazy, doesn't it? But it really matters to me that I start at 10 o'clock. -I have to have a cup. I have to have something physically -I have a mental checklist. I search my front, back pocket, make sure my car keys are there, I’ll pat my right back pocket and make sure that my wallet is there and then…

Routines Cannot be held by hand. A schedule or checklist of things to do that forms a habit

-But I have different material bowls, ceramic… actually I always buy… now that you ask.. Highly crafted things like bowls, cups, plates. I think because these things are affordable, and it's cute and small, and can put it on display and won't take up much space. -If something looks nice, and it really appeals to me, like the, I did not mention that I have 2 little porcelain snuff boxes that I received as a gift… -And this is also a little toy. Ha, its, its so cute.

Aesthetics The subjective appearance of the objects

-and inside it’s like a rice or jelly -It's mechanical, with mercury inside… -it's very nice leather…

Physical charact-eristic

Material The material the object is made of

Interaction

Conscious The owner is aware

-But, the quotations, I normally give some time to change quotations….

100

-If I find, a little film of dust, you know, sitting on top of the box, that the cleaning lady missed out, then, I’ll make sure I bloody well clean it. -When I leave the office, I can just leave him on the table and say “okay, now you’re in charge”.

that s/he is engaging with the object

-I don't… I don't… I don't… If it's there -- it's in the corner of my eye, and, I mean my subconsciousness knows about it… and maybe it doesn't, I don't know, but it's there. -well, I don’t know… oh… occasionally when I just feel like tightening it I just open it, tighten…Yeah.. it’s probably… it’s probably, you know um… when, when you wanted to touch something. When you wanted erm, how to put that… {LG} Yeah… it’s probably…you know when you have an urge to touch something… -Umm, I think it depends on my mood, or umm, subconsciously I would touch them, emm… and put them in better places so it’s not always fixed. But I don’t like it when other people touch them….Umhm…I’m just having a little “small movement”, but I’m not conscious what I’m doing to that particular object, bending the neck, or nothing drastic, but just, you know, touching something, but I’m not conscious at the time.

Unconscious The owner is not aware that s/he is engaging with the object

Use of Object

Practical / Functional

the object is used for

-But bowls, I can also use it to hold things on desk tops. Practical.

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-Hmm, and you can also write things on it. -I have about 6 or 7 different bottles of supplements that I take to keep my body moving with all the exercise I do…

its intended function

-I guess that's gonna be a little bit more focused for looking out the window, focus my mind a little bit. -But it serves as a distraction, as a way of focusing in a distracted way. -So it’s a way to help me focus, it’s a way to kind to entertain a part of my brain but to keep focused on what I am doing…

Focus concentration on the task at hand

-And during conference calls that are a bit dull or boring, I just sit there and make these different geometric shapes. -I guess I use the helicopter when I’m just tired and I’m bored or frustrated and I just want to get distance. -Umm, I see sometimes, you know, a guy will stand up, and go to shoot darts... I think it’s probably he’s taking a break, and it’s probably healthy to take a break…

Distraction / A break

disengaging from the task at hand

-When I worked for too long, and I feel like I need to relax, I will change water for the plants.

De-stress / Relax

feelings of relief, relaxation

-There is softness, there is relaxedness and when you think about it, it feels relaxing, because you can always relax more into these sheets than you can relax into anything else.

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-Because it's green and it makes my eyes comfortable…. It can alleviate the tiredness of my eyes

-Some times I can project, and I can see different things in the abstract, so it helps me reflect on what I am doing or feeling at the time. -So, uhm, I like things that I can stare at and, and my mind wanders.

Reflection Thinking, musing, letting mind wander

-I keep only looking and them and actually inspired...I feel very inspired. You know, I feel really happy to see them. -And when I think and you know, when I’m trying to, I feel that when I’m trying to get ideas, I get them a lot, when I’m looking at those racing cars…. it takes me back to this dream of mine, it takes me back to a very, very open minded place because to dream is to be open minded. And then, when I achieve that open minded state, I tend to find that I have, or I am able to come upon ideas that are, that are unique or ideas I might never have thought of in a brainstorming meeting... -I am stressing out about a project or I would be thinking about a strategy, umm… so instead of staring at the ceiling umm… I’m just having a little “small movement”, touch the toy…

Inspiration Look for ways to solve an issue or problem

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-Um, no... it's just a... no, it's usually just a random thing, but it just, you know, obviously it just makes your think of home… Er, how does it make me feel... er this makes me want to, this makes me think more about my purpose of being here right now... so it's like I'm not (coughing) I'm not home with my family, why am I not there... and, just makes me try to... basically, makes me refocus... so it's just things like "Ok, why am I here?" "Why am I doing this?" "Why, instead of being there and with them, why do I chose to be here?” -But umm, over time I realize it is not for me to show others, but it is for me to remember them, that I have family there too. -What I do is first thing in the morning, I go in there and I spend like an hour, uhm really alone kind of just anchoring myself and so those are there for grounding.

Grounding / Anchor

-

-And it's really quite fun, you know? They have, on one side, the current mood, what the current mood.... -Maybe every two weeks I will rearrange them just for fun. -So, I would move it out also... just to have little bit of fun...all the time.

Fun Enjoyment

-I feel really comfortable I feel really good. Just touching. Yeah. Fluffy.

Emotion-al Attach-ment

Emotions How one feels when the object is around -Relaxation, peace, don't

know if I could use the word ‘safety’.

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-Makes me feel happy. Because I rarely play with them. But seeing them is nice.

-I don't know whether it's an omen, but i just feel that uh, i just feel that, that it belongs to the office. -I just like the bear, and I think it’s really pretty…. Cute, and I just cannot throw it away. -Ok. I moved office six times. I bring it along.

Attachment How one feels about the object

-because it was very beautifully made by hand. To me, it's a subtle message that says, "you can do nice things", no matter whether it's a bowl or you know, a building. It's a very small object that has a lot of umm, intensity, and comfort in it, i think. -I never went back to open the gate but symbolically it represents for me that I, one day, I could go back and then perhaps actually I have never left University… -Most important thing was... I used my own savings to buy that clock.

Symbolism What the object represents in one's life

-Or because it reminds me of that event which was extremely enjoyable -And the er, er, the clock has been there more as a type of silent memory. -It’s… It’s very memorable, very meaningful… it marks certain milestones in my life…

Memories reminder of people and events from the past

Giver of object

The person who gave

-I have also got..a little Christmas card from my… from my eldest son..

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-I mean, it’s a very special book because it was gifted to me by my, by my niece for my birthday… -This is from a former colleague, as a gift.

the object to the Owner

-I didn't think I actually, uh… actually I didn't use it much and I didn't think I'll get back to it, because it's, like… it's more childish, er… bag -It's because of my upbringing, used to be very… you know, very serious, very organised, very determined, very, you know...Uh… So, I don't think I had a lot of, you know… playfulness in my childhood. -And I suspect somewhere that, that punishment I received for trying to start my dad’s car because I so fell in love with the posters of cars that I found in my brothers’ rooms, uh, had something to do with my ongoing passion for cars, motoring, motor racing, you know...

Childhood trauma

Experience in childhood that left a negative impression

-I think you are right. Material is probably still significant and when you talk about things being from childhood, I can remember again getting up in the tree over where my parents had a uh, a cabin on an island and I’d just take some books and just going up in the tree, going up there and there was that feeling of, same feeling...

The Owner of the object

Past influence

Childhood memories

Experience in childhood that left a positive impression

-I bought this because there was some fair somewhere near my office then I thought, "Hey, reminds me of childhood." So, I just

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bought it for fun.

-Uh, as a kid, I used to fly remote controlled airplanes, uh, and, uhm, and I loved gadgets, and I still do love gadgets and remote controlled cars and remote uh, train track, train toys like that...

-Sometimes when I wear it I say, Wow, maybe I'm not classic enough, you know, look like a teenage, mayber it doesn't match my clothes whatever. -like how I suppose to be, at home as adult, and this is kind of souvenir from my business trip, so there still another reason to put. -I feel, I don’t know, a bit, kind of a bit childish?

Image the persona created in front of people, the way one thinks society intends them to behave

-It's gonna sound really stupid… -So I can always say that, I can pretend they are not my bears {LG}. I can say that no this is just gift from company

Present

Camouflage discounting / denying the object's impact and significance

-But I don’t talk to them. I don’t have a relationship with them. I put them there, just so that when I look up it’s a little break. Umm. It brings a smile to my face. Umm… actually I don’t like it, cause the cleaner has a tendency to clean the desks and move things around, and I don’t like that. I don’t like that when my little giraffe or my little thing is out of the place when I come back. “Who’s touching my things again?”

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-I'm not a knick knack guy, I don't really put stuff... all over whatever / Yeah. Also, one other thing that I have on my wall too, er, on the white board that I have, I have a map of the world um ah yeah, and then I have um, magnets on different places that I've traveled... -I'm not, I don't think I'm very attached to stuff. / Yes. I think I am attached to some of the sunglasses that...for example these ones, the Gucci ones

new objects discovered

deny existence of objects but further probing reveals objects

-That's about it really, yeah, it's pretty… now that you draw attention to it, it is actually quite stark. -Wow! I haven't really thought about this shit. -It was also interesting for me to see, you know, how.. these things are connected to me Yeah, now that I see it, once you asked me this question, now I see it like that.

Unconscious thoughts

new insights unconscious thoughts about the objects brought to awareness

-But it is effectively a little… a little room at the top of the stairs outside my bedroom… -Well, I had a very small space which I could personalise. And obviously there’re strict rules and certain things. For… for various reasons for safety… -No, it’s not temporary. I’ve had the desk for about one and a half years…

Fixed location

fixed working space and desk

The Space

Physical space

Temporary Location

no fixed working

-So maybe this mobility and this, you know, lack of… steadiness…

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-Yeah, it's very fluid, because I have a room at home, and usually I am supposed to work, but sometimes like now I'm in the living room. -the atmosphere for me was very temporal, so I didn't have anything personal at all.

space and desk

-I think once you remove those files, you also helps you to clear your minds because you don't need to worry about those files "what are these?" -but it's just a different space, you know, because your head is so much immersed in all the worries… -So to reinstall myself at the desk...to create space.

Thinking Space

when mind is thinking, musing

-Because I stay in office for long hours. So I’d like to make my office feel like home. Feel comfortable to stay here. -Yes. A second home environment. -And therefore, 70-75% of my every waking moment is spent in the office. And if I’m to enjoy the objects that I gather around me, then the office is the only place I can do it.

Mental Space

Home

feelings of home and what it means in the mind

Contextual space

Group how the objects relate with the team members or group

-So, you know, the whole concept of having new office is really to encourage collaboration and encourage interacting because now, we are sitting back in our office, closing door and it's kind of like disconnect and we all are on several different floors.

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-No, we didn't. But we will remind each other not to forget to eat the vitamins today….. Yes, for instance they will say whether or not you should water it. We'll remind each other. -No. No. Cause it’s meant to show them that I care about what they gave me.

-To, to myself er I, I think it's very er, because in our company we don't have a…er a policy to request that the associate to, to, to have a certain style or certain items, because there is no regulations. -So, my state of mind is always... I am gonna keep this very, very professional, you know, I don't want to look as if I have... I want to live here for the rest of my life….And which is why it is a very conscious decision nothing too personal... uh, nothing very personal here on my desk... No, but it's interesting how, you know, now, that I think that to my desk when I first joined organization...But, I have taken that back and, you know, kept it there so I don’t photos on my desk now... No. I think it's my frame of mind..I had a... I had a few more personal stuff around... where I am open to leaving, if may be... I have... I have made it very... It's... It's very impersonal now.

Organization how the objects relate to the organization at large

- the atmosphere for me was very temporal, so I didn't have anything personal at all.