Unleashing the power of the creative unconscious within organizations: a case of craft, graft and disputed premises

Over the past decade innovation and creativity have been portrayed as a crucial means by which organisations secure competitive advantage. Seeking to enhance the creative potential of their employees, many seemingly progressive organisations utilise an array of methodologies – from creating culture of fun and play, to commissioning beautifully designed office spaces – to explore the aesthetic sensibilities of their employees and unleash the inherently creative power of their employees’ collective and individual unconscious. Drawing on psychoanalytical theory and experiences of conducting research in creative industries, an alternative perspective is offered which calls into question precisely what is being ‘unleashed’ during these processes of creativity; suggesting a distorted view of artistic endeavour and an elision of the centrality of skill, ability and craft expertise: the central platforms enabling aesthetic expression in artistic performance.