Tummelplatz: Exploring playgrounds for creative collaborations

This paper presents the idea that temporary, creative collaborations within knowledge-intense industries can be understood through the tummelplatz –metaphor. ‘Tummelplatz’ was first introduced by Sigmund Freud (1856 -1959) as a metaphor for viewing optimal relations between patient and therapist. In our data, we find empirical evidence pointing towards the fact that Freud’s analogy has transfer value into the modern day workforce. We propose the concept of tummelplatz as a framework for understanding how collaborative work can result in extraordinary outcomes through considering both structural and relational enablers within temporary work contexts. Respectively, four structural enablers are derived from our analysis – particular aspects of time, goal, space and competence. These we label as infrastructure, defining the underlying features of the collaborative system. Relational enablers, labelled as architecture, are manifested through two categories –curiosity and trust. Our data suggest that when these life-giving enablers converge, the “between” is activated, opening up for generative dynamics on the tummelplatz.