This article contributes to the current debate among organizational and work-life researchers on
the double-sided nature of knowledge work, which offers great freedom and satisfaction on the
one hand and the potential to be overly demanding and stressful on the other. This contribution
involves drawing on the results of an ethnographic case study of a consultancy house; more specifically,
it comprises an exploration of the narrative identity work of consultants as they perform
work practice stories of self, work, and the organization negotiating why the work they do is both
challenging and rewarding. The type of knowledge work explored is characterized by its immaterial
nature in the sense that the primary input is the competences, knowledge, and commitment
of the consultants and the output is the joy, success, and satisfaction of candidates, clients, and
collaborators. The article contributes by showing that some of the elements perceived to make
the work meaningful and rewarding are the same ones also described as potentially demanding
and challenging. Furthermore, the article contributes by arguing that studying work practice stories
as (ante)narrative identity work provides a rich source of empirical material in the examination
of how we create meaning in relationship to the work we do and the organizations by which we
are employed.
Forfatterbiografi
Didde Maria Humle, Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School
