Positive dramas: Enacting self-adventures in organizations

In response to a need for understanding the role of practice and agency in identity production, this paper establishes the concept of positive dramas. Positive dramas are particular fields of meaning and engagement constituted by people to organize experience into lived narratives; enacted self-adventures marked by a sense of something important being at stake, unpredictability, emotional engagement, and involvement of self. Based on research in four organizational settings, five main types of positive dramas are identified (The Battle, The Mission, The Mystery, The Treasure Hunt, and The Other). Their temporal levels range from peak experiences, to time-bound cycles inherent in work, to open-ended quests. These findings are situated within the tradition of positive organizational scholarship. Implications for identity production are more broadly discussed.