Art as Orchestrated Serendipity. Leaving Behind Outcome Prediction in Arts-Based Methods to Foster Sustainability in Organizations

Arts-based methods have significantly developed over the last twenty years. This advancement has led to researchers attempting to justify the relevance of these methods when used in organizational contexts. Most of the time, it is assumed that they are supposed to bring tangible results in terms of performance or value(s). Our aim is to show that the fundamental characteristic of arts-based methods is precisely the impossibility of predicting any tangible outcomes because art brings specific contributions for each participant. More than a mere organizational training, it fosters serendipity in an orchestrated way. In fact, with arts-based methods, managers learn to propose new and creative inputs by questioning taken-for-granted paradigms, taking the first step to rethink their work in a sustainable way. Therefore, looking for tangible results in arts-based methods prevents us from considering the real issue at stake: fostering sustainability by overtaking management-as-usual.