PROS 125 1 Skillful Coping: Processes of Becoming and Being in Practice. Anna Brown, Dr Gail Greig, University of St Andrews, School of Management Dr Emilia Ferarro* University of St Andrews, School of Geography and Geosciences * Dr Ferraro’s contribution is part of her association with the "Knowing from the Inside" research project, financed by the ERC and led by Prof. Tim Ingold. In this paper, we trace the process of becoming and being a “skillful coper” in the world of ceramics (Dreyfus, 2014a). By following forward the flow of materials in the potter’s studio and beyond, we show how skilled coping emerges through a process of enskilment (Langley and Tsoukas, 2010; Pálsson, 1994; Ingold, 2000) wherein practitioners develop a deep and meaningful relationship with materials and find synergy with their processes. Our contribution to current debates on skillful performance is twofold. Firstly, we bring together literature from anthropology, philosophy and organization studies to demonstrate the nature and scope of skillful coping. In so doing, we elaborate on the theoretical understanding of the process through which practitioners develop skills in and through materials (Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 2005; Dreyfus, 2014b/2007; Ingold, 2000; 2013). In turn, presenting failure to be a central aspect of the process of enskilment, without which one cannot progress through increasingly skilled ways of practicing (Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 2005). Secondly, based on our empirical tracing of this process, we suggest that the transformational process of enskilment has two phases. We propose that while fundamental to becoming, mastering the defining skill of a practice is insufficient for being a practitioner. The attention to materials and their forward flows in the maker’s studio makes apparent the inherent entanglement of persons and materials, of knowing and doing, and making and organising activities within the broader field of practice (Nicolini et al, 2003). As such it highlights the need to extend the process of