Diagram Blending: Building Diagram Networks (Table of Contents)

A possible book for a possible social practice

The picture below is the cover design for a possible book: Diagram Blending: Building Diagram Networks. The book is a planned product of the D as Diagramming project.

I started the D as Diagramming project on August 10, 2021, and I closed Phase I of the project on Dec 16, 2021, with the Diagramming as Practice Framework.

During the past several months, I interviewed four friends about their diagrams and their practices and wrote case study reports. I also designed many diagrams and wrote many articles about diagramming. In order to discover the relationship between diagrams and canvases, I turned my diagrams into canvases as experiments.

One of the objectives of the D as Diagramming project is to test the idea of Meta-diagrams and apply my creations of Meta-diagrams to turning tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. The outcome is a possible social practice called Diagram Blending and the book Diagram Blending.

I have introduced the development of the Diagram Blending practice in a previous article. This article aims to share more details about the book Diagram Blending.

The book is organized into four parts.

• Part One: A Possible Journey
• Part Two: A Possible Practice
• Part Three: A Possible Hero
• Part Four: A Possible Theory

The body of this article offers the Table of Contents of the book. You can click hyperlinks to visit original articles.

Contents

Part One: A Possible Journey

Chapter 1: The Expandness of Diagram
Chapter 2: The Attachance of Diagrams
Chapter 3: The Hierarchy of Diagrams
Chapter 4: The Curativity of Diagrams

Part Two: A Possible Practice

Chapter 5: A New Practice of Diagramming
Chapter 6: The WXMY Diagram Network
Chapter 7: The Tripartness Diagram Network
Chapter 8: The iART Diagram Network
Chapter 9: The NEST Diagram Network
Chapter 10: Diagram and Thought

Part Three: A Possible Hero

Chapter 11: The Founder’s Mandala
Chapter 12: The Creator’s Mandala
Chapter 13: The Curator’s Mandala

Part Four: A Possible Theory

Chapter 14: The Scale of Diagram

Part One: A Possible Journey

Inspired by the four types of “self—other” relationships, I selected four articles and considered them as four stories of a journey. Each story has a theme. Together, they form a meaningful whole that describes a possible journey from a single diagram to diagram networks.

The above picture shows a deep analogy between four graphics, four articles, and four themes.

If there is only one thing, then there is no relationship and blending in particular. The above picture shows two things, Self and Other. The four types of “Self — Other” relationships present an archetypal unit of Diagram Blending: two triangles blend together and form a new diagram.

By increasing the number of meta-diagrams and the complexity of meta-diagrams, and adjusting the relationship between meta-diagrams, we can achieve various types of Diagram Blending.

The above four stories present four important themes of the Diagram Blending practice.

Chapter 1: The Expandness of Diagram

I wrote the article Activity U (IV): The Engeström’s Triangle and the Power of Diagram on Sept 3, 2020. This is a complete story of a famous diagram from Activity Theory. It refers to the theme of Expandness.

The article reviews the historical development of the Activity System Model which has a nickname called “Engeström’s Triangle”.

The above Engeström’s triangle is based on the cultural-historical psychologists’ notions of mediation as individual action (subject — instruments — object) at the top of the diagram. Engeström (1987) considered “a human activity system always contains the subsystems of production, distribution, exchange, and consumption.”(p.67), thus, he added the bottom of the triangle to the original individual triangle in order to include other people (community), social rules (rules), and the division of labor between the subject and others.

I want to use this story to highlight the Expandness of Diagrams: a simple diagram tends to expand to a complex diagram.

• 1.1 Background
• 1.2 The Origin of the Engeström’s Triangle
• 1.3 The Evolution of the Engeström’s Triangle
• 1.4 The Application of the Engeström’s Triangle
• 1.5 Discussion

You can read the full article here.

Chapter 2: The Attachance of Diagram

The article Activity U (VIIII): Project-oriented Activity Theory was published on Jan 3, 2021. I introduced Andy Blunden’s Project-oriented theoretical approach to Activity with a series of diagrams.

In order to develop the theoretical foundation of “Project as a unit of Activity”, Blunden adopts Hegel’s Logic and Vygotsky’s theory about Concepts as theoretical resources. The process is documented in three books: An Interdisciplinary Theory of Activity (2010), Concepts: A Critical Approach (2012), and Collaborative Projects: An Interdisciplinary Study (2014).

One of three significant notions of Blunden’s approach is Goethe’s “germ-cell”. The “germ-cell” refers to the Goethe-Hegel-Marx-Vygotsky approach of “Unit of Analysis”. According to Blunden, “…in order to understand a complex process as an integral whole or gestalt, we have to identify and understand just its simplest immediately given part — a radical departure from the ‘Newtonian’ approach to science based on discovering intangible forces and hidden laws” (2020)

The above diagram is a “germ-cell” diagram for Project-oriented Activity Theory. It is better to think about this diagram as a room with two windows and one door.

A germ-cell diagram is a special type of meta-diagram that can easily generate a diagram system with the same intrinsic spatial logic. A typical structure of a diagram system is a multiple-level analysis system. The first challenge of adopting a germ-cell diagram is to design a spatial logic that can apply to different levels of a multiple-level diagram system. In other words, we only need one spatial logic for the whole system since the one spatial logic is a whole.

The theme behind this story is Attachance which refers to Attach, Detach, and Opportunities of Attaching and Detaching. Andy Blunden detached from the Activity System model and attached to the Goethe-Hegel-Marx-Vygotsky approach of “Unit of Analysis”. The result is a brand new theoretical approach to Activity Theory. I attached it to Andy Blunden’s theoretical approach, then detached it from the field of words and attached it to the field of diagrams. I use Andy Blunden’s idea of “germ-cell” to develop a diagram system in order to translate his ideas from text to visual.

• 2.1 A Brief of Andy Blunden’s Approach
• 2.2 Diagrams
• 2.3 Activity as Formation of Concept (diagram)
• 2.4 The Objectification of Concept (diagram)
• 2.5 The Source of Activity
• 2.6 A Theory of Radical Theory

You can read the full article here. This article is part of a book titled Project-oriented Activity Theory, you can find more details about the book here.

Chapter 3: The Hierarchy of Diagrams

The third story is not only an article but a Miro board and a 108-page thesis titled Diagram Explained which was written in 2018. One part of the thesis is a framework for understanding multiple layers of diagrams.

• Layer 1: Schema of spatial relationships
• Layer 2: Models of domain cognition
• Layer 3: Application of models
• Layer 4: Artifact of epistemic tool
• Layer 5: Mediation of human activities

On Feb 6, 2021, I reflected on the Platform-for-Development (P4D) framework (v1.0) with the concept of Supportance. The framework (v1.0) suggested a new unit of analysis: Platform(Project). I remained in the unit of analysis and used supportive movements as a core idea to design a diagram. I called the final outcome the Supportive Cycle model.

From Feb to June, I modified the diagram and designed several new diagrams for different concepts and models. The process of my creative activities around the diagram was recorded on a Miro board. In order to help readers understand my creations. I used five types of diagrams for this case study.

• Layer 1: Meta-diagram
• Layer 2: Diagrams for Theories, Diagrams for Abstract Models, and Diagrams for Concrete Models.
• Layer 3: Diagrams for Case Studies

Layer 4 refers to Artifacts of epistemic tools. For example, the Developmental Project Canvas is a Layer 4 artifact for the Developmental Project Model which refers to a Layer 2 diagram. Layer 5 refers to diagram-in-use such as a workshop.

Obviously, the theme behind the story is Hierarchy. A meta-diagram can generate new diagrams at different degrees of abstraction. My original framework suggested five levels while the above case study only shows three levels. Each layer offers a creative space for creators.

• 3.1 Three Turning Points
• 3.2 Five Layers of Diagramming
• 3.3 Five Diagrams
• 3.3.1 Meta-diagram
• 3.3.2 Diagrams for Theories
• 3.3.3 Diagrams for Abstract Models
• 3.3.4 Diagrams for Concept Models
• 3.3.5 Diagrams for Case Studies

You can read the whole story here: Diagram Explained: The Supportance Model and Its History.

Chapter 4: The Curativity of Diagrams

The fourth story The ECHO Way (v2.0) was published on June 30. The article introduced a practical framework for Knowledge Curation and Boundary Innovation.

One year ago, I published an article titled HERO U — A New Framework for Knowledge Heroes on June 26, 2020. Two months later, I started testing the HERO framework by writing a series of articles about Activity Theory. I called this project the Activity U project which is considered a knowledge curation project. Since then, I have been using the HERO U framework to guide my knowledge curation projects. From August 2020 to March 2021, I wrote three books in English. This was an amazing experience!

I also started applying the HERO U framework’s diagram to discuss other topics such as platform innovation and personal innovation. I realized that it is time to use a new name for the HERO U framework and the new name should focus on boundary innovation. So far I think The ECHO Way (v2.0) is a good name.

The above diagram is the core of the ECHO way (v2.0). In fact, this is a result of Diagram Blending which means a process of curating several diagrams together. The original sources of the diagram are three primary diagrams:

• Theme U
• Project I
• Container Z

This story refers to the theme of Curativity which means turning pieces into a meaningful whole. I have worked in the curation field for over ten years. I was the Chief Information Architect of BagTheWeb.com which was an early tool for content curation (We launched the site in 2010). This experience inspired me to make a long-term commitment to the Curation theme. After having 10 years of various curation-related practical work experience and theory learning, I coined a term called Curativity and developed Curativity Theory which became a book.

The above four articles belong to different projects. However, if we put them together, they present a journey of moving from one single diagram to a diagram network. The above picture shows a deep analogy between four graphics, four articles, and four themes.

• 4.1 A Practical Framework for Boundary Innovation
• 4.2 Becoming A Boundary Innovator
• 4.3 Collective Echoes

You can read the full article here.

Part 2: A Possible Practice

During the past years, I designed several Meta-diagrams and used them for my own work. In the past several months, I adopted these meta-diagrams to design some new frameworks for various topics. The result is awesome! I realized that it is not only about meta-diagrams, but it is about a new practice of diagramming.

Inspired by some theories about social practices, I use three elements to discuss the new practice of diagramming: Instruments, Methods, and Terms.

• Instruments: a set of Meta-diagrams
• Methods: Diagram Blending and other methods.
• Terms: Diagram Network, Diagram Notation, Sub-diagrams, etc.

So far, only one person has practiced the Diagram Blending practice. I’d like to say this is a possible social practice. If more and more people accept the idea and practice it in their real-life world, then it could grow into a real social practice.

Chapter 5: A New Practice of Diagramming

This chapter is a summary of the new practice of diagramming. You can read its full content in the previous article: Diagram Blending: Building Diagram Networks (Introduction).

• 5.1 A Set of Meta-diagrams
• 5.2 The Diagram Blending Method
• 5.3 A Set of New Terms

Chapter 6: The WXMY Diagram Network

The WXMY (When X Meets Y) diagram connects to the HERO U framework, the Theme U diagram, and the ECHO Way framework which is my first project of Diagram Blending.

• 6.1 When X Meets Y (WXMY)
• 6.2 HERO U — A New Framework for Knowledge Heroes
• 6.3 Frame Analysis in Context
• 6.4 Platform Innovation as Concept-fit
• 6.5 Personal Innovation as Career-fit
• 6.6 The ECHO Way (v2.0)
• 6.7 The DEEP Framework
• 6.8 Meta-theory and General Practice
• 6.9 From Sandwich to Containers
• 6.10 The Diagramming as Practice Framework

Chapter 7: The Tripartness Diagram Network

I made the Tripartness diagram in 2018 when I created the Ecological Zone framework. The original Ecological Zone Framework considers three Subjects, three Zones, and one shared Theme. In order to make the meta-diagram, I rename these elements with more abstract words such as Corner, Zone, Center, and Context.

This chapter introduces the Tripartness meta-diagram and collects several articles about it together.

• 7.1 Tripartness and Diagram Blending
• 7.2 Strategic Value Proposition
• 7.3 The Dialectical Room and Value Engagement
• 7.4 The Interactive Zone and Value Engagement
• 7.5 The Value-fit Framework and Canvas
• 7.6 The Customer Profile and Life-to-be-Owned
• 7.7 Career Curation: Curativity Theory for Personal Innovation
• 7.8 The Career Theme Canvas
• 7.9 Themes of Practice (2019–2021)
• 7.10 The Career API (section #3 of this article)
• 7.11 The NICE Way and Possible Practice

Chapter 8: The iART Diagram Network

iART stands for i +Activity + Relationship + Themes. It offers an ecological perspective on personal adult development and similar activities. This chapter introduces the iART diagram and collects several articles about it together.

• 8.1 The iART Framework
• 8.2 The Path of Creative Life
• 8.3 The iART Diagram Network
• 8.4 iART Diagram Notation
• 8.5 The Defining Zone
• 8.6 Tacit Trends and Shared Transformation
• 8.7 The NEXT Way
• 8.8 The Life-as-Activity Framework (v2.0)
• 8.9 Strategy as Anticipatory Activity System
• 8.10 Relevance and Diagramming

Chapter 9: The NEST Diagram Network

The NEST meta-diagram is also called the NEST Way. The NEST Way meta-diagram has three components: A hierarchical loop, a matrix, and a set of concepts.

• 9.1 The NEST Way and Knowledge Frameworks
• 9.2 The Attachance Perspective
• 9.3 Lifesystem: Modeling Ice Skating and Other Social Practices
• 9.4 The Life-as-Activity Framework (v 2.0)

Chapter 10: Diagram and Thought

The last chapter of Part 2 collects articles about various topics such as Diagram and Knowledge Frameworks, Diagram and Academic Creativity, Diagram and Canvas, Diagram and Metaphor, Diagram and Culture, etc. I put these articles together under a theme called Diagram and Thought.

• 10.1 The NEST Way and Knowledge Frameworks
• 10.2 Knowledge Building and Academic Creativity
• 10.3 The Value-fit Framework and Canvas
• 10.4 The Creative Work Canvas
• 10.5 Information as Light
• 10.6 The Mind as Play Metaphor
• 10.7 Challenge as Opportunity
• 10.8 From Sandwich to Containers
• 10.9 The Opportunity Formula
• 10.10 Don’t hate Buzzwords and Culture
• 10.11Hexagram, Symbolic Culture, and Diagram Choices

Part 3: A Possible Hero

The D as Diagramming project (Phase 1) produced various diagrams and frameworks which cover many topics. There are many possible ways to find connections between these diagrams. Part 2 uses Meta-diagrams as connectors. Part 3 uses Personas to discover diagram networks.

This part is not originally planned for the book. On Dec 21, I used the Hubhood meta-diagram to design a new diagram called The Founder’s Mandala. On Dec 23, I made the Creator’s Mandala. On Dec 24, The Curator’s Mandala was born. These new ideas inspired me to add this part for sorting my diagrams from a new perspective.

Chapter 11: The Founder’s Mandala

Chapter 11 collects articles about diagrams and frameworks for founders. Some articles were written before the D as Diagramming project, I think they are related to founders’ mental models.

• 11.1 The Founders’ Mandala
• 11.2 Typology of Activities and Other Practical Tools
• 11.3 Strategic Value Proposition
• 11.4 The Dialectical Room and Value Engagement
• 11.5 The Interactive Zone and Value Engagement
• 11.6 The Value-fit Framework and Canvas
• 11.7 The Defining Zone
• 11.8 Strategy as Anticipatory Activity System
• 11.9 Projecting, Projectivity, and Cultural Projection
• 11.10 Process, Position, and Zone of Project
• 11.11 136 Ideas for Impact Projects and Micromovements
• 11.12 The Opportunity Formula
• 11.13 The Organization-for-Opportunity Framework
• 11.14 Platform Innovation as Concept-fit
• 11.15 The Startup Curation Project

Also, my book Project-oriented Activity Theory is perfect for founders because it offers a theory about radical innovation from the perspective of cultural psychology and the theoretical tradition of Activity Theory.

Chapter 12: The Creator’s Mandala

While Founders refer to initiators and leaders of businesses and non-profit projects, I use Creators to refer to Knowledge Creators. I am not familiar with Artists and the Activity of Art, so I don’t have tacit knowledge about Artists. The Creator’s Mandala is only about developing Knowledge Creators’ mental models.

• 12.1 The Creator’s Mandala
• 12.2 Bonnie Nardi’s Choices and Boundary Knowledge Work
• 12.3 Life as Activity (version 0.3)
• 12.4 Personal Innovation as Career-fit
• 12.5 The Path of Creative Life
• 12.6 The Life-as-Activity Framework (v2.0)
• 12.7 The NEST Way and Knowledge Frameworks
• 12.8 Knowledge Building and Academic Creativity
• 12.9 Possible Practices: Attach, Detach, and Opportunities
• 12.10 Challenge as Opportunity
• 12.11 From Sandwich to Containers
• 12.12 The Creative Work Canvas

Also, my book The ECHO Way is about Boundary Knowledge Work. It reflects on the HERO U framework and my experience writing three books from 2021 to 2022.

Chapter 13: The Curator’s Mandala

For me, the term Curator has a broader meaning than museum curator. I use it to refer to art curators, community curators, platform curators, event curators, content curators, knowledge curators, etc. This chapter is related to my work on the Supportive Development theme.

The core of the theme is the Platform-for-Development framework which combines my interests in Digital Platforms and Adult Development. I consider Digital Platforms as Developmental Platforms for people. The framework is inspired by Ecological Psychology, Activity Theory, and other theories. From the perspective of Ecological Psychology, Platforms are social environments. From the perspective of Activity Theory, I consider Developmental Projects as Activities.

• 13.1 The Curator’s Mandala
• 13.2 The DEEP Framework
• 13.3 The Action After Talk Project
• 13.4 The Re-Engagement Project
• 13.5 The Developmental Platform
• 13.6 The Infoniche Model
• 13.7 The Supportance Model
• 13.8 Platform for Development (2.0)
• 13.9 The Developmental Project Model
• 13.10 The Developmental Project Canvas

If you are interested in theories about general curation practice, you can find the brief of my 2019 book Curativity Theory: The Ecological Approach to General Curation Practice.

Part 4: A Possible Theory

The Diagramming as Practice Framework adopted four perspectives to build a large framework for understanding knowledge diagrams. It mentioned some ideas about Meta-diagrams and Diagram Blending, however, it is a broad framework.

As a new practice of diagramming, the concept of Meta-diagrams brings us a new creative space for theory development. The name Diagram Blending is inspired by Conceptual Blending Theory, but the major difference between Conceptual Blending and Diagram Blending is that instead of using four mental spaces to build the foundation of a theory, I use the Part — Whole Curativity as the foundation for my framework.

A simple diagram can be considered a part of a complex diagram. By adopting the simple idea of Part and Whole, we can blend diagrams together and build a diagram network too. Thus, Diagram Blending is not an application of Conceptual Blending.

Both concepts and diagrams are related to thoughts which is a complicated thing. I wish Diagram Blending could offer a simple method to inspire a new practice of diagramming for thought and expression.

Chapter 14: The Scale of Diagram

Inspired by four stories from Part 1, I used a simple method to develop the Diagram Blending framework:

1, 2, 4, 8, 16…

It is a beautiful tree! The original diagram is for discussing four types of “self-other” relationships.

If there is only one thing, then there is no relationship and blending in particular. The diagram shows two things, Self and Other. The four types of “Self — Other” relationships present an archetypal unit of Diagram Blending: two triangles blend together and form a new diagram.

By increasing the number of meta-diagrams and the complexity of meta-diagrams, and adjusting the relationship between meta-diagrams, we can achieve various types of Diagram Blending.

The above discussion points out the foundation of Diagram Blending at the abstract level. If we move to the concrete level, we can find a new meaning of Blending.

The primary themes of the Diagram Blending framework are:

Expandness

• Urphanomen
• Genidentity

Attachance

• Cognitive Boundary
• Social Boundary

Hierarchy

• Cognitive Complexity
• Social Complexity

Curativity

• Cognitive Container
• Themes of Practice

Finally, the above themes lead to 16 topics that could guide to various deep discussions. However, this part is not done yet.

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