TALE: The “Strategic Thematic Exploration” Framework (v1.1)

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TALE500

10 min readMay 11, 2023

A new framework for “Strategic Thematic Exploration”

On March 31, 2023, I shared my ideas about the Strategic Thematic Exploration framework (V1.0)for knowledge engagement. On April 21, 2023, I made a diagram to represent a network of several themes. See the diagram below.

In the past four months, I worked on the TALE knowledge center which hosts the Thematic Engagement project. I encourage people to select a primary theme and start their journey of knowledge engagement.

I use “Strategic Thematic Exploration” to frame a creative space for exploring the strategic intent using thematic analysis methods, especially for knowledge engagement.

From Theme to Framework

I consider “From Theme to Framework” as a significant early phase for the journey of knowledge engagement. There are six states in the phase.

A Possible Theme without a Clue
A Possible Theme with a Clue
A Primary Theme without related themes
A Primary Theme with its network
A Knowledge Concept with a working definition
A Knowledge Framework with a set of concepts

Today I am going to introduce the “Strategic Thematic Exploration” framework (v1.1) which is based on a discussion about “Early Responses”.

The “Early Responses” Stage

The “Early Responses” stage refers to two states: 1) A possible theme without a clue, and 2) A possible theme with a clue.

What does “Early Responses” mean? I learned the term from a journal called Discourse Processes. According to the editors of the journal, early responses refer to “responsive actions that (start to) unfold while the production of the responded-to turn and action is still underway”.

Inspired by the journal, I use “Early Responses” to describe the early stage of Strategic Thematic Exploration.

In each stage, we capture inspired ideas from our everyday life experiences (Lifeflow), select some ideas, and put them into a Thematic Space. I use “Early Responses” to refer to this type of action.

The outcome of the “Early Responses” stage is a series of possible themes. We can see these possible themes as mental elements. In the next stage, we can select some themes from them and run a thematic curation.

The “Possible Configuration” stage

The “Possible Configuration” stage refers to two states: 3) A primary theme without related themes, and 4) A primary theme with its network.

The “Possible Configuration” stage aims to select one possible theme as the primary theme for developing a knowledge framework. However, the primary theme is only used to frame a creative space for further curation.

During the process of thematic curation, you can keep using the primary theme as the final primary concept for the possible knowledge framework. Or, you can use it as the name for the thematic space which is a creative space.

In this stage, you are encouraged to develop a network of related themes. By exploring the possible configurations of these themes, you can discover a primary knowledge concept for the possible knowledge framework.

The “Themes in the Field” stage

The “Themes in the Field” stage refers to two states: 5) A knowledge concept with a working definition, and 6) A knowledge framework with a set of concepts.

The third stage is called “Themes in the Field”. In this stage, your goal is to develop the primary knowledge concept and a network of related concepts.

The challenge of the stage is Against Conceptual Heterogeneity. What’s Conceptual Heterogeneity? It refers to different people using the same word to express different conceptual meanings. It leads to Knowledge Fragmentation inside one discipline. Also, it raises the cost of cross-boundary collaborative projects.

You can compare your primary concept with others’ concepts by running the literature review and using the Concept Dynamic Framework as a tool. See this example: Developing a working definition of Innovation Ecosystems.

For example, the concept of “Strategic Themes” is related to the “Strategic Thematic Exploration” framework.

I use “Strategic Thematic Exploration” to frame a creative space for exploring the strategic intent using thematic analysis methods, especially for knowledge engagement.

In the above working definition of “Strategic Thematic Exploration”, I used the term “Strategic Intent”.

What’s “Strategic Intent”?

I learned the term from Competing for the Future: Breakthrough strategies for seizing control of your industry and creating the markets of tomorrow (Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad, 1994).

According to the authors, they use the term to describe an animating dream that energizes a company (pp.129-130).

Strategic intent is strategic architecture’s capstone. A strategic architecture may point the way to the future, but it’s an ambitious and compelling strategic intent that provides the emotional and intellectual energy for the journey. Strategic architecture is the brain; strategic intent is the heart. Strategic intent implies a significant stretch for the organization.
Whereas the traditional view of strategy focuses on the “fit” between existing resources and emerging opportunities, strategic intent creates, by design, a substantial “misfit” between resources and aspirations.
As the distilled essence of a firm’s strategic architecture, strategic intent also implies a particular point of view about the long-term market or competitive position that a firm hopes to build over the coming decade or so. Hence, it conveys a sense of direction. A strategic intent is differentiated; it implies a competitively unique point of view about the future. It holds out to employees the promise of exploring new competitive territory. Hence, it conveys a sense of discovery. Strategic intent has an emotional edge to it; it is a goal that employees perceive as inherently worthwhile. Hence, it implies a sense of destiny.
Direction, discovery, and destiny. These are the attributes of strategic intent.

The authors claim that the three attributes of strategic intent are Direction, Discovery, and Destiny. We can apply these attributes to “Strategic Thematic Exploration” too.

We can also run a literature review about “Strategic Themes”.

In this stage, you can use the Knowlege Discovery Canvas for your literature review.

The “Theme — Concept” Transformation

I also pay attention to the difference between Strategic Intent and Strategic Architecture, “Strategic architecture is the brain; strategic intent is the heart”. We can apply the same metaphor to “Theme v.s. Concept”.

Theme > Heart
Concept > Brain

The Thematic Engagement project aims to explore the “Person — Theme” relationship and interaction. The Thematic Engagement approach is supported by the “Themes of Practice’” approach and the “Project Engagement” approach.

We don’t only consider the semantic relationship between themes, but also the genetic relationship between them. While the semantic relationship is associated with the part of “themes”, the genetic relationship is associated with the part of “practice” which means the real historical development of projects.

The term “Loose coupling” is inspired by Karl E. Weick who is an American organizational theorist. If you visit Wikipedia, you can pay attention to the following paragraph:

Loose coupling in Weick’s sense is a term intended to capture the necessary degree of flex between an organization’s internal abstraction of reality, its theory of the world, on the one hand, and the concrete material actuality within which it finally acts, on the other.
A loose coupling is what makes it possible for these ontologically incompatible entities to exist and act on each other, without shattering (akin to Castoriadis’s idea of ‘articulation’).
Orton and Weick argue in favour of uses of the term which consciously preserve the dialectic it captures between the subjective and the objective, and against uses of the term which ‘resolve’ the dialectic by folding it into one side or the other.

Thematic Engagement is both subjective and objective, the “Loose coupling” model is a typical configuration of a theme network. In this way, we can have the necessary degree of flex between the semantic relationship and the genetic relationship.

You can find more details in TALE: Possible Configurations of A Theme Network.

Is it a linear process?

Yes! It represents a linear process of “From Theme to Framework” with the following six states.

A Possible Theme without a Clue
A Possible Theme with a Clue
A Primary Theme without related themes
A Primary Theme with its network
A Knowledge Concept with a working definition
A Knowledge Framework with a set of concepts

It has a clear starting point and a clear ending point:

Starting point: a possible theme without a cue
Ending point: a knowledge framework with a set of concepts

You don’t have to use it to guide your process of developing knowledge frameworks. You can use it as a Frame of Reference and check your states.

If you like non-linear models, you can check out the following links:

The Attachance Framework (2018) and Thematic Engagement
Appropriating Activity Theory (A case study of the Attachance Framework)
Mapping Thematic Landscape (Curativity, 2019–2022)

Why are the 3 stages of strategic thematic exploration?

For the Strategic Thematic Exploration framework (v1.1), we define the goal as developing a knowledge framework by using the thematic analysis method.

The thematic analysis method is all about understanding Themes, Concepts, and their relationships with Practice/Activity.

The three stages represent three transformations:

The “Possible — Primary” Transformation
The “Theme — Concept” Transformation
The “Concept—Framework” Transformation

The “Possible — Primary” Transformation is about discovering opportunities for knowledge creation and knowledge curation. It sets the primary strategic intent for the journey of knowledge engagement.

For example, the Strategic Thematic Exploration framework is not part of the original plan of the TALE project. It was born from the first thematic conversation project which is about strategic exploration. See the diagram below. You can find more details in TALE: A Strategic Designer’s Creative Journey.

TALE was launched as a knowledge center for hosting the Thematic Engagement project. I also defined knowledge themes as the primary object of work for its first phase.

There are various activities for engaging with knowledge themes. Developing a knowledge framework is one particular type of knowledge engagement activity.

The “Theme — Concept” Transformation is about turning themes into concepts. It sees themes as raw materials and creative resources for producing concepts for further production. In this stage, I discovered the concept of “Strategic Themes” and considered it as the primary concept of “Strategic Thematic Exploration”. See the diagram below.

The “Concept — Framework” Transformation is about curating pieces into a meaningful whole. A knowledge framework is formed with a set of knowledge concepts. In this stage, I discovered the following concepts for the “Strategic Thematic Exploration” framework (v1.1).

“Possible Themes”
“Primary Theme”
“Theme Network”
“Early Responses”
“Loose Coupling”
“Possible Configuration”
“Thematic Curation”
“Mental Elements”
“Mental Moves”
“Themes in the Field”
“Concept Dynamics”
“Ecological Formism”

I used some concepts such as “Concept Dynamics” for other projects before launching TALE. In the past several months, I also developed some brand new concepts such as “Possible Configuration” and “Mental Moves”.

Connect to Other Frameworks

In the past several years, I worked on connecting THEORY and PRACTICE and developed a set of tools and frameworks.

I didn’t work on one knowledge framework, but a network of knowledge frameworks. While the Strategic Thematic Exploration framework was born from TALE Center, we can connect it with other knowledge frameworks.

For example, I recently developed “Concept Choices” and “Spontaneous Concept System” for the Concept-fit Framework which belongs to Platform Ecology Center. I use some ideas from the Strategic Thematic Exploration framework to develop the idea of “Spontaneous Concept System”.

You can also find “Initial Theme/Primary Theme”, “Situational Theme Network”, and “Relevant Theme Network” in a model about the ARCH of Thematic Engagement (1, 2).

What’s the difference between these three frameworks while they share a set of terms such as Theme, Concept, Theme Network, etc?

Strategic Thematic Exploration: its primary object is Early Discovery.
Concept-fit: it adopts the perspective of Project-oriented Activity Theory to understand Platform Innovation.
The ARCH of Thematic Engagement: it is about interpersonal communication and collaboration.

These frameworks are both inspired by the Thematic Engagement approach (2022, 2023) and its master approaches: 1) the Themes of Practice approach (2019, 2021), and 2) the Project Engagement approach (2021, 2022).