TALE: A Possible Theme called “Value Circle”

The Dynamics of Networked Knowledge Centers

Last week I wrote a case study about mental moves between knowledge centers for the Mental Moves knowledge project. A by-product of the article is a new insight about the theme of “Value Circle”.

On Jan 17, 2023, I decided to select the following two themes as my 2023 annual themes.

The theme “Thematic Engagement” is not new, but the TALE project is new.

In 2022, I closed several projects and made several possible books. I also started several new projects. For example:

1. The Knowledge Center Project
2. The Thematic Engagement Project
3. The City Curation Project
4. The ARCH Project

In 2023, I will work on these unfinished projects too. Moreover, I’d like to launch a new Knowledge Center for the Thematic Engagement project. On Jan 1, 2023, I launched TALE which stands for Thematic Analysis Learning Engagement. You can find more details here.

The possible theme “Value Circle” is about connecting my knowledge themes with professional business circles.

In the past several months, the theme “Value Circle” was developed into a new idea about networked knowledge centers for knowledge creators.

What a fantastic Creative Attachance!

Jan 2023: Horizontal Value Circle

On Jan 18, 2023, I published the theme “Value Circle” with the following picture.

• Name: Value Circle
• Clue: The Activity Circle and Professional Knowledge Economy
• Type: knowledge theme
• Contributor: Jessie Chuang

The theme of “Value Circle” was born from a micro “collaborative project” (a conversation) between Oliver Ding and Jessie Chuang. You can find the original conversation in my original post on Linkedin.

I made a Miro board called “Horizontal Value Circle” for the above diagram. In fact, it is a Thematic Landscape Map for Business Knowledge Engagement.

Later, I adopted the Activity Circle framework to reflect on the theme and “professional knowledge economy”.

Feb 2023: Value Dynamics

In Feb 2023, I had a thematic conversation about the theme “Social Affordances” with Susan Hasty. I made the following diagram.

I also mentioned a canvas called “Value Engagement” which is a by-product of the D as Diagramming project (2021). You can find more details in D as Diagramming: The Value-fit Framework and Canvas.

I worked on several theories and a set of frameworks. I only selected relevant themes from my large knowledge theme networks.

You can find more details in Slow Talk: The ARCH of Thematic Engagement.

March 2023: The Model of “Project Network”

In March 2023, I worked on reading Ping-keung Lui’ book Gaze, Actions, and the Social World and writing notes.

I reflected on the following three projects while replaying Lui’s theory development journey.

• The Knowledge Engagement Project
• The Creative Life Framework
• The Theme of “Value Circle”

I also developed several new frameworks which form the Creative Life Theory (v2.0).

The outcome is a 228-page book (draft).

In order to discuss professional knowledge networks from the perspective of Creative Life Theory. I used the theme “Value Circle” to rename the model of “Project Network”.

The Model of “Project Network” is for discussing the idea of “Knowledge Center”. It’s a multiple-level network, not a one-level network.

• A Network of Themes
• A Network of Knowledge Centers
• A Network of People

Each level refers to one type of Project. The “Themes” level refers to “Concept as Project”. For example, “TEDx” and “Startup Weekend” are Concepts, and the global TEDx community is a large project. The global Startup Weekend community is a large project too.

The “Knowledge Centers” level refers to “Center as Project”. For example, Each local TEDx program and each local Startup Weekend chapter are local projects.

The “People” level refers to “Engagement as Project”. For example, if a person joins a local TEDx team as a volunteer, she can consider her own experiences and actions of participating in the team as a Developmental Project for her.

These three types of Projects are also embedded in three types of networks: a network of themes, a network of centers, and a network of people.

These three types of Projects are also embedded in three types of networks: a network of themes, a network of centers, and a network of people.

The above two diagrams are the “Themes of Practice” framework (left) and the model of Developmental Project (right). They can be used for understanding the “Themes” level (“Concept as Project”) and the “Center” level (“Center as Project”).

We can use the theme of “Tacit Knowledge” as an example to understand the “Themes of Practice” framework. From Jan to April 2022, I did several things with the Thematic Space Canvas which was designed for Developing Tacit Knowledge. For example, I run the first Thematic Spirit with a friend on March 19, 2022.

The above diagram represents the landscape of my practice around the theme of “Tacit Knowledge” and the concept of “Thematic space”. These two ideas are related to “the Objective — Subjective Knowledge Curation”.

On June 7, 2022, I published an article titled #TalkThree 04: How Does Collective Learning Work? and applied the above model of “Project Network” to discuss the model of “Knowledge Network”.

You can also find a case study of the model of “Project Network”. See the diagram below. You can find more details in Life Strategy: Moving between Thematic Spaces.

However, I was not satisfied with the name “Project Network” because it only means one level of the model.

In March 2023, I decided to use “Value Circle” to rename the model.

July 2023: The Networked Knowledge Centers

In April, I adopted Lui’s theoretical approach to developing several new frameworks which form the Creative Life Theory (v2.0). One of these frameworks is called the Creative Course Framework. See the diagram below.

The Creative Course Framework was inspired by Lui’s Subjectivist Structuralism which is part of his theoretical sociology.

The structure of Lui’s theoretical sociology is a nested structure. See the diagram below. According to Lui, “The realism comprises a subjectivist structuralism and an objectivist stock of knowledge, while the hermeneutics is an interpretation and an analysis. Second, I shall present an ontology that nests the realism within its boundaries.” (p.250, 2016, Aspects of Sociological Explanation)

I started working on the concept of “Knowledge Center” one year ago. Each knowledge center refers to a unique knowledge enterprise.

A knowledge center is a collective project that aims to develop certain unique knowledge. A “center” should have its own uniqueness in order to establish its identity and theme. Otherwise, there is no need to build a “center”.

A knowledge center can be seen as a three-level hierarchical structure. See the diagram below.

In a broad sense, the concept of “Knowledge Center” is part of the Creative Life Theory (v2.0). It can be seen as the creators’ Social Territory.

I considered the “Value Circle” model as a sub-framework of Creative Life Theory.

A Possible Book

Today I designed a cover image for the theme “Value Circle” and used them to anticipate a possible book.

In this way, I can detach the article about Knowledge Centers from the Mental Moves project and attach it to a possible book about Knowledge Centers.

The book will be a reflection on the development of the concept of Knowledge Centers.

References

• May 6, 2022 — CALL: How to Grow A Knowledge Enterprise
• May 29, 2022 — Platform Genidentity: The Movements of Unfolding Uniqueness
• March 22, 2023 — TALE: A Possible Theme called “Knowledge Center”
• April 6, 2023 — [Mental Moves] The Attachance of moving between Knowledge Centers
• July 13, 2023 — Mental Moves #8: The Hierarchy of Knowledge Centers
• July 18, 2023 — Knowledge Engagement: The Creative Course Framework