TALE: A New Knowledge Center
Thematic Analysis Learning Engagement
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.
I have mentioned the idea with the following logo in a short post on Linkedin on Oct 13, 2022.
Today I designed a new logo with a new name: Thematic Analysis Learning Engagement.
The new logo uses the “boat” visual imagery as its inspiration. The “boat” visual imagery is also associated with “ocean”, “adventure”, “horizon”, “exploration”, “uncertainty”, “direction”, “hope”, “anticipation”, etc.
TALE is about Themes and Trends
Thematic Engagement refers to the “Person — Theme” relationship and interaction.
As a knowledge center, TALE considers the “Person — Theme” relationship and interaction as its primary object.
Anthropologist Morris Opler (1945) developed a theoretical concept called “cultural themes” for studying culture. Career counseling therapists and psychologists also developed a theoretical concept called “life themes”.
From the perspective of innovation, we consider Themes as a sign of Trends in social life and individual life.
Innovation is about changes in social life and culture. The changes in Cultural Themes indicate the direction of social life.
TALE is about Exploration and Imagination
There are two types of themes. While Established Themes refer to normal practices, Emerging Themes refer to possible practices.
TALE aims to tell the story of innovation thematically. We will pay attention to Exploration and Imagination.
Each emerging theme points out a new creative space for discovery and dialogue.
TALE is about Collaboration and Competition
Since Innovation is about Collaboration and Competition, TALE considers collaboration and competition as two significant aspects of Themes too.
An emerging theme leads to a collaborative project and it has to compete with other emerging themes in order to attract talent, resources, and attention.
TALE is about Experience and Engagement
Finally, each journey of engaging with a theme is a long-term adventure for a particular person. It requires commitment and persistence.
Each story of Thematic Engagement is different because each story has its own plot and circumstances.
A New Knowledge Center
On May 6, 2022, I shared a model of Building Knowledge Enterprise Activity in a long article. Originally, I developed the following model for the Activity Analysis project. Later, I realized that it can be a general model for building knowledge enterprise activity. The model aims to answer a related question:
How to grow a knowledge enterprise?
The model is inspired by Project-oriented Activity Theory. Each phase refers to a focus. The model also mentions three knowledge frameworks I am working on:
Each knowledge framework could be adapted to support one phase of the Building Knowledge Enterprise (BKE) Activity.
Why do I need to set up a new knowledge center for Thematic Engagement?
I started developing the concept of Themes of Practice in 2019 for Curativity Theory. The purpose of the concept is to connect “life theme” and “cultural theme”.
In June 2021, I collected all my writings about Themes of Practice in past years and edited a Table of Content for a possible book Themes of Practice: The Information Architecture of Social Life. To my surprise, I have written over 440 pages about the idea of “Themes of Practice”.
Why did I coin the new term “Thematic Engagement”?
The new term “Thematic Engagement” was inspired by the Themes of Practice approach and the Project Engagement approach.
I use the above picture as a metaphor for the Project Engagement Approach (v2.1).
- Balloon: Concepts or Themes. It refers to the abstract aspect of social practices.
- Chair: Materials. It refers to the concrete aspect of social practices.
Both the “Project Engagement” approach and the “Themes of Practice” approach emphasize the abstract aspect of social practices: Concepts or Themes.
- Traditional craftsmen only focus on the concrete aspect of social practices: materials.
- Contemporary knowledge workers have to deal with a web of concepts or themes.
Since my primary focus is Contemporary knowledge workers, I coined the new term “Thematic Engagement” to highlight the abstract aspect of social practices.
The Thematic Engagement toolkit (v1.0)
The Thematic Engagement toolkit (v1.0) is a collection of diagrams, models, and concepts. Though these tools come from different theoretical approaches, they share the same theme:
Concept/Theme/Project/Activity/Practice
The Themes of Practice Approach (2019, 2021) considers both the social aspects of themes and the cognitive aspect of themes.
The Project Engagement Approach (2021, 2022) sees activities as projects around the formation of concepts.
The toolkit (v1.0) features the following tools:
- The “Theme U” Diagram
- The “Themes of Practice” Framework
- The “Thematic Network” Model
- The “Thematic Space” Canvas
- The “Thematic Controversy” Framework
- The “Project Network” Model
- The “Thematic Journey” Map
- The “Thematic Landscape” Map
- The “Life — History” Complex
You can find more details in The Thematic Engagement Toolkit (v1.0).
