Value Circle #1: From “Mental Moves” to “Value Circle”

Oliver Ding

Published in

Curativity Center

14 min readAug 7, 2023

A Case Study of Multiple Moves between Knowledge Centers

What’s the difference between the above two images? They use different logos.

Left: TALE (Thematic Analysis Learning Engagement)
Right: Curativity Center

These two logos refers to two Knowledge Centers. Each knowledge center hosts a unique knowledge enterprise.

On Jan 1, 2023, I launched TALE to host the Thematic Engagement project. You can find more details here.
Curativity Center was launched as a meta-center for my knowledge enterprises on June 2, 2022.

Why did I design a new picture for the theme of “Value Circle”?

On July 31, 2023, I closed the Mental Moves knowledge project with a possible book titled Mental Moves: The Attachance Approach to Ecological Creative Cognition (Introduction, Table of Contents).

One of the case studies of the book is titled Mental Moves between Knowledge Centers. A by-product of the article is a new insight about the theme of “Value Circle”.

On Jan 17, 2023, I decided to select “Thematic Engagement” and “Value Circle” as two themes of my 2023 annual themes. Originally, the theme “Value Circle” was 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.

Jan 2023: Horizontal Value Circle
Feb 2023: Value Dynamics
March 2023: The Model of “Project Network”
July 2023: The Networked Knowledge Centers

On July 18, 2023, I published a post about the development of the theme of “Value Circle” on TALE. I designed an image for the theme.

Today (July 18, 2023) 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.

Today I used the logo of Curativity Center to replace TALE’s logo and design a new version of the image. It means a new knowledge project about “Value Circle”.

I will use Curativity Center to host the “Value Circle” knowledge project since it is about the concept of “Networked Knowledge Centers”.

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.

From “Mental Moves” to “Value Circle”

Based on the hierarchy of knowledge centers, we can map mental moves between different levels.

The diagram below shows three moves from the “Mental Moves” knowledge project to the “Value Circle” knowledge project.

The three-level hierarchy of knowledge centers echoes Activity Theory’s hierarchical model.

The hierarchical structure of activity was originally conceptualized by A. N. Leontiev (1978). We have to notice that the goal of Leontiev was developing a psychological theory at the individual level with the concept of Activity. Thus, we will see three levels of activity correspond to three levels of psychological notions. The three levels of activity are activity, actions, and operations. The three levels of psychological notions are motive, goals, and conditions.

Source: Victor Kaptelinin and Bonnie A. Nardi (Acting with Technology, 2006, p.64)

The three levels of knowledge centers roughly correspond to three levels of activity:

Knowledge Center > Activity (Building Knowledge Enterprise Activity)
Knowledge Projects > Actions (Develop Knowledge Frameworks)
Knowledge Elements > Operations (Work on Pieces of Knowledge )

The Project Engagement approach uses “Project” as the unit of analysis of Activity. If we see a knowledge center as a Project, then knowledge projects can be seen as sub-projects.

Three Knowledge Centers

In this case study, we see three moves between the following three knowledge centers:

TALE (Thematic Analysis Learning Engagement)
CALL (Creative Action Learning Lab)
Curativity Center

As a knowledge center, TALE was launched to host the Thematic Engagement project that considers the “Person — Theme” relationship and interaction as its primary object.

CALL (Creative Action Learning Lab) is currently working on its original focus “Creative Actions” with a unique theoretical approach: the Ecological Practice Approach, Lifesystem framework, and Possible Practice.

I wrote a book about Curativity Theory in 2019. In order to develop applications of the theory, I launched Curativity Center on June 2022. Moreover, I also use Curativity Center as a meta-center for managing a network of knowledge centers.

From 2022 to 2023, Curativity Center’s primary project is Building A Network of Knowledge Centers. In fact, I didn’t give a name to the project. Now I use “Value Circle” to name it.

In this way, the “Value Circle” project has two meanings:

Abstract level: it refers to a journey of “Building A Network of Knowledge Centers”
Concrete level: It refers to a possible book about the journey

In this article, I will use concrete meaning and refer to the “Value Circle” project as a possible book.

The “Mental Moves” Knowledge Project

The first move is about the “Mental Moves” knowledge project. See the diagram below.

The theme of “Mental Moves” was initiated by Activity Analysis Center (2022) in July 2022. CALL followed it in March 2023. You can find more details in the following links:

On March 10, I wrote a post titled [Knowledge Engagement] How to develop a concept called “Attachance”? on Linkedin. In order to highlight this significant insight, I made a new possible theme called “Mental Moves” and published a post about it on TALE’s blog.

I used the Knowledge Discovery Canvas to frame a knowledge project to curate more examples about “Moving between Thematic Spaces” and edit a possible book titled Mental Moves: The Attachances of Moving Mental Elements. See the diagram below:

My original goal is to collect more examples about “Moving between Thematic Spaces” and edit a book as an archive. Later, I started working on case studies one by one.

On July 31, 2023, I edited a TOC (Table of Contents) for a possible book titled Mental Moves: The Attachances Approach to Ecological Creative Cognition (Introduction, Table of Contents).

We have to notice that the term “Mental Moves” is not an official theoretical concept, but a creative theme for connecting my experience and the theoretical concept of “Attachance”.

From Jan to Feb, I worked on several projects for TALE. A by-product of these projects is a meta-diagram called “Dance”.

You can see the journey of developing “Dance” in the diagram below.

You can find more details in two articles about the “Dance” case study on CALL’s blog:

These two articles are the initial action of the Mental Moves knowledge project. Following the action, I made more case studies. Eventually, these case studies become a new volume that goes beyond the collection of articles about the concept of “Attachance”.

Finally, I used three volumes to collect articles about the Mental Moves project.

In fact, the primary concepts of the Mental Moves project are Attachance and Thematic Space. I have been working on developing these two concepts for years. The creative theme “Mental Moves” triggered me to work on a concrete project about them.

The “Value Circle” Theme

The second move is about moving from the “Mental Moves” project to the “Value Circle” theme. See the diagram below.

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”.

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.

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.

On July 13, 2023, I wrote an article titled Mental Moves #8: The Hierarchy of Knowledge Centers for the Mental Moves knowledge project. At the end of the article, I mentioned a new insight:

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

On July 18, 2023, I returned to TALE and published an article titled TALE: A Possible Theme called “Value Circle”.

The “Value Circle” Knowledge Project

Now we see the third move: from the “Value Circle” theme to the “Value Circle” project.

At the age of projectification, knowledge creators tend to ask a question:

What’s the next project?

On July 31, I closed the Menal Moves knowledge project with a possible book titled Mental Moves: The Attachance Approach to Ecological Creative Cognition.

What’s the next project for my creative life?

I have published many themes on TALE’s blog. Why did I select the “Value Circle” theme and turn it into a project?

On Feb 17, 2023, I wrote a post titled TALE: The 100-Day Challenge on TALE’s blog and introduced the Developmental Project model.

The above picture is the standard diagram of the Developmental Project Model. It uses eight elements to describe a developmental project:

Purpose: Why do you want to initiate or join the project?
Position: What’s the social structure of the project?
Program: Does the project have formal organizational processes?
Social: How do you connect with others due to joining the project?
Content: How do you acquire new information and knowledge due to joining the project?
Action: What actually do you do due to joining the project?
Theme: Do you find some new and interesting themes for your career development?
Identity: How do you perceive your identity before and after joining the project?

“Theme” is a significant element of the Developmental Project Model. We can use the primary annual theme to explore and evaluate other elements of the model. In this way, you can get a better picture of the landscape of your projects.

The dynamics of Developmental Projects are emphasized by plus signs and minus signs. Plus signs refer to positive impacts while minus signs refer to negative impacts.

The “Value Circle” knowledge project was designed to 1) Explore the dynamics of networked knowledge centers, 2) Reflect on my journey of building a network of knowledge centers from 2022 to 2023, 3) Write case studies about the theme, 4) Edit a possible book.

The plan is very simple: Explore > Reflect > Write > Edit. From the perspective of the Developmental Project Model, this is the “Program” of the “Value Circle” knowledge project.

The “Value Circle” knowledge project also highlights the concept of Networked Knowledge Centers. From the perspective of the Developmental Project Model, this is related to the “Content” of the “Value Circle” knowledge project.

In a broad sense, the concept of “Networked Knowledge Centers” connects to my notion of “Building A Knowledge Enterprise Activity” and my theoretical approach to Creative Life. From the perspective of the Developmental Project Model, this is related to the “Purpose” of the “Value Circle” knowledge project.

Since the “Value Circle” project is about networked knowledge centers, the “Social” aspect of the project is very clear. It refers to connecting to knowledge creators.

Theme, Concept, and Project

This case study indicates the complicated relationship between Theme, Concept, and Project.

Let’s start with the notion of Theme(Concept). See the diagram below.

I used the above diagram which is inspired by the Ecological Approach (aka Container Thinking) to discuss the relationship between “Theme” and “Concept” for the “Strategic Thematic Exploration” project.

For the Strategic Thematic Exploration framework, I made a distinction between “Theme” and “Concept”. While “Theme” emphasizes subjective experience and understanding, “Concept” is more about objective meaning and definition.

In this way, we can see two types of cognitive space from the perspective of “Container Thinking”.

Container: Concept
Containee: Theme
Container’s boundary: Conceptual Space
Containee’s living space: Thematic Space

As mentioned above, “the Spilling Space is a dynamic space because it can be smaller than the inside space or bigger than the outside space. In this way, the spilling space connects the inside space and the outside space.” The Thematic Space can be smaller than the Conceptual Space or bigger than the Conceptual Space because it is a dynamic space.

TALE and the Thematic Engagement project aim 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.

I use the concept of “Theme of Practice” to support the Strategic Thematic Exploration framework. It doesn’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.

Thematic Engagement is both subjective and objective. In this way, we can have the necessary degree of flex between the semantic relationship and the genetic relationship.

If we return to the present case, we can find that the meaning of “Value Circle” was not permanent, but temporary. In the past several months, I changed my views on the “Value Circle” several times. This process is called the development of a theme.

For me, the “Value Circle” thematic space is a personal cognitive space that contains a large amount of information. In the past several months, the “Value Circle” theme was associated with different purposes, models, and projects. These changes are the dynamics of the “Value Circle” thematic space.

The diagram below shows my “Value Circle” thematic space on August 7, 2023.

If we use “Theme” and “Thematic Space” together, then a “Theme” refers to the Name of a particular thematic space. While the Reality of the thematic space can be changed, the Name can not be changed.

A thematic space is a large mental warehouse that offers mental elements for different knowledge projects. We have to notice that the “Value Circle” knowledge project is not the only project that corresponds to the “Value Circle” thematic space.