Life Discovery: The AAS Framework

A simple version of the Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework

AAS stands for Anticipatory Activity System. The AAS Framework adds the five movements to the basic model of AAS.

1. Unfolding 2. Discovering 3. Modeling 4. Producing 5. Storytelling

This is a simple version of the #AAS4LT framework which has 9 steps.

Now we have three things:

1. The basic model of AAS 2. The AAS framework 3. The AAS4LT framework

Why do we need such different versions of the same idea?

I use the above HERO U to guide my knowledge projects. The HERO U framework presents six types of “Objective of Knowing”.

mTheory: Meta-theory
sTheory: Specific Theory
aModel: Abstract Model
cModel: Concrete Model
dPractice: Domain Practice
gPractice: General Practice

You can find more details in HERO U — A New Framework for Knowledge Heroes.

Let’s apply it to the AAS project.

1. Meta-theory: Activity Theory and Anticipatory System Theory

These two theories are major theoretical resources of the AAS project.

Yrjö Engeström’s Activity System model is an established branch of Activity Theory.

The above Engeström’s triangle — its official name is Activity System model — 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.

Anticipatory System theory was developed by Robert Rosen. According to Robert Rosen, “An anticipatory system is a natural system that contains an internal predictive model of itself and of its environment, which allows it to change state at an instant in accord with the model’s predictions pertaining to a later instant.” In contrast, a reactive system only reacts, in the present, to changes that have already occurred in the causal chain, while an anticipatory system’s present behavior involves aspects of past, present, and future.

Anticipatory System theory is also a type of Self-referential Systems theory. According to Roberto Poli, “The theory of autopoietic systems is possibly the best-known result connected with the problem of system’s reproduction. In this regard, it is worth considering that the theory of autopoietic system is itself in need of further generalizations. The simplest generalization of these is well represented by Niklas Luhmann’s theory of social systems. The second possibility is well represented by Robert Rosen, who some twenty years before the birth of the theory of autopoietic systems proposed what he called (M, R) — systems (from Metabolism and Repair), which subsequently developed into the theory of anticipatory systems [Rosen 1985]. As it results, Rosen’s theory is both more general and more precise than the theory of autopoietic systems.” (The complexity of Self-reference, 2010)

So, we see three types of systems theories:

Open systems theory
Niklas Luhmann’s theory of Social Systems
Robert Rosen’s theory of Anticipatory Systems

Poli also points out the challenge of application of Luhmann and Rosen’s theories, “The realization of life into actual organisms requires many more details extending beyond (M, R) — systems. The same applies to Luhmann’s social system theory, which addresses only the most basic, the deepest, aspect of social systems. Many more details are needed in order to understand this or that concrete system. ”

By connecting Anticipatory System Theory and Activity Theory, we can move from an abstract level to a concrete level and use a new framework to study the real-life world. This is my purpose behind the Anticipatory Activity System.

2. Specific Theory: Anticipatory Activity System (AAS)

The AAS project starts from the concept of “Anticipatory Activity System” and it was defined by a set of pairs of concepts.

First-order Activity / Second-order Activity
Self — Other
Present — Future
Object — Objective
Result — Reward

The new framework is perfect for thinking about the complex of “Self, Other, Present, Future”. For example:

Sustainable Business Development
Organizational Strategy
Startup Studio or Venture Studio
Technology Choices
Educational Strategy
Family Development
Intimate Relationship

The core of the AAS framework is the Transactional Anticipatory System which considers the “Self, Other, Present, Future” situation. See the diagram below:

You can find more details in The iART Framework and The “Relevance” Thematic Space.

3. Abstract Model: The AAS framework

The AAS framework adds five movements to expand the basic model of AAS.

The five movements are defined with the following terms:

Unfolding
Discovering
Producing
Modeling
Storytelling

These five movements are born from the following AAS4LT framework which considers 8 steps for designing a life coaching program.

However, this is not a step-by-step guide for designing a coaching program, but a general description for understanding the dynamics of Anticipatory Activity Systems.

4. Concrete Model: The AAS4LT framework

The AAS4LT framework is developed for applying AAS to Life Transitions (LT). It considers “Life Discovery Project” as Second-order Activity and “Life Developmental Project” as a First-order Activity.

Each project was roughly defined as three steps. Together, the AAS4LT framework was formed with 8 steps.

Aspiration
Awareness
Achievement
Design
Deployment
Delivery
Modeling
Storytelling

There is an ideal sequence of the process between these eight steps. If everything goes well, we can pass these steps one by one. However, real life is not a simple linear model. We might need to jump between these steps. The real process is iterative, taking many cycles through the process.

The AAS4LT framework aims to offer life coaches a new tool for dealing with life transitions from the perspective of the Anticipatory Activity System framework. Though the theoretical support is very important, the result depends on the long-term engagement between life coaches and clients.

The AAS4LT framework is born from curating insights from both theoretical development and empirical research.

Though most of the ideas are adopted from the Anticipatory Activity System framework and other knowledge frameworks, the whole structure is inspired by an empirical research project about a person’s one-year life transitions.

If you read my articles about iART Framework, you probably know that The Anticipatory Activity System is an expanded version of iART Framework which was born from an empirical research project about an adult development program.

I’d like to call the program SSL which stands for Shaper & Supporter Lab. Anyway, it is just a codename. SSL was founded by a friend of mine in April 2021.

The program was designed with three components: 1) Life Purpose Awareness, 2) Personal OKR Practice, 3) Peer Review and Feedback. My friend also adopted the Building In Public approach to share her goals, challenges, progress, and discussions with others on social media platforms.

I use the Project Engagement approach to guide my research about the program. The approach uses a method called “Multiple-level Project Engagement”. I reflect on the following levels:

The “My friend — Members” Engagement
The “Member — Member” Engagement
The “I — My friend” Engagement

This method is what I called “Cultural Projection Analysis” of Project-oriented Activity Theory. You can find more details here: Activity U (X): Projecting, Projectivity, and Cultural Projection.

My friend started the journey in Feb 2021. Last month, we worked on reflecting on her life transition in the past 12 months. In the process of reflection, I realized that she did two activities during the one-year journey.

Second-order Activity: She spent several months on Life Discovery.
First-order Activity: Seh started the Shaper & Supporter Lab program as a Developmental Project.

I also observed that she also worked hard on modeling her project and storytelling about her life discovery.

This insight inspired me to create the AAS4LT framework. This is an awesome discovery!

5. Domain Practice: The AAS4LT 1:1 life coaching program

Based on the AAS4LT framework, I developed the AAS4LT 1:1 life coaching program.

The program is based on the following knowledge models:

The AAS4LT framework
The Life-as-Project approach
The Life Discovery Toolkit (v1.0)
The Life Discovery Canvas (v1.0)

The program is designed with the above eight steps. Each step has its own sub-board where I and a client can work together on the following tasks:

1. Understanding The Concept
2. Understanding The Example
3. Share Your Information
4. Discussions
5. Reflection

Task 1 and Task 2 are for the client to learn basic ideas about each step. For Task 3, the client has to reflect on her or his own situations and experiences and share relevant information through text, images, links, etc on the sub-board. I will lead Task 4 and respond to the client’s information. Task 5 is for both of us.

6. General Practice: Life Development

People can use some ideas from the AAS project for their daily life development and life reflection.

I have written many articles about Anticipatory Activity System, Life Discovery Activity, Developmental Project Model, and Modeling/Diagramming. You can find them on CALL (https://medium.com/call4).

For the AAS4LT framework, you can read the following articles to understand the eight steps:

Aspiration: What kind of hero are you?
Awareness: What is the status of your primary life project?
Achievement: What have you created so far?
Design: How to find ideas for your developmental projects?
Deployment: How to manage your primary developmental project?
Delivery: How do you echo the development of culture?
Modeling:

8. Storytelling: I will start a new study about Projects and Storytelling. Now you can read the following related articles.

Some Milestones of the AAS project

8/21/2021 — D as Diagramming: The iART Framework

In the article, I developed the iART Framework which is the core of AAS.

9/15/2021 — D as Diagramming: Strategy as Anticipatory Activity System

In the article, I officially used the term “Anticipatory Activity System”.

11/19/2021 — D as Diagramming: An Integrated Framework for Studying Knowledge Diagrams (Part 2)

In this article, I discussed my “Relevance” thematic space and a practical perspective “Cultural Significance”. In order to write the article, I developed the typology of Relevance.