avatarOliver Ding

Summary

The provided content outlines the author's extensive work on the concept of Developmental Projects, detailing a series of knowledge projects, frameworks, and articles that explore the theme from various angles, including theoretical models, practical applications, and life reflections, culminating in the creation of a comprehensive collection titled "Mapping Developmental Projects: Life, Stories, and Thematic Spaces."

Abstract

The author has dedicated several years to developing and refining the concept of Developmental Projects, a primary focus within the realm of Adult Development. This endeavor has resulted in a rich tapestry of interconnected knowledge projects, spanning from 2020 to 2023. The work includes the creation of diagrams, models, and frameworks such as the Developmental Project Model, the Project Engagement Approach, and the Creative Life Curation method. The author has also produced a significant body of written work, including books, articles, and case studies, which collectively offer insights into how Developmental Projects can be utilized both as a scientific tool for explanation and as a practical tool for intervention in strategic developmental psychology. The content underscores the importance of the Developmental Projects concept as a bridge between individual and collective perspectives in social sciences, emphasizing its potential to redefine developmental psychology through a strategic lens.

Opinions

  • The author views the concept of Developmental Projects as a versatile and powerful unit of analysis, applicable across various domains of psychology and sociology.
  • The Developmental Project Model is seen as evolving and adaptable, capable of expanding into a network of knowledge frameworks through the "1+N" model.
  • The author emphasizes the practical utility of the Developmental Projects framework in real-life applications, such as career development and life strategy modeling.
  • The author advocates for the integration of anticipation, reflection, and emergence in understanding and curating life experiences through the lens of Developmental Projects.
  • The author suggests that the concept of Developmental Projects can contribute to a new field, Strategic Developmental Psychology, which synergizes individual and collective life perspectives.
  • The author's work reflects a commitment to bridging theoretical knowledge with practical life reflections, as evidenced by the extensive list of articles and case studies that document real-life experiences and applications of the Developmental Projects concept.

Mapping Developmental Projects (book, v1, 2023)

Life, Stories, and Thematic Spaces

One of my favorite themes is Adult Development. The concept of Development Projects is my primary work about the theme.

From 2020 to 2023, I worked on a series of knowledge projects about the concept of “Project” and related ideas, especially the concept of “Developmental Projects”.

I also developed a series of diagrams to represent and understand the concept of “Development Projects”.

The above diagram is the basic model of the Developmental Project Model.

I also used the “Diagram Blending” technique to connect the Developmental Project Model and other knowledge frameworks. For example, the diagram below shows a connection between it and the “SET” (Structured Engagement Theory) framework. More details are in The “Identity — Program — Action” Thematic Space and the “SET” Projects.

In Dec 2022, I edited a book titled Creative Life Curation: Turning Experiences into Meaningful Achievements. The book used five units of analysis to understand creative life.

  • Creative Actions
  • Creative Projects
  • Creative Journey
  • Creative Landscape
  • Creative Lifescope

Each Unit of Analysis refers to a unique time scale, spatial scale, and theoretical focus. The Project is the second unit of analysis. Also, we can understand a Project as a set of curated Actions. Moreover, the Journey is a set of curated Projects.

In the Creative Life Curation framework, the Project is the most significant unit of analysis. You can find more details in A Semiotic System Diagram for Creative Life Curation.

In the past several years, I also wrote a set of articles to reflect my knowledge projects. Some articles were written as case studies of the Developmental Project Model, while others were written as normal life reflections.

This article aims to collect my articles about the concept of Project, the Developmental Project Model, and my project-based life reflections.

Since I often used diagrams to represent my projects, the new collection is titled Mapping Developmental Projects: Life, Stories, and Thematic Spaces.

It is divided into five parts. Some numbers about the possible book:

  • 5 parts
  • 73 articles
  • Total 1,049 min read
  • Total 277,985 words (about 556 sing-spaced pages)

Contents

Part 1: Project, Theme, and Identity Part 2: Thematic Triangles Part 3: Developmental Project Model + Part 4: Mapping Real-life Projects Part 5: Toward A Strategic Developmental Psychology

Part 1: Project, Theme, and Identity

The Developmental Project Model was formed with two triangles. The first triangle refers to Developmental Resources which are framed with three dimensions: Content, Social, and Action. It was led by the concept of “Theme”.

The second triangle refers to Situational Context which is framed with three dimensions: Purpose, Position, and Program. It was led by the concept of “Identity”.

In Feb 2022, I developed a toolkit for Life Discovery Activity. I adopted several theoretical approaches to discussing “Life as Project” and used “the Life-as-Project approach” to name the toolkit. This was a significant step in developing the concept of “Project” as a multiple-dimension concept. You can find more details in Life Discovery: The Life-as-Project Approach.

In 2022, I also developed an eight-step practical framework called AAS4LT (Anticipatory Activity System for Life Transitions) for dealing with a difficult challenge. The framework also led to a real program. In this framework, I choose the Developmental Project model to design and develop First-order Activities for the duration of Life Transitions. You can find more details in CALL for LIFE: Anticipatory Activity System for Life Transitions.

I also wrote some articles about the concept of Theme, the concept of Story, and the concept of Project by connecting Project and Story. You can find more details in Thematic Space: Project as Story, Life Discovery: “Project Engagement” and “Themes of Practice”, and Project Engagement (v2): Life, History, and Multiverse.

The above models and stories represent my thoughts on the Concept of Development Projects.

Part 1 collects related articles as a background for understanding “Development Projects” and the concept of “Project” in general.

Part 2: Thematic Triangles

The basic model of the Developmental Project Model only highlights eight dimensions of Developmental Projects.

Can these eight dimensions cover the complexity of Developmental Projects?

How can we deal with other aspects of Developmental Projects in some special cases?

What about some situations in which we only need to pay attention to three dimensions?

These questions challenge the traditional model of the one-diagram knowledge framework.

In the past several months, I also developed the “Creative Diagramming” method to utilize the power of knowledge diagrams and knowledge frameworks. The method considers several ideas such as Graphic Space Affordances, Exploring Thematic Spaces, Connecting Knowledge Frameworks, etc. These ideas were summarized in Frame for Work: The Ontology of Knowledge Frameworks and Ecological Actualism.

I also applied the method to explore potential thematic spaces of the Developmental Project Models and developed several types of sub-frameworks.

I used “Thematic Triangles” to name these thematic spaces because they are formed by three themes. For example: The D.I.V.E. Framework is located in the “Theme — Content — Program” thematic space.

We can place more than one type of Developmental Project and related framework in one Thematic Triangle. In this way, we expand the Developmental Project Model into a set of knowledge frameworks. Each sub-framework can be customized for a specific type of Developmental Project.

Part 3: Developmental Project Model +

In the past several years, I often used the concept of Developmental Projects in various knowledge frameworks. Eventually, the Developmental Project Model became a member of a large network of knowledge frameworks.

In 2021, I wrote a book titled Diagram Blending: Building Diagram Networks and introduced the concept of “Diagram Network” which means a network of connected diagrams.

I used knowledge frameworks, knowledge models, and knowledge diagrams interchangeably. In this way, a Diagram Network refers to a Network of Knowledge Frameworks too.

To be honest, my network of knowledge frameworks doesn’t have a solid central node. Each node of the network could be seen as a center of the network. If we see the Developmental Project Model as a center, we can select related knowledge frameworks from the network and make a new network.

In reality, I used the “Creative Diagramming” method to develop a diagram network around the Developmental Project Model. For example, the diagram below is a draft for making a new framework called “Creative Identity Engagement” by using a thematic space of the Developmental Project Model. You can find more details in Situational Note-taking: The Serendipity of Making A New Framework.

Now we can use “Developmental Project Model +” to name this new diagram network.

If one diagram is not enough, we can use one diagram network! In this way, we have a “1+N” model for understanding the concept of Developmental Projects.

  • The “1” refers to the concept of “Developmental Projects” and the basic model of the Developmental Project Model. It is an independent theoretical concept and a knowledge model.
  • The “N” refers to various theoretical approaches and knowledge frameworks.

Let’s use the short name DPM (which stands for Developmental Project Model) to replace the “1” and use some knowledge frameworks to replace the “N”. See the examples below.

  • DPM+Activity Theory
  • DPM+Attachance Theory
  • DPM+Knowledge Center
  • DPM+ECHO (The ECHO Way)
  • DPM+Value Circle
  • DPM+AAS (Anticipatory Activity System)
  • DPM+PDF (Persona Dynamics Framework)
  • DPM+CLC (Creative Life Curation)

This is a fantastic model!

This is a new model of building knowledge frameworks!

Part 3 collects articles that represent the above “1+N” model.

3.1 DPM+Activity Theory

In this article, I used the basic model of Activity Theory (Subject — Mediating Instruments — Object) to visualize four knowledge projects.

3.2 DPM+Attachance Theory

In 2021, I wrote a book (draft) titled Project-oriented Activity Theory which introduces Andy Blunden’s new approach to Activity Theory. The second part of the book was called Project Engagement (v1.0) and it introduced the Developmental Project Model and the concept of “Projectivity”.

From the perspective of the Ecological Practice Approach, the concept of “Projectivity” can be understood as a sub-concept of “Attachance”. In this article, I connect the Developmental Project Model and Attachance Theory.

3.3 DPM+Knowledge Center

In May 2022, I developed a model of Building Knowledge Enterprise (BKE) Activity. The model roughly considered three phases and used “Knowledge Center” for the second phase.

In 2023, I developed a three-level hierarchy of Knowledge Centers: Knowledge Centers, Knowledge Projects, and Knowledge Elements.

On June 12, 2023, I made a case study of Creating A New Knowledge Element which is about “Mental Models” and “Project”. The case study used the “Theory/Concepts — Mental Elements — Projects/Actions” schema to develop a map for visualization.

3.4 DPM+ECHO (The ECHO Way)

The above three articles are about the ECHO Way for career development.

In the above three articles, I used the ECHO way to discuss knowledge projects.

3.5 DPM+Value Circle

Originally, I used the theme of “Value Circle” to refer to the three-level model of “Project Network”: a network of Themes, a network of Projects, and a network of People.

Later, I used the Value Circle project aims to reflect on the development of several knowledge centers and explore the dynamics of networked knowledge centers.

3.6 DPM+AAS (Anticipatory Activity System)

In 2022, I worked on developing the Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework. I also considered Developmental Projects as the basic unit of the AAS framework. You can find more details in the above three articles.

3.7 DPM+PDF (Persona Dynamics Framework)

The concept of “Identity” is related to the concept of “Self” and the concept of “Role”. On Feb 16, 2023, I developed the Persona Dynamics Framework and used it to offer a solution to discuss the “self-role” issue. You can find more details in the above three articles.

3.8 DPM+CLC (Creative Life Curation)

As mentioned above, Project is a significant unit of analysis of the Creative Life Curation method. You can find more details in Creative Life Curation: Turning Experiences into Meaningful Achievements and A Semiotic System Diagram for Creative Life Curation.

In general, Creative Life Curation is about life reflections. The above six articles collect my reflections on several projects and my life experiences.

Part 4: Mapping Real-life Projects

From 2020 to 2023, I also wrote a set of articles to reflect my knowledge projects. Some articles were written as case studies of the Developmental Project Model, while others were written as normal life reflections.

In general, I consider these knowledge projects as my Developmental Projects.

Part 4 collects these articles as my real-life experiences of Developmental Projects.

4.1 2019

4.2 2020

4.3 2021

4.4 2022

The Thematic Canvas Project (2022) The Life Discovery Toolkit Project (2022) The Shaper & Supporter Lab Project (2022) The AAS4LT 1:1 Life Coaching (the AAS Board) Project (2022) The Project Network Project (2022) The Significant Insights Project (2022) The Life-Strategy Thematic Dialogue Project (2022)

4.5 2023

Part 5: Toward A Strategic Developmental Psychology

After reviewing the above articles, I see a clear path to the development of the concept of Developmental Projects:

I didn’t only use the concept of Developmental Projects as a scientific/academic tool for explanation but also used it as a practical/strategic tool for intervention.

Let's consider my work on “Development Projects” with my books (drafts) Platform for Development, Advanced Life Strategy, and Creative Life Curation together. We see a new theme: Strategic Developmental Psychology.

In Feb 2022, I applied the Project Engagement approach to understanding Life Discovery Activity.

I have developed several frameworks about Life Discovery and Life Development in general from different perspectives. One challenge is making a balance between individual perspective and collective perspective. This is an essential challenge for social sciences. For example, psychological perspective vs. the sociological perspective, methodological individualism vs. methodological collectivism, etc.

Some scholars don’t consider the dichotomy as a problem and they just form two camps. Other scholars developed theoretical solutions to solve the theoretical conflict between these two camps. Inspired by Derek Layder’s Social Domains Theory (1997) and Andy Blunden’s “Project as a Unit of Activity” (2010, 2014), I adopted the concept of “Project” as a Container for understanding Life.

Andy Blunden mentions a project-oriented approach on both psychology and sociology, “A project is a focus for an individual’s motivation, the indispensable vehicle for the exercise of their will and thus the key determinant of their psychology and the process which produces and reproduces the social fabric. Projects, therefore, give direct expression to the identity of the sciences of the mind and the social sciences. Projects belong to both; a project is a concept of both psychology and sociology.” (2014, p.15)

The concept of Life can be understood as Collective Life and Individual Life. We can use the concept of Project to understand both of them. A person’s real life is a set of real actions. The concept of “Project” is a way of curating these actions. On the other hand, Collective Life can be curated with Projects too.

Following this theoretical framework, the concept of Developmental Projects could be a unique and powerful unit of analysis for a new type of developmental psychology.

On a highlighter level, the Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework offers us a solution to understanding Developmental Projects in the context of “Self, Other, Present, Future”.

The Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework is inspired by Activity Theory, Anticipatory System theory, Relevance theory, and other theoretical resources.

An Anticipatory Activity System is formed by two parts: First-order Activity and Second-order Activity.

In real-life case studies, both First-order Activity and Second-order Activity can be understood as Developmental Projects.

While the AAS framework is more about Anticipation, the Creative Life Curation framework is more about Reflection. The concept of Developmental Projects and the Project Engagement approach are more about Emergence. If we connect these ideas, we see a clear path to creative life.

Last year, I used the above diagram as the basic structure to curate four books (drafts) together.

Now if we focus on the concept of Developmental Projects, and consider it as a new idea for the field of Developmental Psychology, we could find a new creative space called Strategic Developmental Psychology.

The theme of “Strategic Developmental Psychology” was born in an email I sent to a friend on Nov 22, 2023.

Part 5 collects some articles as references for further developing the brand-new theme.

Related books (Drafts)

Projects
Project Engagement
Project Based Learning
Developmental Psychology
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