Inspired by Howard E. Gruber’s Evolving Systems Approach to the study of Creative Work (1974,1989), I use his idea “Network of Enterprise” to manage my creative work.

On Oct 31, 2021, I used the following picture to curate various projects of CALL. From Oct 2020 to Oct 2021, CALL became

a Knowledge Curation Studio⁠

that produced a set of knowledge frameworks and built an ecology of ideas. I also wrote seven books which are drafts. In addition, I worked on four independent research projects to test concepts and frameworks.

⁠

I sort my frameworks into seven enterprises. Each enterprise has a short nickname.

CALL for ECHO → Boundary Innovation

CALL for LIFE → Creative Life

CALL for NICE → Creative Action

CALL for NEST → Part — Whole

CALL for DEEP → Supportive Development

CALL for NEXT → Present — Future

CALL for META → Meta-knowledge

Each enterprise has its primary theme. Each theme refers to a core framework and a set of related concepts, diagrams, and sub-frameworks.

In the past 6 months, CALL entered a new phase which could be called “Collective Network of Enterprise” or “Project Network”.

Why do I want to use a new term to describe the new phase?

Though my vision is connecting Theory and Practice, I spent most time on the Theory side in the past years. After Oct 2021, I moved to the Practice side and started working on developing some practical applications.

This decision led to a new life container for me because the “Self — Other” Relevance is changed to “Practice-first”. In the past 6 months, many friends gave me feedback and their feedback guided my creative projects.

Last week I reflected on the new phase and realized that it’s time to detach from Howard E. Gruber’s approach or expand his approach.

Howard E. Gruber’s approach has two aspects: 1) his resources are creators’ private notebooks, documents, and other files, and 2) his focus is individual creators’ cognition development.

The new phase of CALL has two different aspects: 1) CALL’s creative work is live. I shared the whole process of CALL’s creative work on the social web, 2) CALL’s creative work was driven by the “Self — Other” Relevance, not the individual mind.

Maybe we could use “Collective Network of Enterprise” to expand Howard E. Gruber’s approach since his approach was developed in 1974.

Or we can directly use “Project Network” for the Project-centered approach?

The Project-centered approach is based on the two major theoretical resources:

1. Project-oriented Activity Theory (Oliver Ding, 2021)

2. Howard E. Gruber’s Evolving Systems Approach to the study of Creative Work (1974,1989)

I should mention one more thing about the difference between Howard Gruber’s approach and the Project-centered approach.

While Howard Gruber’s approach focuses on great creators such as Charles Darwin, the Project-centered approach aims to focus on professional workers.

In 2009, James C. Kaufman and Ronald A. Beghetto proposed the Four-C model of creativity. The aim of “Pro-c” is to give credit to “amateur” creators and professional creators who are successful but have not reached a level of prominence as eminent creators achieved. This category is a wide spectrum.

⁠

Moreover, the Project-centered approach is about “Life”, not only “Creative Work”.

⁠

After discussing this topic with some friends on Linkedin,

I decided⁠

to use “Project Network” for the Project-centered approach.

For the Project-centered approach, a Project is both a personal project and a social project. But the notion of Project Network offers more room for discussing collective impact. The notion of Project Network was inspired by Activity Network. The difference between these two is that the former uses

⁠

the Developmental Project model⁠

as a basic unit while the latter uses

the Activity System model⁠

as a basic unit.

⁠

Method

The method for this task was developed with the following heuristic tool on

April 25, 2022⁠

⁠

The above model is called the Relevance of Zone which considers Other as an important social context for the long-term development of thoughts. You can find more details

here⁠

Based on the model, we can generate the following questions:

Other: Who is the Significant Other for this insight?

Thing: What’s the insight about? Why do I pay attention to it?

Think: How did I get this insight? Is there a technique behind the process?

Self: Where did I capture this insight?

Self: When did I capture this insight?

Activity: Is this insight part of an activity? What’s the activity?

Activity: Has this insight led to a new action or a new activity?

The following section will use these questions to guide our reflection.

⁠

Analysis

Other: Who is the Significant Other for this insight?

The insight is about detaching from Howard E. Gruber’s idea of “Network of Enterprise” which refers to his Evolving Systems Approach to the study of Creative Work (1974,1989).

I shared my thought about the detaching on

Linkedin⁠

and discussed the issue with some friends.

Thing: What’s the insight about? Why do I pay attention to it?

The insight is about “Collective Network of Enterprise” or “Project Network”. Originally, I adopted Howard E. Gruber’s “Network of Enterprise” approach to guide my work. Howard E. Gruber’s approach has two aspects: 1) his resources are creators’ private notebooks, documents, and other files, and 2) his focus is individual creators’ cognition development.

In Oct 2021, I decided to change the focus of my studio CALL from the Theory side to the Practice side and started working on developing some practical applications.

This decision led to a new life container for me because the “Self — Other” Relevance is changed to “Practice-first”. From Oct 2021 to April 2022, many friends gave me feedback and their feedback guided my creative projects.

I recognized the change of CALL and a gap between Theory and Practice. As a Theory, Howard E. Gruber’s approach can’t match Practice because it doesn’t cover newest aspects of CALL. I paid attention to the Theory - Practice gap and considered the challenge as an opportunity.

Think: How did I get this insight? Is there a technique behind the process?

Initially, I perceived a gap between Theory and Practice. I also discuss my ideas with friends on Linkedin.

Daiana Zavate gave a great feedback, see the following quotation:

Brilliant stuff here,

Oliver⁠

! If I get the distinction right, I think both will create a certain expectation and tone for practice.

The Collective Network of Enterprise would initiate a space for an ecosystem of communities to come together with a higher focus on the epistemic practice.

The Project Network would fulfil the same function but, at least to my thinking, closes in the gap between an individual's projects and the collective ones.

I personally prefer the latter because it allows for looser boundaries and more room for unscripted conversation and experimentation.

Finally, I decided to use “Project Network” for the insight.

We can consider “Ecological Awareness”, “Co-creation”, and “Creative Attachance” as techniques behind the process.

Self: Where did I capture this insight?

I captured this insight in my house and discussed its initial idea with friends on Linkedin.

Self: When did I capture this insight?

On April 14, 2022, I shared

the initial idea⁠

on Linkedin.

Activity: Is this insight part of an activity? What’s the activity?

The insight is about the development of my personal studio CALL (Creative Action Learning Lab).

The final insight “Project Network” is part of the Project-centered approach.

Activity: Has this insight led to a new action or a new activity?

Not yet.

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