World of Activity #2: Oliver Ding's Project Engagement in 2024

Oliver Ding -

Creative Projects, Meta-projects, and Sub-projects

In 2022, I wrote a book draft titled Creative Life Curation. Since then, I have treated the Annual Review as a special "Creative Life Curation" project.

Last week, I reflected on my creative journey in 2024 and identified the following highlights:

  • 17 Creative Themes
  • 17 Creative Diagrams
  • 12 Possible Books

This post focuses on the last piece: my Project Engagement in 2024.

A primary theme of my creative journey in 2024 was the Creative Life Curation method. However, by the end of the year, this method evolved into what I now call the Strategic Life Narrative method.

This transformation was a profound and dramatic experience. I referred to it as "Meta-projects" because it touches the deep structure of Project Engagement.
While I carried out various projects as usual, I frequently found myself resonating with the concept of "Meta-projects" throughout the year.

In this annual review, I will use the terms Projects, Sub-projects, and Meta-projects to analyze and reflect on my Project Engagement in 2024.

Contents

The Landscape of My Creative Enterprise
Reflections on Purpose and Future Directions
A List of Projects
The Creative Diagramming Project
The Creative Life Curation Project
The Project Engagement Approach (v3.1) Project
The Strategic Life Development Project
Meta-project: Two GAP Projects About a 5-year Creative Journey
Meta-project: The "Self - Life - Mind" SchemaSub-projects
Unfinished Projects
Possible Projects
The End of the Beginning

The Landscape of My Creative Enterprise

Over the past several years, my work on Knowledge Engagement has focused on connecting Theory and Practice. This effort has culminated in a series of theoretical frameworks supported by tools such as meta-diagrams, thematic maps, and knowledge maps.

In October 2024, I made the diagram below representing an integrated theory of human experience. Although I didn't continue with this solution, the diagram serves as an excellent knowledge map illustrating the landscape of my creative enterprise.

The primary theme, "HELLO" (Human Experience and Life Learning Optimization), highlights the values behind my creative journey over the years.

The first part, Human Experience, highlights the distinction between natural and social sciences, with my theoretical preference embracing subjective experience as an acceptable object of inquiry. In sociology, this draws from traditions such as Weber’s interpretive sociology, Schutz’s phenomenological sociology, and Ping-keung Lui’s subjectivist structuralism. Philosophically, William James’s radical empiricism has had a significant influence, underpinning core concepts in my development of the Ecological Practice approach. In terms of social research methodology, it emphasizes field-based qualitative approaches closely tied to actors’ experiences and includes reflective practices, autoethnography, life narrative, and more.
The middle term, Life Learning, emphasizes both Life and Learning, continuing the philosophy of CALL (Creative Action Learning Lab), which I founded in 2019. It regards the lifeworld as a dynamic field for learning and creativity.
Finally, Optimization reflects a proactive, excellence-oriented spirit, embodying key aspects of life: Creative, Strategic, Supportive, and Developmental.

This map highlights several theoretical approaches:

  • The Ecological Practice Approach
  • The Project Engagement Approach
  • The Curativity Approach
  • The Thematic Space Theory

These approaches are aligned with various levels of inquiry, such as Ontology, Realism, Hermeneutics, and Methodology.

Recently, I designed a series of knowledge maps to represent these theoretical approaches alongside their distinctive models comprehensively.

These approaches are also hosted by different knowledge centers:

  • Curativity Center: Curativity Theory
  • CALL (Creative Action Learning Lab): Creative Life Theory, Ecological Practice Approach, and GO Theory
  • Activity Analysis Center: World of Activity (The Project Engagement Approach)
  • TALE (Thematic Analysis Learning Engagement): Thematic Space Theory
  • Concept Dynamics Center: Concept Dynamics Theory
  • Frame for Work: The "Frame for Work" Approach
  • Life Strategy Center: The "Advanced Life Strategy" Approach
  • Mental Engagement Center: The Mental Tuning Framework

Together, they constitute a large creative enterprise that evolved from 2019 to 2024. By the end of 2024, I began exploring its next stage of growth: shifting the focus from individual adult development to a broader emphasis on social and cultural development.

Reflections on Purpose and Future Directions

On October 17, 2024, I made another diagram to reflect on the overarching purpose of my creative enterprise.

I revisited 16 book drafts written over the years and highlighted three central models. This process revealed two key themes:

  • Cultural Projection: Theme, Identity, and Project Engagement
  • Career Curation: Creativity, Strategy, and Supportive Development

The theme of Cultural Projection draws inspiration from Activity Theory, particularly the Project Engagement Approach.

Meanwhile, Career Curation is informed by the Creative Life Curation framework, a sub-framework within both Creative Life Theory and Curativity Theory.

Together, the themes of Cultural Projection and Career Curation reflect the ongoing tension between social structure and individual agency — a classic debate in social science.

Ultimately, this meta-project represents the deeper purpose of my creative enterprise, bridging the personal and the societal to advance knowledge and action.

A List of Projects

In 2024, I made 12- Possible Books, representing the outcomes of various projects.

Some of these Possible Books concluded cross-year, long-term projects, while others built upon earlier creations and formed trilogies. Altogether, there are eight trilogies — a remarkable achievement!

In Mapping Developmental Projects (book, v1, 2023), I listed a series of projects from 2019 to 2023. Here is a list for 2024:

  • The Evolving Knowledge Enterprise project
  • The Meaning Discovery project
  • The Situational Note-taking project
  • The Strategic Moves project
  • The Creative Diagramming project
  • The Mid-Career Curation project
  • The Creative Dialogue project
  • The "Self - Life - Mind" project
  • The Theoretical Psychology project
  • The Knowledge Center project
  • The Value Circle project
  • The General Genidentity Theory project
  • The Project Engagement Approach (v3.1) project
  • The Thematic Identity Curation project
  • The Strategic Life Development project
  • The Social Landscape project
  • The Knowledge Strategy project
  • The Dramatic Life Pattern project
  • The GO Theory project
  • The Strategic Life Narrative project
  • The Frame for Work project

The projects above are connected to possible books, knowledge frameworks, and creative diagrams. At a more abstract level, they reflect several major "Project Networks" that shaped my creative journey in 2024.

The diagram below illustrates the four major Project Networks and two significant focuses.

The Creative Diagramming Project


The Creative Diagramming Project aims to develop both a new theoretical approach and a new method for diagrams and diagramming. It is connected to Thematic Space Theory, Creative Life Theory, the Knowledge Engagement Approach, and other knowledge enterprises. At a practical level, I applied the Creative Diagramming method in nearly all my knowledge projects.

In Oliver Ding’s Twelve Possible Books of 2024, I shared the story of the Creative Diagramming project. From October 2023 to March 2024, I worked on this Project, producing a series of related Possible Books. See the diagram below for an overview.

This case study illustrates the dual-level development of interconnected projects. The Creative Diagramming project and its sub-projects represent a practical methodology, while the Integrated Ecological Approach project and its sub-projects contribute to theoretical innovation. These two levels mutually reinforce one another.

Throughout this process, I created several Possible Books. However, these books were not the primary objective of my knowledge projects — they emerged organically as by-products of the journey.

The Creative Life Curation Project

From October to December 2022, I focused on developing Creative Life Theory (v1.0) and curating four possible books. Each book presented a distinct theoretical framework. For instance, Creative Life Curation introduced the Creative Life Curation framework.

The notion of Creative Life Curation refers to turning Life Experiences into Developmental Resources, and Meaningful Achievement. I view it as a specific life strategy for knowledge creators.

First-order Experience refers to everyday life moments — for example, simply seeing the ocean. Second-order Experience arises through Creative Life Curation, where individual experiences are curated into a cohesive and meaningful whole.

In 2024, I ran several "Creative Life Curation" projects. See the list below:

These projects often served as sub-projects within other larger projects. However, from the perspective of Creative Life Curation, they all shared a common pattern: reflecting on life experiences and curating them into a meaningful whole.

These projects not only applied the Creative Life Curation method but also expanded it by introducing new methods, diagram visual styles, thematic maps, and knowledge maps. Below are two examples:

The diagram below shows an example of using the House of Project Engagement – a thematic map - to conduct a case study of Mapping Strategic Moves. It exemplifies the Creative Life Curation process.

In Slow Cognition: A 5-year Creative Journey and Two “GAP” Projects, I developed a new visual style for diagrams related to GAP projects. The diagram below is an example of this style.

In November 2024, I placed the Creative Life Curation project within the broader context of Creative Life Theory, using the diagram below.

Creative Life is seen as the transformation between individual actions and collective culture. Within Creative Life, there are several types of project engagement:

  • Reflection / Review: Creative Life Curation Projects
  • Exploitation: Creative Performance Projects
  • Emergence: Creative Emergence Projects
  • Exploration/Orient/Anticipation: Creative Life Discovery Projects

I realized these project types form a new meaningful whole: Strategic Life Narrative. More details can be found in SEE THE MOVE: From Creative Life Curation to Strategic Life Narrative.

What’s the difference between Narrative and Curation?

Generally, Narrative involves organizing a sequence of events into a meaningful story with a specific order, while Curation is about turning pieces into a meaningful whole. Curation can be seen as a foundational form of Narrative.

However, the main difference lies in their thematic focus: Narrative is situated within the “Social/Intersubjectivity” domain, while Curation belongs to the “Individual/Subjectivity” domain.

Curating projects can be personal cognitive activities that remain private, while Storytelling projects aim to communicate insights to others.

For instance, Creative Life Curation projects focus on reflecting on personal experiences and developing themes for further growth. In contrast, Strategic Life Narrative projects concentrate on organizing the “Past — Present — Future” structure and articulating potential future directions.

This perspective reveals a nested structure:

Narrative (Curation)

Strategic Curation operates as a subset within the broader framework of Strategic Life Narrative.

Strategic Life Narrative (Strategic Curation)

This nested structure provides an ontological foundation for the Strategic Life Narrative practice, clarifying its scope and function within the broader context of personal and social meaning-making.

This is a major development of the Creative Life Curation method.

The Project Engagement Approach (v3.1) Project

A major achievement in my creative journey in 2024 was the development of the Project Engagement Approach (v3.1). However, this achievement was not part of my plans in January 2024.

The Project Engagement Approach was initiated in 2021. At first, I used the term "Project Engagement" to name the second part of my 2021 book, Project-oriented Activity Theory, which introduces Andy Blunden's concept of "project as a unit of analysis of activity" into Activity Theory. From January to June 2022, I tested Project Engagement (v1.0) and recognized the need to expand the scope to include the "Project-Project" relationship.

In May 2024, I developed version 3.1 of the Project Engagement approach. While version 1.0 focused on the Developmental Project Model, version 3.0 expanded on this by curating a range of knowledge frameworks to explore project-oriented social ecology.

This is a comprehensive theoretical toolkit, as illustrated in the diagram below.

The diagram consists of two key components:

  • The top section represents a Map.
  • The bottom section showcases several knowledge frameworks.

Between May and June, I collaborated with friends to test this theoretical toolkit in various fields, including higher education teaching, life narrative practices, and youth developmental discovery.

In June 2024, to support a friend’s workshop, I simplified the Project Engagement approach (v3.1) by selecting only its Map component. This led to the creation of the House of Project Engagement.

I spent four weeks in China in June and July caring for a family member undergoing surgery. I developed the tool “The House of Project Engagement” during this time, using “Thematic Rooms” as a metaphor to represent different social structures. I later named this group of rooms and their social structures “Social Landscape”.

In July 2024, after returning to the U.S., I completed Project Engagement (v3.1) with a Chinese-language thesis. However, I detached the concept of Social Landscape from the thesis and developed it into a standalone framework, which I later applied to the Strategic Moves project in September 2024.

The Project Engagement Approach (v3.1) not only serves as a practical tool for exploring project-centered social ecologies but also provides a framework to curate my activity-related creations, including the Activity Circle Model, the SET Framework, the ARCH Model, the Platform for Development Framework, and the Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) Framework.

Eventually, I adopted the concept of the "World of Activity" from the Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) Framework and established it as a core concept of the Project Engagement Approach (v3.1).

On December 4, 2024, I launched the "World of Activity" Toolkit (v1, 2024) as the new container of my activity-related knowledge creations.

Within the development process of the Project Engagement Approach (v3.1), two additional themes — “Thematic Identity Curation” and “Social Landscape” — also took shape.

The Thematic Identity Curation framework was introduced in May 2024 by curating multiple knowledge frameworks into a meaningful whole.

“Theme” and “Identity” are two key elements of the Developmental Project Model, which forms the foundation of the Project Engagement approach. Between 2021 and 2024, I developed several knowledge frameworks focused on themes, identity, and related concepts. In May, I captured a key insight: Thematic Curation as Identity Building.

This insight led to the creation of an integration framework that curates a series of knowledge frameworks, forming a toolkit for building a creative identity. 

More details about the Project Engagement Approach (v3.1) can be found in The Landscape of Project Engagement (v3.1, 2024).

The Strategic Life Development Project

The theme of "Strategic Life" became the central focus of Q4 in 2024, encompassing the Strategic Life Development Project and several related projects.

The diagram below illustrates the associated book drafts and themes.

On December 23, 2024, I used the term "Advanced Life Strategy" to name this large knowledge enterprise.

The “Advanced Life Strategy” theme was developed in 2022, when I worked on applying the Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework to adult development. From 2022 to 2024, I developed several related concepts within the AAS framework while exploring ideas about “Life,” such as Creative Life, Strategic Life, and other interconnected ideas.

Using the “Self—Life—Mind” schema as a meta-framework, I guided the development of the Advanced Life Strategy knowledge enterprise. While each version introduces new ideas, they all remain rooted in this meta-framework.

Version 2 (v2) of Advanced Life Strategy keeps using the AAS framework as the Realism part (Life) while modifying the Ontology part (Self) and expanding the Hermeneutics part (Mind).

  • Ontology: The Life(Self) Model
  • Realism: The Anticipatory Activity System (AAS) framework
  • Hermeneutics: The Meaning Discovery Model, The Mental Tuning Framework, The Strategic Curation Framework, and the Curativity of Mind Model

The knowledge map below provides the landscape of Advanced Life Strategy (v2).

More details can be found in The Advanced Life Strategy Toolkit (v2, Dec 2024) and Strategy as Curation (book, v1, 2024).

Meta-project: Two GAP Projects About a 5-year Creative Journey


As mentioned above, there are two significant focuses in my creative journey of 2024. Let's refer to them as two meta-projects.

The first meta-project involves two GAP projects centered on a 5-year creative journey.

On March 30, 2024, I edited my 30th possible book, titled Mapping Creative Dialogue. The following day, I recognized the existence of a 5-year creative journey.

The journey began on March 16, 2019, when I finished the draft of Curativity, where I developed my first theory. A notable by-product of the book was the Ecological Practice Approach.

Moreover, I noticed a Thematic Analogy between October 2022 and April 2024. On October 18, 2022, I closed the Knowledge Curation project, a 3-year creative project.

This significant insight inspired me to reflect deeply on the 5-year creative journey and motivated me to initiate two “GAP” projects within the following 45 days.

Between April 1 and April 10, I used a series of models to map all 30 possible books. On April 2, I discovered a pattern from a unique model (see below).

The diagram above illustrates how my 5-year creative journey aligns with the Self-referential Activity Model (see below).

What a significant insight!

The two GAP projects resulted in a series of new creative themes and frameworks. The diagram below outlines the process of developing an Objective for the Strategic Life Development project and three creative themes as its Objects.

The “GAP” Project has its unique timing.

It is a Structural Choice to run a GAP project – or not – after closing a creative project or a creative journey.

The new insights from these two GAP projects framed my creative journey from June to December 2024.

Meta-project: The "Self - Life - Mind" Schema

In May 2024, I developed the Self-Life-Mind schema as a meta-framework.

The central idea of the diagram is the following correspondence:

  • Self = Ontology
  • Life = Realism
  • Mind = Hermeneutics

The “Ontology — Realism — Hermeneutics” schema is adopted from Ping-keung Lui’s Theoretical Sociology.

Source: Aspects of Sociological Explanation (Ping-keung Lui 2016, p.251)

This grand theory can be viewed as a dialogue between philosophy and sociology. While "Ontology" and "Hermeneutics" are prominent philosophical terms, "Realism"—positioned between them—is more aligned with sociology.

In Psychological Science, the concept of "Self" poses challenges for empirical research. Here, I use the concept of "Self" to represent the Ontology of Theoretical Psychology, emphasizing that it must be understood from a philosophical perspective.

From October to December 2024, I applied the Self-Life-Mind schema to several knowledge projects.

On October 4, 2024, I used it to develop the Strategic Life Development Framework (v2, 2024).

On October 21, 2024, I used it to develop a framework for "A Theory of Human Life."

On November 18, 2024, I used it to develop GO Theory (the Genidentity - Opportunity Approach).

On December 28, 2024, I sent an email to a mentor on the theme of meta-frameworks, reflecting on my work with the Self-Life-Mind schema.

Later, I realized that this entire process constituted a meta-project!

Sub-projects

Some projects are long-term endeavors focused on developing theoretical approaches, requiring slow cognition that spans several months. Others are short-term operational tasks, such as curating possible books within a few days.

I view a possible book as the outcome of a knowledge project. Therefore, curating a possible book is a sub-project within the larger project framework.

On December 23, 2024, I did a tiny knowledge curation project on Twitter by making a Twitter thread. The result was a diagram, presenting a knowledge map of Advanced Life Strategy (v2).

Following this, I wrote a long article to introduce the Knowledge Map and published it on the morning of December 26, 2024.

After publishing the article, I used it as a Situational Framework to curate a possible book titled Strategy as Curation within six hours.

The Advanced Life Strategy Toolkit (v2, 2024) captures the development of Advanced Life Strategy over two years, representing a journey of Slow Cognition.

Meanwhile, the Strategy as Curation possible book was curated in just six hours, showcasing an example of Fast Ignite — a burst of creative action.

Unfinished Projects

There are two unfinished projects. The "Strategic Life Narrative" project started on November 4, 2024. The "GO Theory" project started in December 2024.

Possible Projects

I also developed two themes for possible books in 2024. One is the "Knowledge Strategy" theme and the other one is the 'Dramatic Life Pattern" theme.

The "Knowledge Strategy" theme refers to the "Evolving Knowledge Enterprise" model, which is considered as part of the "Knowledge Engagement" creative enterprise.

The "Dramatic Life Pattern" theme belongs to the "GO Theory" creative enterprise.

The End as the Beginning

In 2023, I made four possible books focused on the Early Discovery of knowledge engagement, forming the series Aspects of Early Discovery (see the diagram below).

By the end of 2024, the series had expanded to include 12 possible books, organized into three sub-series. The first sub-series explores the transformation of knowledge elements: Insights>Themes > Concepts > Frameworks:

  • Meaning Discovery
  • Thematic Exploration
  • Grasping the Concept
  • Frame for Work

The second sub-series examines the activities involved in knowledge engagement:

  • Situational Note-taking
  • Mental Moves
  • Mapping Creative Dialogue
  • Mapping Developmental Projects

The third sub-series focuses on the materiality of knowledge representation, such as diagrams and possible books:

  • Knowledge Discovery (The Thematic Matrix Canvas)
  • Diagram as Practice
  • Creative Diagramming
  • Possible Practices (30 Possible Books)

Together, these three aspects – the transformation of knowledge elements, the activity of knowledge engagement, and the materiality of knowledge representation – form the foundation for building a knowledge enterprise, which was the central focus of Phase 1 of Creative Life Theory.

Over the past several years, my primary focus has been on the creative lives of knowledge creators, including their creative enterprises and life development.

However, in the last season of 2024, I saw some signs of the end of this journey. For example, I shifted my focus from knowledge engagement to cultural engagement in the Strategic Life Narrative project. In December 2024, I introduced GO Theory (The Genidentity - opportunity Approach), which emphasizes Social Life Development as its primary object.

During the 2024 Christmas holiday, I had a reflective conversation with a mentor, revisiting my work on HELLO THEORY, GO Theory, and the Strategic Life Narrative project. Through this reflection, I realized my newest focus had shifted toward Cultural Life Development, marking a detachment from Individual Life Development. This strategic move was encapsulated in the theme of “Cultural Grounding/Cultural Growing.”

This is both a good end and a good beginning.

(3,984 words, January 19, 2025)