Thematic analysis: 20-years of blog posts

As part of the theory formulation work of my PhD research, I analysed decades of my blog posts to uncover the core themes of my work.
The diagram above shows the process of the analysis.

2,519 initial codes (concepts) were inductively derived from the blog posts. Of these, 330 were deemed to be relevant to my research topic. These 330 codes were then grouped into 27 emergent categories. These are:

1. Accept change inevitability, uncertainty; ambiguity, paradoxes, and not knowing. (17) #BLi/01
2. Action (including prototyping) enacts change. (11) #BLi/02
3. All problems are dissolvable. (6) #BLi/03
4. Aware of intrapersonal, cognitive, interpersonal, and cultural distortions. (39) #BLi/04
5. Change is anxiety; innovation is risky. (1) #BLi/05
6. Change starts from the self; we cannot change others. (9) #BLi/06
7. Childlike beginner's mindset helps discovery and creativity. (5) #BLi/07
8. Choose battles and make decisions; we cannot please everyone. (7) #BLi/08
9. Context is king across entire problem-solving process. (21) #BLi/09
10. Create psychological safety to improve creativity and efficacy. (19) #BLi/10
11. Cultivate self-awareness and engage in reflective practice. (6) #BLi/11
12. Curiosity powers creativity and empathy, and deepens perception. (4) #BLi/12
    
13. Embrace all senses to maximise rich perception and work. (6) #BLi/13
14. Embrace constraints and failures; work with reality and human nature. (7) #BLi/14
15. Embrace diversity of people, capabilities, views, and situations. (23) #BLi/15
16. Engage in creative play; creativity needs nurturing. Creativity is innate. (12) #BLi/16
17. Know when to break the rules and take risks. (1) #BLi/17
18. Maintain the Working Alliance; empower collaboration, ensure alignment. (13) #BLi/18
19. Meet human needs (emotional, functional, moral, social etc). (30) #BLi/19
20. Reductionistic conceptualisation; solve the right/right level of problems. (8) #BLi/20
21. Reframing enriches perspectives and generates more insights. (6) #BLi/21
22. Seek and create principles, not rules. (5) #BLi/22
23. Seek the unexpected, the memorable, the in-between; not the perfect. (23) #BLi/23
24. Strive to perceive clearly, accurately, and empathetically. (12) #BLi/24
25. Trust processes as guides; but don't follow unquestioningly. (15) #BLi/25
26. Value and empower agency; encourage flexible use of methods. (13) #BLi/26
27. Work at both the detail and big picture levels. (12) #BLi/27

The 27 categories were then further grouped into 16 higher abstraction categories. These were deduced from the literature review. These are:

1. Accurate Perception; Avoid Distortions (73) #BLd/01
2. Action-orientation (20) #BLd/02
3. Agency and self-efficacy (54) #BLd/03
4. Context Awareness (28) #BLd/04
5. Creative Confidence (18) #BLd/05
6. Curiosity, Empathy, Multisensory Perception (21) #BLd/06
7. Flexibility (Cognitive Styles, Methods, Perspectives) (30) #BLd/07
8. Framing and Novelty Sensitivity (29) #BLd/08
9. Humanistic (Human-centred) (44) #BLd/09
10. Optimism and Hope (12) #BLd/10
11. Pluralistic (33) #BLd/11
12. Pragmatic (10) #BLd/12
13. Process-driven and Reductionist Understanding (27) #BLd/13
14. Psychological safety (26) #BLd/14
15. Resilience (38) #BLd/15
16. Working Alliance and Collaboration (26) #BLd/16

So, these are the things I have been working on and thinking about for 20 years.

The mindmap below summarises the outcome of the analysis: