Kaleidoscopic & Constellation Thinking: Comprehensive Resource List

  • Hiott, Andrea. Holding Paradox: A Navigational Approach to Mind and Consciousness. Forthcoming 2026.

    • Focus: Kaleidoscopic thinking, constellatory cognition, navigability, waymaking.

  • Hiott, Andrea. Thinking Small: The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle. New York: Ballantine Books, 2012.

    • Focus: Paradox, holding complexity in transportation history.

  • Hiott, Andrea. Embracing Paradox: Book One of the Embracing Contradictions Series. Making Ways, 2024.

Academic Work

  • Hiott, Andrea. “Ecological Memory.” Master’s thesis, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin / Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, 2020.

    • Available at: andreahiott.net

  • Hiott, Andrea. “Beyond the Double to Prismatic Perception.” Waymaking Substack, June 30, 2024.

    • URL: communityphilosophy.substack.com

    • Focus: Holding paradox, doubling, prismatic perception

  • Hiott, Andrea. “Radical Embodied Relation at any Scale, from Remembering to Navigating.” Topoi (2025).

    • DOI: 10.1007/s11245-025-10256-7

Podcasts & Media

  • Love & Philosophy Podcast (Host: Andrea Hiott)

    • Available on: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube

    • Website: loveandphilosophy.com

    • Tagline: “Kaleidoscopic thinking. Loving as knowing. Paradox as portal.”

    • Notable episodes: Parker Palmer, Hanne De Jaegher, Tim Ingold, Bayo Akomolafe

    • ecog video: E-Cogniton Mindset Diary

    • 4e video: 4e and Beyond

  • “Constellatory Cognition” diary entry - Love & Philosophy, 2025

    • URL: loveandphilosophy.com/beyond-dichotomy-podcast/constellatory-cognitions

Online Resources

  • Personal Website: andreahiott.com and andreahiott.net

  • Waymaking Substack: communityphilosophy.substack.com

  • Love & Philosophy Substack: lovephilosophy.substack.com

  • Social Media: @andreahiott on various platforms

Key Concepts from Hiott’s Work

  • Kaleidoscopic Thinking: Reimagining dimensions of perspective to find new levels of agency

  • Constellatory Cognition: Thinking of yourself as a constellation connected to life beyond your head

  • Holding Paradox: Noticing polarities as parts within a larger constellation

  • Waymaking: Movement of body and mind; navigational approach to cognition

  • Navigability: Practice of noticing regularities in thought and movement

  • Prismatic Perception: Moving beyond binary to multiple perspectives

Rosabeth Moss Kanter - Original Source

Primary Articles

  • Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. “Creating the Creative Environment.” Management Review 75, no. 2 (February 1986).

    • THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE introducing kaleidoscope thinking

    • Access: University libraries, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, or Interlibrary Loan

  • Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. “Kaleidoscope Thinking.” In Management 21C: Someday We’ll All Manage This Way, edited by Subir Chowdhury, 250–261. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2000.

    • More accessible version of the concept

    • ISBN: 978-0273650409

Books by Kanter

  • Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. The Change Masters: Innovation for Productivity in the American Corporation. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983.

  • Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. When Giants Learn to Dance. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989.

  • Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. Evolve!: Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2001.

  • Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. Think Outside the Building: How Advanced Leaders Can Change the World One Smart Innovation at a Time. New York: PublicAffairs, 2020.

Secondary Sources on Kanter

  • “From Tigers to Kaleidoscopes: Thinking About Future Leadership.” Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, May 21, 2001.

    • URL: hbswk.hbs.edu/item/from-tigers-to-kaleidoscopes-thinking-about-future-leadership

  • Springborg, Claus, and Erwin Danneels. “Rosabeth Moss Kanter: A Kaleidoscopic Vision of Change.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management. SpringerLink, 2018.

    • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-52878-6_45

Kanter’s Famous Quote

“Creativity is a lot like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements, the same ones everyone else sees, but then reassemble those floating bits and pieces into an enticing new possibility.”

Other Scholars on Kaleidoscopic Thinking

Academic Literature

  • Petrini, Catherine M., and Ernie J. Zelinski. “Kaleidoscopic Thinking for Creativity.” Training & Development 45, no. 9 (September 1991): 27-32.

    • Gale Article Number: GALE|A11326760

    • Extensively references Kanter’s 1986 work

Business & Leadership

  • Johnen, Becky. Multiple blog posts on kaleidoscopic thinking

    • Website: authorbeckyjohnen.wordpress.com

    • Focus: Applying kaleidoscopic thinking to personal development and organizational change

Related Frameworks: 4E Cognition

Foundational Texts

  • Varela, Francisco J., Evan Thompson, and Eleanor Rosch. The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991.

    • ISBN: 978-0262720212

    • THE foundational text for embodied/enactive cognition

  • Newen, Albert, Leon De Bruin, and Shaun Gallagher, eds. The Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

    • ISBN: 978-0198735410

    • Comprehensive 900+ page handbook

  • Gallagher, Shaun. Embodied and Enactive Approaches to Cognition. Cambridge Elements in Philosophy of Mind, 2024.

    • Clear, accessible introduction to 4E cognition

Key Papers

  • Rowlands, Mark. “The New Science of the Mind: From Extended Mind to Embodied Phenomenology.” Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010.

  • Thompson, Evan. Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007.

    • ISBN: 978-0674025110

Participatory Sense-Making (Related to Constellation Thinking)

Core Papers by Hanne De Jaegher & Ezequiel Di Paolo

  • De Jaegher, Hanne, and Ezequiel Di Paolo. “Participatory Sense-Making: An Enactive Approach to Social Cognition.” Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 6, no. 4 (2007): 485-507.

    • DOI: 10.1007/s11097-007-9076-9

    • KEY FOUNDATIONAL PAPER

  • Fuchs, Thomas, and Hanne De Jaegher. “Enactive Intersubjectivity: Participatory Sense-Making and Mutual Incorporation.” Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 8, no. 4 (2009): 465-486.

    • DOI: 10.1007/s11097-009-9136-4

  • De Jaegher, Hanne, Ezequiel Di Paolo, and Shaun Gallagher. “Can Social Interaction Constitute Social Cognition?” Trends in Cognitive Sciences 14, no. 10 (2010): 441-447.

    • DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2010.06.009

Book

  • Di Paolo, Ezequiel A., Elena Clare Cuffari, and Hanne De Jaegher. Linguistic Bodies: The Continuity Between Life and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2018.

    • ISBN: 978-0262036337

De Jaegher’s Current Work

  • De Jaegher, Hanne. Loving and Knowing. In progress.

    • Focus: Engaging epistemology, human knowing

    • Website: hannedejaegher.net

Paradox & Complexity Thinking

Parker Palmer

  • Palmer, Parker J. The Promise of Paradox: A Celebration of Contradictions in the Christian Life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008 (originally 1980).

    • ISBN: 978-0787996963

    • Introduction by Henri Nouwen

    • THE classic text on holding paradox

  • Palmer, Parker J. Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000.

    • ISBN: 978-0787947354

  • Palmer, Parker J. A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.

    • ISBN: 978-0787977238

  • Palmer, Parker J. The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007 (originally 1997).

    • ISBN: 978-0787996864

  • Palmer, Parker J. On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old. Oakland: Berrett-Koehler, 2018.

    • ISBN: 978-1626569898

Tim Ingold - Lines, Meshwork, Wayfaring

  • Ingold, Tim. Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. London: Routledge, 2011.

    • ISBN: 978-0415576840

    • Focus: Life as wayfaring, meshwork of paths

  • Ingold, Tim. Lines: A Brief History. London: Routledge, 2007 (Routledge Classics 2016).

    • ISBN: 978-0415424271

    • Focus: Linear vs. meshwork thinking

  • Ingold, Tim. The Perception of the Environment: Essays on Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill. London: Routledge, 2000.

    • ISBN: 978-0415617475

  • Ingold, Tim. Making: Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture. London: Routledge, 2013.

    • ISBN: 978-0415567237

  • Ingold, Tim. Anthropology: Why It Matters. Cambridge: Polity, 2018.

    • ISBN: 978-1509519804

Bayo Akomolafe - Beyond Binaries

  • Akomolafe, Bayo. These Wilds Beyond Our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2017.

    • ISBN: 978-1623171667

    • Foreword by Charles Eisenstein

    • Focus: Insurgency of vulnerability, love as radical incompleteness

  • Akomolafe, Bayo, et al. We Will Tell Our Own Story!: The Lions of Africa Speak. Auckland Park, South Africa: Fanele, 2011.

  • Akomolafe’s Website: bayoakomolafe.net

    • Essays, podcasts, and writings on post-activism and emergence

Educational & Organizational Applications

General Resources

  • Oxford Review. “Kaleidoscope Thinking - Definition and Explanation.” DEI Dictionary, 2025.

    • URL: oxford-review.com/the-oxford-review-dei-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-dictionary/kaleidoscope-thinking-definition-and-explanation/

    • Focus: DEI applications

  • BizCatalyst360. “Do You Want More Innovation? Then Practice Kaleidoscope Thinking.” 2017.

    • URL: bizcatalyst360.com/do-you-want-more-innovation-then-practice-kaleidoscope-thinking/

  • BizCatalyst360. “The Art of A Kaleidoscopic Mindset.” 2023.

    • URL: bizcatalyst360.com/the-art-of-a-kaleidoscopic-mindset/

Podcasts & Interviews

Andrea Hiott Appearances

  • Good Impact Labs. “Moving Beyond Binaries in Learning, Loving, and Living.” September 7, 2025.

    • URL: goodimpactlabs.com/podcast/andrea-hiott

    • Focus: 4E cognition, kaleidoscopic thinking in education

  • Accidental Gods. “Holding the Paradox: Navigating a Changing World with Andrea Hiott.” November 20, 2024.

    • URL: accidentalgods.life/holding-the-paradox-navigating-a-changing-world-with-andrea-hiott-of-making-ways/

  • Intelligent Teams Podcast. “Love, Phenomenology, and Waymaking with Andrea Hiott.” January 24, 2025.

    • URL: intelligentteams.substack.com/p/love-phenomenology-and-waymaking

Parker Palmer Appearances

  • On Being with Krista Tippett - Multiple episodes on paradox and wholeness

    • URL: onbeing.org

  • Sounds True: Insights at the Edge. “Welcome to the Human Race.” January 9, 2024.

    • URL: soundstrue.com/a/resources/podcast/welcome-to-the-human-race/

  • Kate Bowler: Everything Happens. “Parker Palmer: Standing in the Gap.” May 16, 2025.

    • URL: katebowler.com/podcasts/standing-in-the-gap/

Online Communities & Resources

Andrea Hiott’s Platforms

  • Making Ways: Educational consulting platform focusing on waymaking and navigability

  • Love & Philosophy Community: Substack and podcast community

  • Hashtags: #kaleidoscopicthinking #constellatorycognition #waymaking #navigability #holdingparadox

Centers & Organizations

  • Making Ways (Andrea Hiott)

  • Center for Courage & Renewal (Parker Palmer)

    • URL: couragerenewal.org

    • Programs on paradox, wholeness, and courage

  • The Emergence Network (Bayo Akomolafe)

    • URL: bayoakomolafe.net

    • Focus: Post-activism and emergence

Key Themes Across All Resources

Common Concepts

  1. Beyond Binary Thinking: Moving from either/or to both/and

  2. Multiple Perspectives: Holding many viewpoints simultaneously

  3. Dynamic Process: Reality as fluid and changeable

  4. Embodied Knowing: Knowledge through lived experience

  5. Relational Ontology: We are constituted through relationships

  6. Creative Rearrangement: Same elements, new patterns

  7. Complexity Navigation: Tools for uncertain times

Applications

  • Leadership and organizational change

  • Education and learning

  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

  • Personal development and creativity

  • Scientific research and innovation

  • Philosophical inquiry

  • Social change and activism

How to Use This Resource List

For Academics

  • Start with Varela et al. (1991) for embodied cognition foundations

  • Read De Jaegher & Di Paolo (2007) for participatory sense-making

  • Explore Hiott’s papers and forthcoming book for contemporary integration

For Practitioners

  • Begin with Palmer’s Promise of Paradox for accessible introduction

  • Read Kanter’s 2000 chapter for business applications

  • Listen to Hiott’s Love & Philosophy podcast for diverse perspectives

For Personal Development

  • Start with Palmer’s Let Your Life Speak

  • Explore Hiott’s “Embracing Paradox” guidebook published by Making Ways

  • Practice with Johnen’s blog posts on kaleidoscopic thinking

Last Updated: October 2025 Compiled for interview preparation with Andrea Hiott and Junot Díaz

*Petrini, Catherine M., and Ernie J. Zelinski. “Kaleidoscopic Thinking for Creativity.” Training & Development 45, no. 9 (September 1991).

Kanter, Rosabeth Moss. “Creating the Creative Environment.” Management Review 75, no. 2 (February 1986)