Hello Reader,

Today we start a new series in the Playbook covering the different steps of a Research Roadmap and how you can build a Knowledge Practice that helps you each step of the way.

The roadmap is divided into 3 phases:

Phase 1. Building Expertise

• Research Vision
• Problem Definition
• Knowledge Gap
• Literature Review
• Reference Management
• Research Question

Phase 2. The Research Project

• Research Plan (and Proposal)
• Conceptual Framework
• Research Methods
• Building your Contribution

Phase 3. Communicating your Findings

• Writing a Research Paper
• Writing a Dissertation, a Thesis, or a Book
• Building your Knowledge Portfolio

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Let’s investigate what is in each one of them.

Phase 1. Building Expertise

Any research project starts by deciding what you want to research.

It does start by grabbing a piece of paper and writing down what you want to explore and why (from a personal perspective). But it would be naive to think it stops there.

Instead, before a research proposal is done, there is an iterative process of refining (refining and refining) the research problem and the question you want to explore.

That’s when researchers build expertise.

You need to have deep knowledge of a domain in order to identify what problems there are to be solved and where there is missing knowledge.

In reality, you need to find a question no one has answered before.

This exploration is done not by reading a textbook or following a course, but by doing research itself (through knowledge curation).

Phase 1 is usually what you would do in a Masters Programme or the first year(s) of a PhD programme. That’s also what most non-academics refer to as research.

The outcomes of phase 1 are:

• Deep expertise on a narrow topic.
• A well-argued research question (i.e. proposing why it is important to pursue it).
• A body of work that justifies your argument (i.e. all that stuff you have read and/or analysed).

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This phase is the perfect time to begin building a solid Knowledge Practice—not just highlighting your readings or collecting piles of notes. Many people delay this step, only to wish they had started sooner when they reach Phase 3.

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Phase 2. The Research Project

Knowing what we don’t know, it is now time to figure out how we will develop that knowledge.

That’s when uncertainty strikes:

• We don’t know what the answer to the question looks like (otherwise we would have it already and won’t need the research project).
• We don’t know which available knowledge will give us part of that answer.
• We don’t know which knowledge we currently have is not useful (at all) to answer the question.
• We don’t know which observations or reflections will lead us to the answer.

There are just too many unknowns.

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But we can have a pretty good guess...

Well, perhaps I should say an “informed guess”.

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We can learn about the (successful or failed) plans and methods used by:

• People who worked on the same problem
• People who worked on a similar type of question
• People who worked on a similar topic
• Other works in the same discipline

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At this point, a formal research project is formed by writing down a research proposal.

The research proposal can either be a lengthy document aimed at convincing others to fund your research, or a simple 1-page document that serves as a guideline for your project.

It all depends on your goals and circumstances

In my opinion, everyone should have the 1-page research proposal (we will discuss that later in the series), but not everyone needs the lengthy document.

With the proposal in hand, the next step is to do the research and follow the plan…

.. and change the plan..

.. and break the plan..

.. and get stressed out that a new paper came up and changed the whole course of your research (so you need to adjust the plan)..

.. and face a problem you didn’t expect and that you won’t have resources to solve (thus change the plan)..

.. and..

You got the idea!

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The plan will change! And that is just due to the high uncertainty nature of a research project. But if you keep a 1-page proposal always up to date then you have clarity of where you are at each moment in time.

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The outcomes of phase 2 are:

• A research proposal.
• Intellectual Property.
• Better understanding of the research question.
• A Conceptual Framework (i.e. a full description of the mental model you used to understand the problem and build a solution for it).
• A collection of experiments, case studies, prototypes, methods, and analyses coming out of whatever research method you have chosen.

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Here is where a Knowledge Practice shines. It will help you:

1. Generate original ideas.
2. Keep uncertainty under comfortable levels.
3. Provide you clarity about what you are investigating.
4. Save time when looking for sources you already read.
5. Foster serendipitous connections between the different parts of your research project.
6. Easily switch between the big picture of your project and the narrow focus on everyday knowledge tasks.

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Unfortunately not all Personal Knowledge Management methodologies offer those benefits, but we will talk through what works in each step.

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Phase 3. Communicating your Findings

Phase 3 is often called the “write up” stage of research.

It is when you build a Knowledge Portfolio to communicate your knowledge to others.

You arrive here either by completing only Phase 1 or by going all the way through Phase 2.

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The outcome of phase 3 is:

• Your Knowledge Portfolio (e.g. blog posts, patents, newsletter articles, expert reports, academic papers, presentations, workshops, courses, books, a thesis, etc.)

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This is when you congratulate yourself for having started a Knowledge Practice in phases 1 or 2. Now:

• Your ideas are already organised in a coherent structure.
• All your knowledge is ALREADY written (in your notes)
• Your references are already organised (so you don’t need to spend 20 minutes searching for a source you know you have read)
• You know when (and where) your argument is good enough and when it is weak and needs more work.

Your only job now is to translate your notes into a format that suits a specific audience.

Writing up becomes editing — rather than having to do all the sensemaking (of all those highlights and pieces of notes), drafting, and editing at the same time.

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What is the result of NOT having a Knowledge Practice? It is me back in 2015 ending up in hospital due to high levels of stress and having to choose between my PhD or my survival.

What is the result of HAVING a Knowledge Practice started in phase 1? It is the experience of one of my clients, Niky Dix.

Niky joined my mentorship programme in February 2023. At that time she was a beginner note-taker still looking for an app to solve her problems (Tana? Roam? Notion? Scrintal?). As an extra challenge, she needed a system that worked well for those with ADHD.

We worked together on her mindset first, then progressively moved her practice towards the methods and tools that would suit her research.

It was a pleasure when I received her message on August 2024 telling me she had just graduated from her Masters with Distinction.

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That's all to say: the earlier you start your Knowledge Practice the easier your research journey will be.

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In the next issues, we will be covering each step of the Research Roadmap and how you can use note-taking and Personal Knowledge Management in your favour.

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Talk to you soon.

Until then, take care.

Bianca

P.S.: I am building an exclusive Research Roadmap for Non-Academics. As soon as I have the first version I will be inviting a few beta readers. Stay tuned!

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