Innovatively Exploring Proverbs With Transdisciplinarity

Abstract

Purpose: This study examined proverbs with transdisciplinary to discover indigenous elements that can be synthesized to open new proverb application frontiers and create hybrid indigenous global knowledge concepts and techniques.

Design/Methodology/Approach:  This study used literature review, analysis and synthesis method.

Findings:  Findings indicated current African technical proverb research and thinking is a non-innovative silo and routine thinking that doesn’t lead to commercialized technical innovations. Transdisciplinary thinking across, between and beyond silo boxes is a way of restoring proverbs to their original creative and innovative technical traditional thinking. Story design thinking method and Per-Poor system of innovation proverbs provide proof of concept that this can be done using transdisciplinary, artificial intelligence and bioinspired design inspiration.

Implications/Research Limitation: The implication of the study is transdisciplinary creative proverb application enables proverbs to be applied in new areas.  Proverb intensive methods will enable the creation of inclusive approaches and easier to diffuse research as all people can visualize it to a higher degree. The limitation of the study is it was based on a literature review and no practical demonstration of inclusiveness was carried out.

Practical Implication:  This study stimulates proverb researchers and practitioners to innovatively apply proverbs in their research, practice and technical writing. Ordinary people should provide feedback from their experiences on learning and using proverb intensive technical writing literature through shared proverb language. This would allow the evolution of the style.

 Originality/Value: The study is first to explore proverbs with a transdisciplinary lens and show how technical writing can be made more proverb intensive.