Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) has its origins in Lev Vygotsky’s pioneering work in the 1920s. More recently, education scholars have used CHAT to study learning behavior through the creation of activity systems analysis. When we view sales and marketing or even Lean as a knowledge building exercise this thought process brings an alternative way for learning about human behavior. It is not an exercise for the light-hearted. However the Business901 podcast, CHAT in Activity Theory Thinking, with Dr. Lisa Yamagata-Lynch serves as an introduction. Below is a transcription of the podcast.
Dr. Yamagata-Lynch authored the book Activity Systems Analysis Methods: Understanding Complex Learning Environments where she outlines Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). CHAT is one of several theoretical frameworks that are popular among educational researchers because it conceptualizes individuals and their environment as a holistic unit of analysis. Activity systems analysis is one of the popular methods among CHAT researchers for mapping complex human interactions from qualitative data.