Ideas Economy | Rachel O'Brien | Substack

Mental Models

The Revenue Seed

How to not tell Business Development to just find more money.

Mar 9 • Rachel O'Brien

Develop your creativity: The Ideas Reservoir

A practical system for working with creativity’s natural rhythms.

Feb 2 • Rachel O'Brien

The five drivers of cultural distinction

Building structures that drive ideas as defensible, ownable, and economically useful.

Jan 5 • Rachel O'Brien

Ideas Economy

Ideas Economy

Uncover how we design the invisible systems that shape value. Receive Thought Essays every Thursday, and Mental Models monthly.

Your Ideas, Examined

Q&A – CREATIVITY PT II: Individual vs. systemic creativity

Your Ideas, Examined

Apr 16 • Rachel O'Brien

Q&A – PART I: Individual vs. systemic creativity

Your Ideas, Examined

Mar 19 • Rachel O'Brien

Q&A – Cross industry strategies, cities and national identity, and revenue driven by cultural storytelling

Your Ideas, Examined

Nov 13, 2025 • Rachel O'Brien

Q&A — Applying creativity functionally

Your Ideas, Examined

Oct 16, 2025 • Rachel O'Brien

Uncovering value creation in ideas, for business, innovation, and life.

Anchors and Catalysts: How transient populations shape city life

Optimising the balance between visitors and long-term residents.

Sep 3, 2025 • Rachel O'Brien

Anchor your advantage in cultural fluency

How social relevance equips brands and people with influence, clarity, and commercial power.

Jul 25, 2025 • Rachel O'Brien

Is boredom making you more innovative?

On finding the void where real productivity begins.

May 28, 2025 • Rachel O'Brien

The birth of one Ideas Economy

When we examine economies, ideas as capital are apparent in creative outputs – publishing, music, film, TV, theatre, gaming – in intellectual property …

Dec 3, 2024 • Rachel O'Brien

Subscribe for Thought Essays every Thursday, and Mental Models monthly.

Thought Essays

Maybe you’re not emotional enough.

Why “removing emotion” from decision-making is not wisdom but a failure of human fluency.

Apr 3 • Rachel O'Brien

13 statements you might need to hear

From a raw journal entry.

Mar 26 • Rachel O'Brien

How to be creative when you don’t have time.

Develop your innovative mind from things you already do.

Mar 12 • Rachel O'Brien

Learn faster than failure

Why the real leadership challenge isn’t ‘failing fast,’ but designing systems that can learn.

Mar 5 • Rachel O'Brien

Empathy is not the pinnacle of evolved leadership, but it is a necessary skill to get there.

There is a step beyond emotional intelligence, and into moral authority.

Feb 26 • Rachel O'Brien

The most important skill to learn by 2035.

And how to exercise it in your profession.

Feb 5

On the audacity to work from home

How WFH culture affects autonomy and creative output.

Jan 9 • Rachel O'Brien

Twelve primers for a nonlinear year

Sharpen your creativity, perception, and momentum for opportunity.

Dec 31, 2025 • Rachel O'Brien

A festive space where ideas play

On creativity, generosity, and the quiet magic of the season.

Dec 18, 2025 • Rachel O'Brien

Introversion was a personality disorder until ten years ago.

And Western cultural attitudes are still catching up.

Dec 11, 2025 • Rachel O'Brien

Building cities that aren’t boring

And the awkward adolescence of second-tier cities.

Dec 4, 2025 • Rachel O'Brien

Is your story killing shareholder value?

How to strengthen employee engagement through your company narrative.

Nov 27, 2025 • Rachel O'Brien and Des Kennedy

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts