Institutions of One · About
A research project about what people build, carry, control, and continue.
RN Collins · storytelling strategist, content and experiential producer, resident neuroscientist and design technologist · M.S. Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University
Institutions of One began with a simple observation: organizations routinely measure reach, productivity, and performance, but rarely measure whether the value a person creates becomes portable, durable, and meaningfully theirs. I study that question across creators, independent operators, employees, executives, researchers, public leaders, and other professionals.
RN Collins
I’m a storyteller and a neuroscientist by training. I make documentaries and short videos about the technology underneath places, and who really owns creative work.
My background spans neuroscience, developmental psychology, medical education, qualitative research, emerging industries, and the design of research and intelligence systems. That interdisciplinary path shapes this project: it examines work through psychological, organizational, economic, technological, and legal questions.
Curious about everything. Precise about all of it.
Why this research matters
A large audience does not necessarily mean ownership. Specialized expertise does not necessarily travel outside an employer. A personal brand does not necessarily become a durable business. By separating capability, authority, portability, ownership, and institutional support, I want to give people and organizations clearer language for what a person built, what they can carry, what they control, and what would continue if a job, platform, or title changed.
How the work is supported
I lead Institutions of One. Client engagements, research collaborations, and other support can fund research, analysis, publication, programs, and events. Each project begins with a clear question, scope, role for everyone involved, and explanation of how the resulting work will be used and shared.
Where else to find the work
The Polymath is my newsletter, for questions too messy for one discipline. The I/1 Edit, the editions of Institutions of One, arrives there. You can also follow my work on LinkedIn.
Current stage
The project is in active pilot development. Two assessments are collecting exploratory responses, the Observatory contains claim-linked comparative case records, and the methods will continue to be tested and revised. The long-term aim is a public research program that produces useful evidence for workers, creators, organizations, policymakers, and the industries redesigning how work happens.