The Clandestine Cookie Jar

Rick Burgess is a New Zealand author, business owner and practical systems thinker based in Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula. His working life has taken him through farming, sales, transport, heavy lifting, logistics, business ownership and community organization's. Rather than approaching complex issues from an academic background, Rick tends to start with a practical question: How does this actually work in the real world? His writing grew from that same approach. Just the Cotter Pin explores the connections between business, community, productivity, technology, trust and the decisions that shape everyday life. Rick is also the founder of Atlas Workshop, an independent project exploring human-AI collaboration, governance and a simple principle: Thinking with, never for. He writes conversationally, using real experiences, practical analogies and plenty of questions-because sometimes understanding a complicated system starts with noticing the smallest part holding it together.