Embrace the Competitive Advantage of Neurodiversity

Many of us interact with neurodivergent individuals daily. According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, “an estimated 15-20 percent of the world's population exhibits some form of neurodivergence.” This means some of us may be neurodivergent. Or maybe we are neurotypical but have a neurodivergent family member, friend or team member.

Indeed, many of us may manage neurodiverse teams right now and not realize it. That is, we may have individuals on our teams with a form of dyslexia, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a memory processing or mental health condition or some other form of neurodivergence.

The good news is that neurodiversity provides organizations with a competitive advantage. Neurodivergent individuals often excel in innovative thinking, resilience, observational skills, pattern recognition, memory and mathematics.

According to a Harvard Business Review article, companies like SAP, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and Microsoft have reformed their HR processes to “access neurodiverse talent.” As a result, they “are seeing productivity gains, quality improvement, boosts in innovative capabilities and increased employee engagement.”

The bad news is that many of us may not know how to embrace neurodiversity, support our neurodivergent team members and benefit. I recently participated in a workshop on neurodiversity hosted by the Teaching and Learning Transformation Center at the University of Maryland. Here are tips I learned to support neurodivergence in the classroom and how they may relate to professional work for various healthcare organizations.

Don’t attempt to diagnose or ask for disclosure

• You may interfere with your organization’s HR policy—not to mention HIPAA compliance—and unnecessarily intrude on your co-worker’s privacy.

Clarify goals

• Be specific about what you expect by providing examples of what should be included in deliverables.
• Give feedback so folks know what to do differently to better meet goals next time.
• Distinguish between soft and hard deadlines.
• Strive for consistency in how you conduct meetings and organize materials.

Be flexible

• Be agreeable to variable work hours, remote work and modified workspaces and working conditions while in the office.
• Especially in offices where open space designs were created to support collaboration and creativity, noise cancelling headphones may come in handy.
• Alternative lighting may support productivity.
• Accommodate alternative methods for recording information.
• Allow more time for folks to respond during real-time dialogue and engage alternative ways of providing input.
• Keep in mind that some individuals may perform better when working alone or in groups.

Check personal bias

• Be reflexive and interrogate your own preferences. We may all benefit from innovative ways of completing tasks.
• Avoid ableist terms. Rather than proclaim that something sounds “crazy,” describe it as “outrageous.” Rather than label an idea “stupid,” clarify that it is “underdeveloped.”
• Remember, neurodivergence is not something that needs to be cured but valued.