Over the past week, I’ve been reading an awesome book, Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn’t Designed for You, by Jenara Nerenberg.
In it, Nerenberg explores what it means to be a neurodivergent woman (with ADHD, autism, synesthesia, high sensitivity and/or sensory processing disorder) in a world where the traits of neurodivergence are often overlooked and over-pathologized.
Her argument is that neurological differences should be celebrated and much better supported – not as an illness, but simply as another way of thinking.
With that in mind, there’s a part early on in the book that I loved and wanted to share with you. Nerenberg asks, “Why does the way you pay attention determine your work prospects and life satisfaction?”
As a general rule, society expects attention to be something that can be easily turned on and turned off on any given day.
However, for neurodivergent people, this is not easy. Take someone with ADHD (so… me), our attention generally lives at two extremes. We can hyper-focus on a task, which means we focus to the point of tuning out virtually everything else. Or our brains are Not Interested At All which means it’s like trying to move a stubborn goat.
It’s easy to see how this could be misconstrued in the workplace as underperformance. Yet, for neurodivergent people, working against the grain when it’s not acceptable can lead to feelings of shame, guilt, poor-self image, and a loss of confidence.
It needs to be said that there’s no right or wrong way of working, just different ways of working.
To address this, we encourage workplaces to take the time to explore how they can better support these brilliant brains.
This Deloitte article offers some great suggestions including:
- Revising the hiring processes to encourage diversity.
- Educating leaders on individual differences, and how to support the strengths and development areas of neurodivergent people.
- Consider the flexibility and inflexibility of work – some neurodivergent people will need to work in short, sharp efforts with rest breaks for the brain, some will need flexible time to work when they are the most productive, while others might want a set routine and structure as that what helps them to thrive.
Like any wellbeing support, it’s about asking how we can support individuals to thrive and make the most of their diverse talents, skills, and thought processes.
For more on supporting neurodiversity in the workplace, check out our great podcast interview with Callum McKirdy: Listen now
