Mindset Matters: Encountering Greater Business Acumen Through The Neurodivergent Way

Originally Published at Forbes – Innovation by Jonathan Kaufman / April 14, 2023

The Neurodivergent way has a lot to teach business. It is time for organizations to truly embrace … [+] this community and bridge the gap to enhance corporate culture for the 21st Century.getty

In his landmark book, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and The Future of Neurodiversity writer Steve Silberman asserts that there “…has been the emergence of the concept of neurodiversity: the notion that conditions like autism, dyslexia, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) should be regarded as naturally occurring cognitive variations with distinctive strengths that have contributed to the evolution of technology and culture rather than mere checklists of deficits and dysfunctions.” Building on these thoughts as a foundation, it is here where we will take this notion a bit further amplifying the value add of this community and once again highlighting the need within a growing high-tech ecosystem.

Though companies have begun to recognize the desired skillsets of neurodiverse communities including highly focused concentration, careful attention to detail, out-of-the-box thinking, and a greater capacity for processing information, organizations mustn’t succumb to the tropes that all people in the neurodiverse community, particularly those with autism are some sort of savant. While there is some truth that these skills may be within reach, talent management and other human resource professionals must animate a cultural framework that allows for the neurodivergent way to flourish across the greater business environment.

In recent years, progress has been made with the development of The Autism at Work Employer Roundtable launched in 2015. Comprised of companies that include the Ford Motor Company, DXC Technology, Microsoft, JP Morgan Chase, and SAP. While these organizations are continuing to share Best Practices from hiring and retention tactics between themselves and other companies to be more proactive in hiring neurodiverse talent, there is certainly a lot more that can be done.

Part of the goal of articulating the neurodivergent way is to understand exactly what it is and how it is represented throughout corporate life. In this moment of transition, businesses have an opportunity to be more intentional about these prospects and explore how those in the neurodiverse community can be advantageous in defining corporate culture moving forward. However, before even getting to that place, executives must ask whether the organization has the structure to constitute this type of endeavor.

To build such a framework, business leaders must look internally and not only see the mechanisms from talent management and human resources as key allies but must look toward Employee Resource Groups and others within the disability space as critical partners. Having these collaborations provides a foundation to create a platform for developing new strategies that can magnify the desire for embracing the neurodivergent way and communicate outwardly the desire to embrace this community fully.

Another element that we do need to address is the demand for psychological safety. For too long the disability community has felt this sense of otherness. While design is a fundamental tool to bridge the gap, one’s mindset is just as important to the process. Part of developing new Best Practices that embraces the neurodivergent is to find ways toward greater comfort and openness where people in the community can feel a sense of authenticity to be who they are, highlighting to others their way of working, and express their needs which in turn will only benefit the organization. To truly embrace the neurodivergent way, we need to build bridges that connect not only these emotional distances but feature a way to foster coalitions to rethink how this community is redefining the economic landscape in an enduring way.

Originally Published at Forbes – Innovation by Jonathan Kaufman / April 14, 2023