Why tapping into neurodivergence results in high-performing teams
David Clayton on how embedding a culture which embraces and celebrates differing thinking styles benefits the whole organisation
Like one in ten people in the UK, I’m dyslexic. Writing at school put my mind in a fog. I was given extra time for exams and today I often write words starting anywhere but the first letter.
And yet, I was, and remain, smart-mouthed and usually see the route to solving a problem intuitively and at speed.
It’s only recently, as neurodiversity has become a subject of discussion, that I’ve come to link these traits together. As I’ve understood the subject more, I’ve been surprised how it echoes through when training client-facing teams.
Neurodiversity refers to people who think differently. It’s a catch-all term used to describe people with autism, ADHD, dyslexia or dyspraxia. Neurodiverse people are estimated to account for 15% of the population; a figure that doubles in creative industries.
One thing we see consistently in our work is that there is no neuro-normal and that neurotypical people have thinking styles that crossover with their neurodivergent colleagues. And, as society has become more aware of the way the brain works, business has become aware of the untapped potential of all the diverse thinkers.
What’s more, in 2016, the World Economic Forum flagged key skills that would define success in the fourth industrial revolution. It listed the top three skills as complex problem solving, critical thinking and creativity — all of which align strongly with neurodiversity.
People with ADHD show an ability to focus, multi-task and remain calm under pressure. Similarly, Autism often comes hand-in-hand with analytical thinking, focus, and attention to detail. Meanwhile, Dyslexic and Dyspraxic individuals are shown to be creative, big picture thinkers and storytellers.
By designing your client-facing teams for neurodiversity you’ll not only benefit from better enabling the neurodiverse but the knock-on effect is that your new environment helps everybody in between flourish, too. Yet inspiration and aspiration is not enough. Tangible processes and action are needed.
Here are three actions which can enable organisations to embrace neurodivergence effectively:
1. Design Inclusively
When solving problems through Design Thinking, one technique is to look to the extremes. What this means is that we observe people at the margins of the topic at hand, because these cases help magnify what the masses need.
The step beyond this is to design for these extremes, and this is known as inclusive design. Often, by designing a product, service or organisation to include extreme users we create a better outcome for everyone.
A famous example of inclusive design Oxo Good Grips kitchen tools, released in the 1990s and developed for people with arthritis. Good Grips had thick rubber handles that were also better tools for everyone.
Inclusive Design is good practice for problem solving too. If we design an approach to excite extreme users, in the context of sales, too, we create the best approach for all users. At True & North, for instance, our extreme users may be technical founders with little or no sales experience and experienced client leaders, often disengaged by sales training.
Similarly, when equipping your client-facing people to succeed, start by considering the extreme profiles on your team. Observing them will not only help you design an environment where they’ll be more successful but also turn up the contrast on the needs of everyone on the team.
2. Remember that language matters
The language of traditional sales methods is dry and technical. This excludes people. Instead, focus on how to include people who don’t identify as ‘sellers or suits’ — an often untapped source of revenue growth.
Traditional sales language shuts me out as a Dyslexic, too. I am much more likely to be engaged by the ‘big picture’. And yet, while a tactical series of milestones sends me to sleep, I’d wager somebody with autism will just love rummaging around in the detail.
You need both — absolute clarity on vision, objectives, and sales plan, for those who need the big picture; along with how that is to play out operationally for those who need all the details. Vision and tactics together get a neurodiverse team firing.
3. Celebrate thinking styles
At one end of the extreme, you have conceptual thinkers, and at the other, the detail-orientated. Whilst one group quickly see the patterns in complex problems, want to create the plan, and show low tolerance for repetitive tasks; the other thinks in great detail, wants to perfect the plan, and displays excellent attention to detail.
Taking this one step further, it’s also important to consider the different ways people think through the buyer journey. This builds empathy for the buyer and develops self-awareness in the seller.
Traditional sales methodologies tend only to draw on analytical, left-brain, critical thinking, however, leaving creative thinking out of scope. It’s important to include creative, right-brain thinking in sales methods.
When you break down the different thinking styles needed in your sales team, by role, moment, or task, it will help you to hire, support and retain a broader group of thinkers and support a broader group of clients. And, in this way, when the neurotypical build awareness of different thinking styles, they learn to harness a power they were often unaware of, making them more effective, too.
Few things make me as pleased as watching senior jaws drop as the killer insight comes from an ‘unlikely’ source in the room. So, talk openly about different types of thinking, show them in action and celebrate the related wins.
David Clayton is the founder and Managing Director of True & North, a training company for Client Engagement. True & North works with businesses such as Facebook, R/GA and OMD.
