Organisational change and the benefits of, and challenges to, neurodivergent team members

My talk at Agile Manchester 16 May 2024

15–20 percent of the UK population is neurodivergent. That means that 15–20 percent of this conference, your workplace and parliament should be neurodivergent. I don’t believe that is the case and we will talk about that.

I am Sharon Dale, I am a coach, I am an ADHDer and autistic and I am mostly pixlz on socials

Here is an image of my brain

Not really, this is what my brain actually looks like. OK, this talk is an hour long and if you have to listen to me for an hour, if I have to listen to me for an hour, it will be very boring and so I have included some interaction. If you would like to join in scan the QR code with your phone camera and click on the URL.

Excellent so a high proportion of people close to someone or neurodivergent themselves. I did not expect so many people who don’t really know about it, welcome.

Poll

This slide is a graph showing when the terms were first used and relative use. The time axis starts at 1975. in 1977 there are very few uses of Neurotypical, it picks up in the mid to late 90s and goes up exponentially. Neurodiverse starts to rise in around 2006 and Neurodivergent in around 2013. This is according to Google Ngram.

In general, neurodivergent people spend a lot of time hiding who we really are. People might not know that they are neurodivergent but are still masking their/our behaviour even if they don’t understand it.

This slide is to give an indication of some of the conditions which come under the term neurodivergent. Conditions may be present from birth or acquired through illness or injury.

Poll of what the participants wanted to note at this point

I have seen one with a third pane “Who wants to lead change?” Everyone runs away.

In Drive — The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Dan Pink says that we are [all] motivated by autonomy, purpose and mastery. Autonomy and purpose are mostly in the gift of managers. Mastery we can develop ourselves to an extent however with too much change e.g. a change to the preferred programming language or change process, we can lose mastery and so that can make things very uncomfortable for anyone, particularly for ND people.

Poll — Skills which are needed to be successful with organisational change

Does this look familiar?

Cynefin is a sensemaking model created by Dave Snowden (who was the keynote speaker on day one). It is made up of five domains with confusion in the centre for things for which we have not yet determined the correct domain. From the bottom left we have clear for things where cause and effect are obvious, anyone can do it, it either works or it doesn’t and best practices apply. We sense, categorise and respond. An example might be that I want my partner to wash a dress for me so I make a checklist for him of what to do before putting it into the washing machine e.g. empty the pockets, turn it inside out, what detergent to add and how much, what setting to use and what to do when it has finished e.g. put it on a hanger on the shower rail. He *should* be able to follow those instructions.

In the complicated domain the cause and effect are knoweble and predictable however in the main some expertise is required, Good practice applies. We sense, analyse and respond. An example of complicated might be my car which needs a new catalytic converter. I will need to take it to an expert and pay them to replace it. They will know what parts and tools are needed and how to do it.

In the complex domain cause and effect can only be partially seen and retrospectively. In order to deal with something which is complex we need to try things and then do it more if it works and stop if it doesn’t — emergent practice. We probe, sense and respond. An example of complex is anything we have no experience of or anything in which the results are not stable e.g. writing software to perform an activity we don’t understand, for people who may or may not want to use it and our future financial performance as a business depends upon this work.

Cause and effect in the chaotic domain is so unpredictable as to appear random. Novel practices apply (anything could make it better). We act, sense and respond. Trained crews might help us e.g. Firefighters or paramedics. Examples of things in the chaotic domain are fires, accidents, flood and the like.

Each domain has relationships with the others and we can move between them e.g. If we do something which is complex we might learn enough about it to become expert and in the future it is merely complicated. If something is chaotic, once it has been brought under control it might then be complicated such as a fire, once out will then turn into a demolition, rebuild or clean up operation.

Cynefin is well worth your time to learn more about it you are involved in change.

Silliness

Poll of what the participants wanted to note at this point

A great list of suggestions. I asked if there was anything on this list which was specific to neurodivergent people? The answer was no.

The full list as the alt text is max 500 characters

Quiet spaces, Flexibility, Multi media, Offer conversation in the open, clear requirements, Flexibility, Things in advance, Async working options,
Appreciation, Ask them, Improved various & non-judgemental lines of communication, Open space for discussing concerns, Be understanding, Understanding of different opinions, Quiet spaces for focus work,
Whiteboards and big tellies for noisy collaboration, Understanding, Patience and understanding, Flexibility, Customise working spaces, Allow people to self identify, Encourage more straight talking with psychological safety — no beating around the bush, Understanding, Flexibility about working hours/location of work, Normalise, Inclusive environment, Shorter meetings, To be involved in the conversation, Autonomy to shape or adjust the environment, Reflective time, Acceptance, Able to have a time out, A lot of breaks, Acceptance, Allow the individual to say what they need and have the ability to make changes based on what they say, Understanding, Regular breaks, Clear outcomes, Ask them, Quiet areas, Quiet rooms, Clear deadlines, Quiet desk area, Flexible hours, Quiet space, Ask them what they need, Break out spaces, Furniture with rounded corners, Talking about it

In February I attended the launch of a review of autism employment by Sir Robert Buckland KC.

I had an interview I had when quite young (around 17) and I had been given a psychometric test. I answered it a different way each time. I didn’t get the job.

In each case the original question was about autistic people and I have replaced autistic with [neurodivergent]. We discussed training, events and media.

We talked about questions being provided before an interview

We discussed psychological safety, staff neurodivergent networks and visible senior support

Poll — What is your main takeaway(s) from the talk ?

The full list as the alt text is max 500 characters

Wide array of ND identity, Awareness, Awareness is increasing, Being inclusive, Improve processes for all, Difficulties, I’m neurodivergent, Excellent talk, People who add to culture, The Buckland Report, Add not take away, Awareness, 15/20 percent of UK, Good for ND good for all, Awareness, Practise inclusiveness, Cynefin framework, Culture add over Culture, Treat people well, Utilise, Identify strengths, More people are aware, Interviews, Understanding terminology, 15 percent oow, Awareness is increasing, Businesses need do more, Treating everyone equally, spectrum of conditions, Awareness, Neudice is awesome, The Buckland report, Don’t fear Neurodiversity, My son has opportunities, Support, There’s a lot of us ,Autism is not a novelty, Inclusive recruitment, every one is different, The support we can give, Interesting, Surprising stats, Culture Add, Educate value of neurodiversity, The barriers, More visibility needed, Sharon is awesome, Awareness, Nurture, Great subject, All people are unique, Org wide awareness need, super powers, Embrace, Change in mimdset, Increase visibility, Support is available, positives not negatives, Raise awareness, Ahaslides isnt menti, Find out more, Embrace

Links to the two documents referred to

My email address and a link to book a virtual coffee