Embracing neurodiversity can bring valuable perspectives, innovation, and organisational endurance to teams. By recognising the strengths that come with neurodivergent conditions, individuals and teams can benefit from a plurality of perspectives and explore new ways of thinking and working together.
Matthew Bellringer is a consultant, practitioner, speaker, and author who focuses on systems engineering, human systems, and ecosystems. They have a background in tech engineering but have always been interested in people more than technology. Matthew has ADHD and an adulthood autism diagnoses, and is a strong advocate for neurodiversity within teams. They are the chair of Neurodiverse IT, a group for neurodivergent IT professionals, and run their own community called Curious Being.
Takeaways from Dan and Pia
- Team leaders must consider not only the individual benefits of diversity and inclusion, but also the significance of having diverse views within organisations. Organisations need to be adaptable and able to change and move with the times, rather than being brittle.
- Time constraints can prevent meaningful conversations around neurodivergence from happening. By giving ourselves more time and space, more innovative ideas can be co-created. But in order to achieve this, we need to let go of our egos and be open to different viewpoints.
- We can build a new team view from diverse perspectives in order to “go our own way together”. It's not just about having different opinions all the time; it's about using these perspectives to come to a better path as a team.
- There may be those who, when under pressure, feel that the last thing they need is a “difficult person” coming up with alternative viewpoints. But those voices must be heard and engaged with.
- We can also take the opportunity, and the time, to delve deeper into the assumptions underlying viewpoints, as it’s often at this level where we can resolve issues.
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