Neuro-Diversity in the Workplace: Is It A Blessing or a Curse?

​If done CONSCIOUSLY --- it can be a BLESSING --- If not, the ROAD TO HELL WAS PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

The inset to the right  is a Survivor of the 1972 Andes Plane Crash.

The survivors were given WRONG DIRECTIONS --- and ultimately resorted to CANNIBALISM to SURVIVE.

One of the things that many --- OUT-GROUPS come to realize is that IN-GROUPS are CANNABALIZING them --- meaning IN-GROUPS are using people in OUT-GROUPS to:

• Prop up their own egos;
• Serve as a buffer from the bottom of the social heap: and
• Strengthen Ties Among the "In-Group"

Of course, if you're in a HIERARCHICAL SYSTEM, without REAL INCLUSIVITY --- we're NOT RECOGNIZING that EVERYONE has STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES --- then the POWER to DEFINE is going to DEFINE that OUT-GROUP to the BOTTOM OF THE SOCIAL HEAP.

I think the IN-GROUP(s) may have some PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY because a lot of this is UNCONSCIOUS --- BUT it is NOT UNCONSCIOUS to People in the OUT-GROUP(s).

So when we think about NEURO-DIVERSITY ---- at least 4 Groups need to be IDENTIFIED --- and interestingly they are often considered OPPOSITES:

• People who didn't do well in SCHOOL and had EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES;
• People who did great in SCHOOL and had EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES;
• People at the TOP of this SOCIETY with EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES;
• People at the BOTTOM of this SOCIETY with EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES.

So in our SOCIETY --- what are the GO-TO EXPLANATIONS for the UNDER PREFORMERS  --- well, they just didn't APPLY THEMSELVES, they didn't work hard enough--- or they just don't have the TALENT --- they don't have what it takes .

However, I would submit if you really start INVESTIGATING this --- IT IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED.

• So WRONG DIRECTIONS ---
  • What we're often not taking into account is that the person is BENEFITTING from SUPPORTS in the ENVIRONMENT that are MASKING or MAKING IRRELEVANT these EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ISSUES.

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• So for someone like myself, my DAD wasn't doing my homework for me --- BUT
  • He was a lover of STRUCTURE and ORDER --- not in a pathological way ---  
    • It drove me crazy sometimes but it allowed me to THRIVE  --- 
    • Further, I didn't really know what CRAZY was or how much I depended on that SUPPORT until it wasn't there.
    • Further, even my father didn't realize how much I was dependent on that SUPPORT.

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• Additionally,  all this STRUCTURE  &  ORDER was paired with unparalleled
  • COACHING,
  • CHEERLEADING and
  • an APPRECIATION of INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES--- it's a RARE COMBINATION --- it wasn't perfect but it allowed me to thrive --- certainly in SCHOOL.

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• I knew I had weaknesses --- BUT they had been COMPENSATED FOR pretty EFFECTIVELY.
  • ​What I really knew was that I had BIG STRENGTHS.

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​​I didn't know that my WEAKNESSES could overtake me without the PROPER SUPPORT.

• ​I think this is TRUE for people across the board.
• I think it is easier to see with NEURO-DIVERSITY because the perceived (or hidden) STRENGTHS can be BIGGER and so can the perceived (or hidden) WEAKNESSES.

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​​That ASYNCHRONY (or perhaps SYNCHRONY if properly understood) is a source of a lot of FRUSTRATION ---

• ​Those STRENGTHS have to be addressed just as much as those WEAKNESSES through
  • COACHING and​
  • CHEERLEADING
  • NOT understanding and developing  the person's STRENGTHS ends up being just as much of a problem as not understanding WEAKNESSES because ----
    • ​Those STRENGTHS are the FIRST LINE of COMPENSATION for the WEAKNESSES.

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• On the other hand, to me Bill Clinton and Donald Trump are CAUTIONARY TALES about what happens if we allow NEURO-DIVERSE people with BIG STRENGTHS and BIG WEAKNESSES to RUN AMUCK.
  • ​Throughout history, people really have had  a hard time dealing with COMLEXITY in their Leaders ---
    • ​the Divine Right of Kings comes to mind, and
    • JFK

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• BUT ultimately that is not just COMPLEXITY in the PERSON at the TOP or in the SPOTLIGHT --- it's COMPLEXITY in HUMAN BEINGS.

 

• According to some Service Providers, many incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people have tried to START their own BUSINESSES and are interested in ENTREPEURSHIP.​

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• In some cases the lift to SUPPORTED ENTREPRENEURSHIP may be less than  the lift to SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT --- if we know what we need to COMPENSATE for and what we need to BUILD UPON.

 

• I'm not sure it's an "UNDUE HARDSHIP" on Employers to ACCOMMODATE  their NEURO-DIVERSE Employees --- but the fact of the matter is it can take a FAIR AMOUNT OF EFFORT ---
  • ​Especially, as the PATH is BEING BLAZED.