A Hidden Force: Unlocking The Potential Of Neurodiversity At Work Review

If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person. This famous saying from the autistic community refers to the fact that every autistic individual has their own traits, challenges, behaviours and desires. And yet, the prevailing attitude within society is to paint any person classed as dyslexic, ADHD or having other neurodivergent qualities with the same brush.

This is one of many unhelpful stereotypes that Ed Thomson seeks to break in his book A Hidden Force: Unlocking The Potential Of Neurodiversity At Work. Whether you’re a HR professional or planning to include neurodiversity training as part of your L&D plans, you’ll want to include this book as part of your education.

Defining what neurodiversity is and isn’t 

Thompson starts the book with an important definition:

“Every brain is complex and different, and thus, the term ‘neurodiversity’ technically refers to all humanity and not just individuals who identify as neurodivergent…it is inaccurate to frame neurodiversity as only relating to such groups [autistic people, dyslexic people, and ADHDers)...doing so also reduces the potential and scope for meaningful neuroinclusion initiatives; indeed, it is precisely because no two brains are alike that such initiatives often benefit everybody and can improve productivity, collaboration, and innovation in any team.”

To emphasise this point, Thompson includes a story of how neurodiverse communication specialist Tim Goldstein sees himself as “an autistic person, not a person with autism" to indicate that identity-first language is important for putting a person before a diagnosis. However, some members of the neurodivergent community have criticised this approach because you wouldn’t call a black person a person with blackness.

This highlights the nuances and complexities that the neurodiverse community faces day to day.. Yet with the right education and awareness initiatives in place, workplaces can become a thriving space for true inclusion and healthy conversation.

How to build a neurodiverse talent strategy and true neuroinclusion at work 

After laying the foundations of the history of neurodiversity and the modern movement that now champions it (which is well worth reading in Chapters 2 and 7), Thompson offers ideas for creating a better work environment for the neurodivergent. Crucially, these ideas go beyond the baseline and bare minimum expectations of showing empathy and treating individuals as individuals.

One example he gives is to follow Universal Design principles in communication:

“Universal Design…calls for communication that is carefully clear and specific. This should include, first of all, consideration when it comes to formatting and presentation. This is the ‘what’ of communicating on paper, a whiteboard, or electronic channels, as opposed to the ‘how’. Things to keep in mind include using large, readable fonts, avoiding bright colour clashes, and taking care to format documents such as emails or spreadsheets for readability.

In any team, different team members will likely have their own expectations or hopes, a result in some cases of a particular need for clearly communicated information. Taking time to agree on such standards and allowing team members to describe any changes that would help them succeed can help ensure that circulated information can be processed optimally by all members of the team and beyond.

Clear communication is vital when it comes to hiring decisions too. This requires a shift from asking if an individual can help with a set of tasks that need doing to if the individual has the potential to enhance the innovation of a team generally. With this intentional recruitment in mind, interview questions could explore a neurodiverse person’s specific preferences for creativity e.g. ‘How do you like to approach a new problem?’ Or ‘Do you prefer to gather information for yourself or work with and through others? Or both?’”

Another consideration is to let a neurodiverse team member describe their goals when it comes to challenges. Managers should never make assumptions and think about whether the individual seeks to avoid the challenge, manage it or turn it into a strength. In the case of a challenge being avoided, a technique Thompson suggests is job carving:

“This can be done at a role level by a line manager or on a specific project by a project lead. Again, it involves the key principles of empathy and flexibility - recognising that some people may have uncommon challenges in particular areas or tasks.”

Of course, there is a fine balance to be struck with overethusiastically seeking to hire diverse talent while company culture continues to suffer. Thompson cautions against “many organisations have long articulated inclusive values while under-resourcing D&I initiatives and typically overlooking the new topic of neurodiversity. As a result, executives are at risk of the ‘inclusion delusion’ - believing their organisation is more inclusive than it is in reality - while disappointed employees look to leave for more genuinely welcoming environments.”

In conclusion, reading A Hidden Force won’t suddenly turn you into an expert on neurodiversity with all the answers. What it will do is create a starting point for you to become more open-minded, perhaps discard old prejudices or unhelpful behaviours, and lay the groundwork for creating real neuroinclusion in your company or training programme.

More L&D and training design books to add to your bookshelf

You’ll also benefit from these training design and L&D books on subjects that tackle hybrid working models, psychological safety implementation and creating genuine cultural workplace change:

The 4 Stages Of Psychological Safety by Timothy C Clark.

The Science Of Organisational Change by Paul Gibbons.

Remote Not Distant by Gustavo Razzetti.