Why Neuro-diversity in the workplace is important.

Why the British Intelligence Agency hires neurodiverse individuals and why you should too.

GCHQ – which is the British spy agency - has over 120 neuro-diverse employees. These employees were chosen specifically for their neuro-diversity. (see: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11111584/GCHQ-employs-more-than-100-dyslexic-and-dyspraxic-spies.html)

They hire these individuals because, even though they may not have a full range of skills, they are spikey – which means, while they are below average on some common tasks like reading and writing and perhaps tying their shoes, they are well above average in other areas, like problem solving.

Working with neuro-diverse individuals is a challenge. My son has dyspraxia and he’s highly gifted, which means he sees and experiences the world in a profoundly different way than his neurotypical peers.

Getting him to work on things he isn’t interest in is a challenge. Helping him to stay organized is a challenge. I’m his mom, so I worry about what sort of work he might be able to get given his challenges.

And yet, he’s endlessly fascinating and has skills the rest of us don’t. Like his sense of smell is really acute. He may have a photographic memory.  Can he write – barely? Can he remember the song lyrics of a choir piece he heard once? Yes.

Hiring and working with neuro-diverse individuals is a challenge, but it’s precisely what makes these people different that make them so valuable.  So the next time you interview someone “challenging” instead of thinking about how difficult they will be to work with, think about how much value their unique insight into the problems your company faces. You may just find they are worth the effort.

What skill sets do children need for the future?

The 6C’s – Skill set for effective lifelong living and learning.

I love it when best practices coincide with a humanist approach to life.  It turns out that early childhood education specialists, Doctors Golinkoff & Hirsh-Pask, have narrowed down the key list of skills children should learn so that they can learn how to learn so that they can keep learning as they grow up.  (See more at: http://dupagechildrens.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/ELRAC_Brochure_11_11_2013_update.pdf)

Why is all this learning important? Because success in life is largely a measure, not of what you know, but of how you use the information you have. So the synthesis of information is important AND knowing how to acquire new information if it turns out you are mistaken is also important.  Because the only thing worse than being wrong is continuing to be wrong because you don’t know how to correct your mistakes.

Anyway – the 6Cs – the skill set we need to focus on to help our children learn.

• ·         Collaboration (building new knowledge and approaches with others);
• ·         Communication (persuasively arguing – and listening – to share ideas);
• ·         Content (the 3R’s and so much more);
• ·         Critical thinking (selecting and synthesizing the information needed to perform the task at hand);
• ·         Creative innovation (using content and critical thinking to envision new solutions to old problems);
• ·         and Confidence (the old saws about perspiration and perseverance have much to offer).