Awareness around neurodiversity – and the unique assets it can bring – is improving, but the narrative of it as an obstacle to success, rather than a driver of it, needs to change, writes Eamonn Ives
Neurodiversity has long been an overlooked force in the business world. While iconic entrepreneurs like Richard Branson and Elon Musk have spoken openly about being on the autism spectrum or having conditions like ADHD and dyslexia, still too few neurodiverse founders feel able to talk freely about their diagnoses. What’s more, neurodiversity repeatedly continues to be framed as just an obstacle to overcome, rather than an intrinsic driver of success.
It’s time we rewrite that outdated narrative. As new research from The Entrepreneurs Network in partnership with Barclays Eagle Labs reveals neurodiversity and entrepreneurship can often be highly complementary. We surveyed British entrepreneurs who have been diagnosed with at least one neurodivergent condition, and found that fully two thirds believe their neurodiversity actually makes them better as a business leader – perhaps by enabling them to harness a knack for creativity, hyper-focus and unorthodox approaches to problem-solving.
On a variety of tasks that are part and parcel of being a modern-day founder – from thinking creatively to networking to managing finances – more of the entrepreneurs we surveyed than not saw their neurodiversity as an asset rather than a hindrance to them performing them well.
Data like these help shatter the deeply entrenched stigma that can surround neurodivergent individuals in the world of work. Yet for all the optimism and positive self-perception, the report also lays bare the harsh realities facing this entrepreneurial cohort.
A shocking 96 per cent of neurodiverse founders told us they face discrimination due to their condition, with almost half reporting experiencing it either ‘regularly’ or ‘always’. Moreover, fully 78 per cent said they have felt compelled to actively hide their neurodivergence in business settings. While we all might play up a certain side of ourselves at work, these findings bring to light the extent to which neurodiverse people feel they cannot be their true, authentic selves in the course of their day-to-day lives.
It’s perhaps not unsurprising, therefore, that we also heard how two thirds of respondents reported struggling to find traditional employment prior to launching their business precisely because of their neurodivergence. No doubt because of this, 64 per cent agreed that their neurodiversity meant that setting up a company of their own was the only way they could earn a living.
Fortunately, the survey data offers glimpses of a cultural shift already underway. When asked whether it had become easier to be a neurodiverse founder compared to when they were starting out, three fifths agreed it has. In addition, more neurodiverse founders than not say that there is an adequate level of understanding about neurodiversity in the business community, and slightly more agree than disagree that neurodiversity is well represented in the media. That being said, however, on both of these questions, still large minorities of founders felt there was further room for improvement.
Faced with this evidence, it’s incumbent upon all of us to consider what can be done to bring about further positive change. But that’s easier said than done. Indeed, because neurodiversity manifests itself in a variety of forms it would be wrong to think that any one set of policies will necessarily do the job.
One of the clearer messages we took from our survey, however, was that a society which is pro-entrepreneurship is almost by definition pro-neurodiversity too. Improving access to finance and exposing more people to entrepreneurship at a younger age would help everyone – but especially those for whom the ‘traditional economy’ may not be an attractive or viable option.
Ideas upon which the most innovative companies are based so often germinate from the fertile minds of those who process the world a little differently – we should be unstinting in our ambition to empower them to flourish.