At the most fundamental level, neurodiversity is the recognition that there is a huge variation in the way human minds operate. In fact, the notion that only the ‘neurotypical’ are suited for industry has long been challenged by progressive firms.

For Ben Goodman, SVP and General Manager - APJ at Okta, the past decade has seen an evolution in conversations around neurodiversity, especially in the technology industry.

Being neurodivergent was once seen as a “barrier to people being able to progress in their careers,” Goodman told People Matters in an exclusive interview.

What many fail to recognise, however, is that an “estimated 50% to 80% of the global population are neurodivergent,” he said.

This translates to two to four out of every five workers exhibiting neurodivergence.

“As we’ve evolved as a society, what’s become apparent in the workplace is how neurodiversity brings a whole new range of skill sets and operating models to companies. Organisations looking to embrace that unlock a lot of capability,” he said.

When people think about what’s under the umbrella of neurodivergent, they often talk about common terms such as ADHD, autism, and dyslexia.

Goodman believes these are different skill sets that organisations can leverage for growth and innovation and can further sharpen to maximise the impact of neurodivergent people in their business.

40% of the world’s self-made billionaires identify as dyslexic

“I think that’s been the biggest shift for organisations. It’s not just recognising that neurodiversity brings innovation and a diversity of mindset to their organisation. It’s also about asking, how do you enable leaders to manage diverse teams and ultimately make every team member their best wherever they fit in the neurodiversity spectrum?” he said.

“The establishment of neurodiversity at Okta is a recognition that neurodiversity and the diversity of opinion, capability and process are core to how we grow as an organisation.”

Aligning roles with the potential of neurodivergent talent

In the cybersecurity industry, of which Okta is a part, there are a multitude of roles—from data analytics to detecting security threats—whose key skills a person with ADHD, for example, might naturally gravitate to. Often, the challenges of the role align to their core strengths, Goodman explained.

“There are definitely roles and opportunities within companies where neurodiversity skill sets are very much an advantage for people in being very effective in delivering those roles,” he said.

“When it comes to Okta as an organisation and you start to think about the breadth of roles we have in the organisation, we have data-centric roles and security- and threat-centric roles.

Okta sees neurodivergent talent thriving in these roles and environments.

“And so, part of what we’re doing is looking for organisations globally to partner with around talent acquisition. We embrace and make it easy for neurodiverse talent to put their resumes forward in a constructive way,” he said.

Opening up about neurodivergence at work

To realise the full potential of neurodivergent talent, organisations need to tackle fundamental questions around neurodiversity.

• How do employers remove any traditional stigmas and make neurodiversity a topical conversation for all?
• How do they empower neurodivergent team members to communicate with managers and peers about their best operating model?
• How do they help their neurodivergent talent be at their best?
• Which factors might be hindering their performance?
• How can employers address these roadblocks in their workplaces?

“That is really the power of opening up the neurodiversity dialogue in a business, and that’s very much what Okta is taking the lead in: number one, making people very comfortable to talk about their neurodivergence and, number two, helping people unlock the potential it brings in their role,” Goodman said.

“If there’s a situation where they can comfortably talk about their neurodiversity and comfortably talk about the things that colleagues, peers and managers can do to help them be at their best, imagine what that can unlock for workplaces,” he said.

Open dialogue can unlock so much potential and capability for your business.

Goodman urges managers to evaluate whether they themselves are comfortable addressing hard questions around diversity and inclusion.

“How do you as a manager start to ask questions in a constructive way to make it a safe space for people to talk about their neurodiversity without having an adverse effect on their ability to be employed? I think that’s a key piece—management education,” he said.

“Our team in Australia has gone through a series of workshops to talk about management support and management infrastructure to really embrace neurodivergent talent. And more importantly, how to support neurodivergent talent coming into the business.

“The journey starts with manager skill sets and hiring skill sets to make sure that we’re not potentially excluding some amazing talent who just haven’t been able to communicate their voice,” Goodman said.

“Our biggest opportunity and our biggest challenge is the evolving workplace and what it can potentially do—positively or adversely—for neurodiverse talent, and equipping people to have broad leadership skill sets and perspectives for managing neurodiverse talent.”

Having empathy, not sympathy, for neurodivergent talent

As with all conversations on diversity and inclusion, managers must be mindful of the nuances around neurodivergence. The dichotomy between ‘neurotypical’ and ‘neurodivergent’ often hides these nuances.

“[Sometimes] people don’t know that they’re neurodivergent or, in some cases, they’re in denial that they’re neurodivergent. Or, they’re aware but they’re uncomfortable. And many of those people are managers today,” Goodman said.

The leader opened up about his own experience: “I myself am OCD and all of my leadership team knows that I’m OCD. They know how that manifests in work and they’re able to use that to their advantage and be aware of it.”

It's about having that dialogue, being comfortable to say, here’s how my brain operates, here’s my operating manual. Here’s when I’m at my best and here’s where you as a peer can help me.

Goodman encourages people to ask: “How do you get comfortable with your own neurodiversity? Not just comfortable, but how do you embrace your own neurodiversity?

“Very often, people will jump to being too understanding. We will start to sympathise with people rather than empathise with people as they’re describing some of the challenges they face. Part of it is recognising that, if you don’t necessarily understand what someone is going through, just have them explain to you what the experience is like—for you to build that knowledge,” Goodman said.

“As a society, the stigma traditionally associated with neurodiversity of 10, 20 years ago is now gone,” he explained. “If you think about the self-made billionaires of the globe, 40% of them identify as being dyslexic.”

Opening up about being neurodivergent won’t always be easy, Goodman said. “But when you understand how you operate and you can communicate with others how you best operate, you’d be amazed at what potential you can unlock within yourself.”