Neurodivergent perspectives on leadership, innovation and creativity.

Firstly it’s important to state that I believe that it is highly likely that ALL the current statistics around ADHD and entrepreneurship are wrong. WHY? Because women and girls are still significantly under-diagnosed, and the relative tsunami of women who are pissed at being overlooked and misdiagnosed are battling to have their experiences validated, are taking charge and reframing the narrative of what neurodivergence actually looks like in the workplace.

So, who knows how many entrepreneurs have ADHD, when there are still so many women who don’t know they are neurodivergent?

Also, every article you read about ADHD and entrepreneurship cites a long list of middle aged white men as examples of people who “made it”. Yes, congratulations Richard Branson..

While the dominant medical model still aims to pathologize the traits associated with ADHD – insisting on retaining its “disordered” identity, many of us living in the real world feel rather differently.

Here are some of the factors about ADHD that influence success…

1. Entrepreneurs need to be passionate, determined and driven to be successful – those with ADHD tend to be a little all-or-nothing in our endeavours
2. Big picture thinking – a focus on minutiae doesn’t tend to lend itself to intuitive decision making, or stepping particularly far outside of your comfort zone.
3. A heightened capacity for abstract reasoning – associated with fluid intelligence and an ability to solve new and unfamiliar problems tends to mean many ADHDers are either great high level thinkers or they are good in a crisis, adaptable and are able to improvise.
4. Impulsivity and a willingness to make quick decisions
5. Courage & risk taking,  not being nearly scared enough of what could befall you
6. Intolerance of boredom and an inability to work at someone else’s pace, in someone else’s structure, chained to a desk in a  fluorescent lit room with no natural light (aagghhh) clocking on and off like it’s groundhog day….
7. Rebelliousness – doing things differently tends to go with the territory
8. Hyperfocus – a strong preference for those activities which are interest driven, ensures that a level of expertise is acquired which can result in a substantial competitive advantage in your given niche
9. Impatience can drive a constant flow of new ideas and novelty
10. A capacity or preference to multitask; whereas for most this is perceived as stressful.  This strength lends itself perfectly to entrepreneurship because that’s what owners of startups do. We juggle many tasks at one time, from marketing, HR and recruitment, admin, payroll and service delivery. When you start something from nothing, you have no choice but to have your head across all the pieces of the business until you can afford enough extra staff and infrastructure to delegate. It’s a role tailor-made for those with ADHD.

Where things can go pear-shaped…

Without an intimate awareness of your individual strengths, capacities and limitations, you could find yourself quickly overwhelmed, stuck, or constantly googling things like ‘how do I manage my accounts when I can’t find my receipts?’

Planning for this in advance is the key to a successful growth strategy.

Why would you do yourself what you can pay someone else to do quicker, more efficiently and ultimately cheaper than you can do it. And let’s not forget….someone who can do the delegated task accurately and well?

The philosophy of being able to “afford’ help sometimes is viewed a little backwards.

Basically, whatever you are selling or providing – you need to be clear about how much your time is worth per hour. Then you need to determine how many hours it may take you to complete the task.

(If you have micro time blindness as a trait of your ADHD – this may provide a significant challenge and obstacle. Use a visual timer, don’t guess, because you’ll be wrong).

The maths gets pretty easy at this point. If you can generate income at a rate of $100 an hour, why would you spend 10 hours setting up Xero when you could pay someone else $30 an hour to do it in 3? Because they’re good at it and efficient and you’re crap and will waste a lot of time.

If your impulsivity means you tend to take BIG risks with finances – perhaps find yourself a trusted advisor you can ring and get them to tell you whether they think it’s a risk worth taking, or whether you’re going to financially ruin yourself. Information is power.

So when it comes to being an adhder-entrepreneur, these are the things to keep in mind. KNOW what your strengths are, and be REALISTIC about your weaknesses. Develop ways to leverage your capacity and work in flow with your brain, and don’t set yourself up to push shit up a large hill with a very small fork because then you’ll just crack it and chuck the whole thing in and have another career crisis.