Reframing ADHD at Work: as inspired by The Diary Of A CEO Book

If you've got ADHD, Steven Bartlett's number 1 best-selling book, 'The Diary of A CEO: The 33 Laws Of Business & Life', may resonate with you.

This book was like reading directly from my brain, explaining how I've been able to do everything from train 80+ ADHD coaches to companies like Disney UK in just 1 year of ADHD Works: by thinking differently.

Steven Bartlett does not say that he has ADHD himself and none of this article is intended to suggest that he does.

However, he's written a great book that demonstrates the immense strength of certain qualities and experiences that have been scientifically linked with ADHD (without even mentioning ADHD!), changing the narrative around this being a 'Disorder' in the business world.

As ADHD-er Richard Branson said, his headmaster told him he would either 'end up in prison or become a millionaire' - demonstrating the importance of having an environment in which we can thrive.

To be diagnosed with ADHD, symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and/or hyperactivity must have significantly and negatively impaired 2 or more 'important' areas of a person's life for a long period of time.

However, these qualities are not necessarily negative in and of themselves - it's all about our environment. This book doesn't talk about ADHD, and Steven does not have it himself, showing how these qualities can be reframed without a 'deficit' or 'disorder' narrative attached.

Here's a breakdown of how they can be harnessed at work, as inspired by this book:

1) Hacking an attention economy with an attention 'deficit'

'The Diary of a CEO' book highlights a 2015 study in which Microsoft found humans were found to have lower attention spans (8 seconds) than a goldfish (9 seconds). Microsoft were the first company I ever trained on ADHD, and I used this study in it to kick off with a 10 second attention span test.

I now do this test at the start of every corporate ADHD training I do, and the average number is around 2-3 seconds. This is also seen on Google - 40% of people will wait no more than 3 seconds for a website to load before abandoning it.

As Steven explains, 'most people have a horrifically short attention span when [they're] bored of something.' However, just because our attention is constantly under attack, this doesn't mean that everybody has ADHD.

For example, most people have not been expelled from school because of this (though children with ADHD are 5 times more likely). Steven explains how he was expelled for sleeping in lessons and skipping classes, with a 31% attendance record.

He says this is why he's 'naturally always understood how important it is to tell stories that demand attention - someone talking at me in a monotone voice for a prolonged period of time triggers my brain's snooze button.'

Of course, this isn't only linked to ADHD, however, it's likely that those of us who do have ADHD will strongly resonate. We may be able to hyper-focus on areas of interest with tunnel vision, such as forgetting people exist outside of our work because of such intense concentration (33% of workaholics were found to have ADHD), but without novelty, interest, or adrenaline, tasks may be much more difficult for us than the average person.

One of the most fascinating things I learned when writing ADHD: an A to Z was how our interest based nervous system can literally disengage from boredom, even to the point of falling asleep - which is what happened to me constantly throughout school (and beyond!). Luckily I wasn't expelled, but I was always beating myself up for being 'stupid' and 'lazy'.

This is an amazing way to validate and reframe these experiences: our attention 'deficit' means we know what the crucial elements are to make something interesting.

I've never been able to listen to someone talking at me, so the ADHD Works trainings are filled with short, interactive videos, role play, pushing people out of their comfort zone, and actually putting what they learn into practice as soon as possible.

Having ADHD means that anything I create needs to be accessible to me first and foremost, otherwise it'll never get finished. Ironically, this seems to make it super accessible to neurotypical people as well. In a world where everybody's ability to regulate their attention is being hijacked, having ADHD means we've already spent a lifetime practicing on ourselves!

Understanding how our brain works differently to most empowers us to fill in the gaps with the right support, as Richard Branson explained on the Diary of a CEO podcast. He says, 'it helps to add up and subtract, but if you can't do those things, I wouldn't worry too much. You can find somebody else who can... that's the thing with being Dyslexic; I had no choice but to delegate.'

Steven says how this helped him to accept his own struggles in 'maths, spelling, [and] most of the operational aspects of running a business'. As he explains, ruthless delegation is inconsistent with generic business advice, which 'typically asserts that you need to be good at a variety of things to become successful.' Understanding the things he struggled with meant he was instead able to focus on his strengths.

This is exactly how ADHD coaching works - understanding how to use our natural strengths and our interest based nervous system to stay in our hyper focus zone of genius. Crucially, identifying our areas of challenge means we can access support for these, instead of continually trying to force our minds to work differently to how they're set up.

2) Connecting the dots with out-of-the-box thinking - and 'hyperactivity'

In the book, Steven explains how people can connect the dots between their knowledge, skills, network, resources, and reputation to reach their full potential. This can make us excellent multi-hyphenates with a toolbox of skills applicable to any situation - which may resonate with ADHD-ers who 'could do anything, if only they knew what it was.'

Divergent thinking has been scientifically linked to ADHD, including qualities of energy, hyper-focus, creativity, and curiosity. Research has found that adults with ADHD have had more real-time creative achievements than those without, along with natural curiosity and inquisitiveness. By definition, we think differently.

In a business sense, this could mean having had 'squiggly careers', and using our experiences in ways that may not align with a 'typical' CV or societal expectations. For example, we may have tried lots of different careers, with a tendency to quit those that didn't feel right.

This is contrary to the expectation that we should all have our careers mapped out at age 18, with 5 years of relevant work experience to get the 'best' job we can, (usually judged by salary) - and stay in this role for the remainder of our working lives.

Running ADHD Works has enabled me to link together my personal and professional knowledge of ADHD, mental health and disability law, with my skills of being a self-employed fashion model since age 13, coaching, writing books, creating courses, public speaking, and so on.

I'm continuously connecting these dots with my network, resources and reputation - from asking job interviewers to mentor me, or campaigning on LinkedIn with templates for people to message their MP's about 7 year ADHD assessment waiting times.

One benefit of having a brain that speeds ahead at 150 miles per hour with bicycle brakes, is that I often don't have any other choice but to make it work. When I quit my law job to become an ADHD coach, my partner at the time tried to persuade me to get another 'safe' job, but I knew that if I didn't go all in, nothing would happen - and here we are.

Steven Bartlett dropped out of university after 1 lecture as a broke student with no money, and went on to become the the youngest ever Dragon on Dragon's Den. He demonstrates that you can quit 'traditional' paths and pivot into brand new areas whilst still building on past skills, even if these don't make sense to others at the time.

This may be especially validating for students with ADHD, who are significantly more likely to drop out of higher education than their peers, and employees who are three times more likely to impulsively quit a job.

By creating a culture where they can get the most out of people who think differently, employers can harness these qualities for them, instead of against them, as their competition!

3) Beating the crowd by acting on ideas - and 'impulsivity'

Before 20 year old Steven Bartlett bought desks for his new office, he spent £13,000 on a blue side and ball pit, which apparently replaced the need for a sales team.

Retrospectively, the founding team all agreed that this was one of the best financial decisions, 'albeit stupid, unintended, and immature'. The 'useless absurdity' of it made them stand out as different, young, disruptive, and innovative - 'normality is ignored. Absurdity sells.'

As Steven explains, most business leaders don't lean into absurdity and impulsive decisions, because this is hard to quantify: it's not a directly measurable or predictable return on investment. This is at their cost: 'convention, similarity and rationality... convey no message about who you are and who you aren't.'

This is exactly how I have run ADHD Works - I run it by trusting my gut and constantly innovating, from creating an ADHD Champions programme for Disney UK, to running the first ever ADHD Retreat. None of these things were planned months in advance - they were by impulse.

Further demonstrating the business case for impulsivity, Steven Bartlett explains the importance of 'out-failing the competition', recommending people get to '51% certainty, and make the decision.'

This is something people with ADHD will likely know well, as we may 'act before thinking'. The 30% developmental delay in executive functioning skills such as impulsivity, problem solving, and memory mean that I am constantly trying ideas out, failing, learning, then trying again.

I don't have the same aversion to risk or failure that 'most' people do - I spent my childhood hanging upside down out of an apple tree! Courage, 'non-conformity', and persistence are qualities that have been scientifically proven to accompany ADHD. In the right environment, leaning into this fearlessness can lead to immense growth, learning and success.

Steven also explains the importance of being an inconsistent leader, which resonates with me in managing and coaching people according to them. Although consistency, predicability and fairness are typically held up to be hallmarks of great leaders, Steven emphasises the opposite - people are not a 'one-size-fits-all', and each needs a unique approach.

This is exactly how I approach ADHD coaching and management: if you've met one person with ADHD, you've met one person with ADHD. We usually know what to do - we just struggle to do it. This is why I created the ADHD Works Executive Functioning Coaching Framework - to provide a foundation of skills and knowledge that can be applied to any individual, as they are the expert in themselves.

Having somebody who lives and experiences this resistance to being fit into a box first-hand can result in highly motivational leaders in the business world, because we know how to adapt our approaches to the individual. Inspiring someone to follow us because they want to, not because they have to, will always make for much happier and engaged workforces.

'Humans are 'emotional, illogical, and driven by a multitude of emotional impulses, fears, desires, insecurities, and childhood experiences. In light of this, a one-size-fits-all... approach to leadership is deeply inadequate for inspiring passion, motivation, and action amongst any group of people.' - Steven Bartlett, 'the Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws Of Business & Life'

As the book doesn't mention ADHD, and Steven doesn't have ADHD himself, these are simply my takeaways on his excellent book in connection with my own experiences of ADHD.

All I know is that in a country where ADHD has only been diagnosable in adults since 2008, and there's now 7 year waiting lists for assessments - or these are simply being closed down completely unless a person is in crisis mode - it's time to think differently about people who think differently.

Frustratingly, ADHD is diagnosed as a 'Disorder' - when a person is experiencing severe challenges, but things do not have to stay that way. Understanding how our brain works empowers us to embrace standing out in a world where we're encouraged to fit in. To get started, head here.

Read 'The Diary of A CEO: The 33 Laws Of Business & Life' here.