Stephen Schmidt is Amazon’s Chief Security Officer, which means he is the person responsible for keeping the online retailing giant (last valued at over a trillion dollars) safe.

It’s a massive undertaking which is why when Schmidt did the keynote of a conference wearing a t-shirt with the slogan ‘ADHD: it’s not a disability, it’s a different ability’, the world took note.

Of course, the Virginia-based Schmidt is far from the only leader who is neurodiverse – Elon Musk has been open about the fact that he has Asperger’s Syndrome, Steven Spielberg has dyslexia and Albert Einstein was autistic. From Simone Biles to Greta Thunberg, it is estimated that around 20% of the population today is considered to be neurodivergent and those who have been diagnosed (the same study by Genius Within, Professor Nancy Doyle’s neurodivergent- led business, says that 50% of people with neurodiversity are unaware that they are not neurotypical) often find themselves gravitating towards a career in technology.

It could be the fact that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often have above-average IQ scores or special skills in mathematics, memory, or pattern recognition. For Schmidt, it was acknowledging that what other people saw as efficiency, to him was a superpower: “The most important thing for me was the self-realization that the differences that I had in the way my brain functions were not something to be ashamed of but quite the contrary, were something that I was actually proud of,” he says. “And that really came to light during situations where I’m able to do multiple things at the same time and other people are not.”

Schmidt’s remarkable multitasking productivity levels may be a nice-to-have in some jobs, but when you look at Amazon as a business and the security associated with it, it’s a skillset the company demands.

“It’s everything from aircraft to spacecraft to boxes to goods ships to tons and tons of customer data around the world,” he explains. “It takes different attention, different decisions, different analysis and let’s face it – the security world is something that we would love to think that we control and drive, but in reality, it’s often driven by outside input. My role is playing chess, while practicing psychology at the same time, with a little bit of voodoo mixed in.”

While there is no question that those who are neurodiverse can positively impact a business’s bottom line – Schmidt says different neuro skills can mean a higher performing organization that can accomplish more in a shorter period of time for less money – this isn’t always something a company hires for or includes in their diversity strategy. It could be because the recruitment process isn’t necessarily accommodating to those who are neurodiverse but also, disclosing neurodiversity is a very personal decision – and an employer doesn’t have the right to this information. So, how can a person comfortably show up as they are?

An inclusive work culture

“It is vital that employees on the spectrum are not asked to change what makes them unique, but that organizations instead embrace differences,” advises Genevieve Koolen, SAP Africa’s Human Resources Director.

“As with any employee, companies should hire people based on their skills, abilities, education, experience and capabilities. Candidates on the spectrum should be encouraged to apply for any job aligned with their abilities and interests.”

SAP is a multinational software company with an Autism at Work program that goes back to 2013 and they’ve seen incredible results by hiring for neurodiversity. Koolen shares the story of an employee named Nico Neumann who joined the finance team through the program. “He designed a tool that automates the posting of complex invoices with multiple cost allocations.

Prior to the development of this tool, accounts payable needed two to three days to manually process large credit card statements such as American Express with over 20,000 accounting lines,” she says. “Today, that processing time has reduced to 20 minutes thanks to Neumann’s innovation, which also won the Hasso Plattner Founders’ Award.”

Schmidt has noticed a difference in how Amazon hires, in that some of the most senior employees have behavior traits that are similar to himself. “It was in a discussion about how we identify people with the right kinds of skills to fill the gaps that we have in our organization,” he says, adding that it often comes down to finding someone with a particularly unique trait for a particular job. “And it is that specificity and selection that makes the difference. It’s about finding people who’ve got just an exceptional way of doing business and they can do things that nobody else can – and that takes a

lot of different ways of thinking.” What’s interesting is that Schmidt only discovered that he had ADHD in his 40s. The diagnosis came after he had a conversation with a friend (who happened to be a doctor) who told him that he thinks in a different way: “And the thing that I appreciated the most was he didn’t say you have this problem, this affliction, this whatever. He said ‘You just have this in your brain and it works differently and by the way, have you figured out the mechanisms that help you use that effectively’? ”

A culture of communication

Thinking differently can mean adapting an office space so that it works with a neurodiverse brain instead of against it. One example of this highlighted by Harvard Business Review is communication – those who are neurodiverse and highly sought-after are not the norm, but the exception.

How can a business effectively bridge the communication gap between neurotypical and neurodiverse workers when actions are easily misunderstood or misinterpreted? The consequences can be devastating. “One of the things that I think is most important is that each individual has separate mechanisms that work for them to help them use the way their mind works to their best advantage,” explains Schmidt. “For example, reading my phone during a meeting is okay. It’s not only okay, it actually helps me get work done. Another trick I’ve learned over time is music. Amazon is a writing culture. We write six-page papers and it’s one of the most important things we do. I cannot write a paper like that without music. I had to figure that out… and I had to figure out

the best music to help me.” Unfortunately, neurodiversity doesn’t come with a cheat sheet. What works for one person may not help another which is why making space for more neurodiverse employees to succeed is vital. “Neurodiverse employees may enter our organization with many barriers and hurdles they must manage and even overcome in the workplace, including time blindness, poor executive functioning, hyper-fixation and even levels of procrastination,” says Koolen.

“It is up to the manager to ensure that he or she is adequately trained and prepared to work through these complexities and support the employee. It’s a delicate balancing act between doing what is good for the employee and what is good for the business.” “Identify your superpower,” adds Schmidt. “Figure out the mechanisms that help you maximize it. Constantly iterate on improving them. Don’t ever believe that you’ve reached your maximum goal. Figure out what are the little tweaks that you can do for yourself to help you reach even higher because you can.”