Autism traits and high-performing teams: lessons from Silicon Valley
Published on 6 June 2024 • Written by Dr Lisa Colledge
In this article, I take inspiration from the classic 2001 Steve Silberman article ‘The Geek Syndrome’ to draw lessons for success in modern organizations.
Silberman described how Silicon Valley’s technology-centric, structured culture naturally attracted autistic individuals, and some of the new social norms that emerged.
Making sure that our organizations attract a mix of thinking styles, and building a culture of curiosity and support, means the collective genius will naturally emerge and improve our problem-solving, innovation, and overall team performance.
Three key takeaways
Mixing different thinking styles creates success. Silicon Valley’s success illustrates the importance of mixing different kinds of brains. We can’t see this ‘cognitive diversity’, but it can significantly improve our technological and organizational performance.
Different kinds of brains are adapted to be skilled at different things. Autists excel in logic and pattern recognition, individuals with ADHD are adept at risk-taking, and dyslexics are strong in big-picture thinking and creativity.
You can mimic this success for your organization by attracting a mix of thinking styles and building the culture to let them work. ‘The Geek Syndrome’ shows us that learning new habits, such as improving predictability, will get us a long way towards being inclusive of different types of brains.
One of the top books I read last year was Neurotribes, a history of autism. I had wanted to read it for a while but needed to be mentally ready. I was right to have waited. The history was troubled, often upsetting, encompassing the worst of society including one individual who abused a position of trust, striving for personal gain at long-term cost to many others. But it also showed the best of society and was ultimately a rewarding read. I build my understanding of the sensitivities and influences that have shaped our modern neurodiversity movement.
Steve Silberman talks about his book’s forerunner article, The Geek Syndrome (references are at the end). He had heard about a particular type of person living in Silicon Valley, and the article is about what he learnt when he went to find out more. I was curious to see what I could learn from that article, published at the end of 2001.
The article is old, and it shows. Some of the language and themes are out of date now, but there is one focus that is still key given our modern society’s growing need for technology talent: the natural affinity of autistic people for technology.
That particular type of person living in Silicon Valley? Autists. They naturally congregated there because they liked and were naturals at technology.
Autists and technology are a match made in heaven
What is it about technology that attracts autists? The appeal of highly organized systems and complex machines is consistently called out in autism case histories, even going back to the two very first monographs by Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner, published more than 80 years ago. Asperger noted that autistic children in his clinic behaved like calculating machines, being comfortable with symbols and codes, and having rule-based thought processes. These kinds of descriptions are often validated by narratives from autists themselves, who often add that they think in pictures.
It is the relatively logical, ordered, consistent, virtual world of the technology-rich Silicon Valley that appeals to autists.
Autists cultural preferences are a bit different
Silberman also describes aspects of Silicon Valley culture that emerged to accommodate the social challenges of autists, who find the subtle cues of non-verbal and paraverbal (such as meanings associated with our tone) communication at best difficult, and sometimes incomprehensible (read more here). But different social conventions had developed ‘in the geek warrens of engineering and R&D’: it was fine to be one-of-a-kind, wear the same clothes like a uniform, and like working alone behind a screen, so long as you followed your code of standards and behavior. Reward depended only on merit and not the (social) ability to be visible and influence others.
Your organizational culture and tecchie-autist appeal?
Most organizations now deal with complexity and the virtual world. If that’s you, you’d be advised to take some lessons from Silicon Valley. I’m not suggesting that you exactly recreate the culture I have just described: your organization is probably not as polarized, and it wouldn’t be fair to everyone. But there are elements that you could adopt that would enhance how everyone works.
One example. We can see that autists desire order and predictability. What if you refused to join any meetings that didn’t have an agenda and reading materials circulated 2 days in advance? Your team would soon start to provide them. And they would copy the behavior to other meetings you’re not invited to.
It would help the autists already in your organization.
It would help everyone else who works better when they know what’s coming up and can prepare in advance.
Autists and fans of predictability would be able to focus on meeting content and contribute more effectively. Your meeting outcomes would improve.
Cognitive diversity makes your organization the best it can be
Autism is one kind of neurodivergence, a description of brains that research shows are structured and work differently. They are specialized for particular skills. For example:
Autists are great at logic, rational decision making, and detailed pattern focus amongst other things. They naturally gravitate towards highly technical roles.
People with ADHD find it easier to try new things and take risks (read more here). Silberman actually wrote about a sub-group of the Silicon Valley autists who were ‘subversive’ in being innovative early adopters. In 2001, it wasn’t known that autism and ADHD could co-exist, but my bet is that this sub-group were what we now call AuDHDers.
Dyslexics are incredible at seeing the big picture completely and quickly, at combining facts in unusual ways, and at making accurate predictions. They gravitate naturally towards creative courses like engineering (28% in a UK) and entrepreneurship (35% in a US study) compared to estimates of 5–20% in the general population.
These are extreme examples. Not everyone is neurodivergent, although about 30% are. But everyone is brilliant at something. And none of us is good at everything.
The modern lesson from Silberman’s article is that we should actively seek out a mix of thinking styles — cognitive diversity — for our organizations and make sure that they can work together effectively. That’s the only way that we can cover all our bases and make sure that we have strengths across the entire range of innovating and adapting, problem solving, planning and executing.
Your recipe for success
The recipe for success is to attract cognitive diversity and to build a culture of curiosity and mutual support. That way, your organziation’s collective genius will emerge naturally.
That won’t happen on its own. It’s an investment. If you’re interested in learning more, or trying out a pilot, please let me know. You can connect through LinkedIn or with details here on my website.
References
Autism and Silicon Valley: Steve Silberman (2001) ‘The Geek Syndrome’ Wired.
Autism and ADHD co-occur: Sian Boyne (2024) ‘The sudden rise of AuDHD: what is behind the rocketing rates of this life-changing diagnosis?’ The Guardian.
Dyslexic strengths and prevalence on creative courses: Helen Taylor and Martin David Vestergaard (2022) ‘Developmental Dyslexia: Disorder or Specialization in Exploration?’ Frontiers in Psychology 13, article # 889245.
I'm Lisa, and I help leaders create inclusive cultures that embrace all neurostyles. By empowering every team member to contribute at their best, while fostering mental well-being, you will boost innovation, retention, and talent acquisition—leading to enhanced business performance.
Click here to learn more about how my services can transform your team.
