Inclusive cultures without labels: learning from neurodivergence
Published on 10 December 2024 • Written by Dr Lisa Colledge
Three key take-aways
Move beyond single-identity diversity programs: diversity initiatives often fail because they focus on isolated dimensions, ignoring the complexity of human identity and placing measurable limitations on flexible thinking. Inclusion must be universal, addressing shared aspects that transcend other aspects of identity: cognitive diversity satisfies this requirement.
Cognitive inclusion is the universal design of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion): cognitive inclusion benefits everyone in the workplace by recognizing, welcoming, and enabling all cognitive styles—without the need for labels or disclosure.
Neuro-inspired - the power of precise language: neurodivergence is the extreme of cognitive inclusion, and learning from it means we imrpove our workplaces for everyone. One example is the considered use of noun or verb phrasing: research is discussed which shows that using the appropriate variant makes a measurable and very significant difference to our identity and behavior, and improves outcomes for individuals and organizations alike.
A few years ago, I thought I noticed something remarkable while comforting my autistic son during a meltdown. Saying, “You’re the best calmer-downer in the world,” seemed to work much better than, “You’re good at calming down.” I tested this during subsequent meltdowns and found he was able to calm down more quickly every time.
My small shift in language had a big impact, and it turns out I had stumbled upon the psychology of identity reinforcement, particularly the difference between noun framing – such as, “You are a good person” - and verb framing - “You did something good.”
This is one realization—an “a-ha moment” for me— that has shaped how I think about inclusive workplace language. It’s just one example of how learning from the needs of neurodivergent people improves workplaces for everyone, illustrating why I advocate cognitive inclusion as the universal DEI initiative you should prioritize strategically.
Why diversity programs fall short
I define diversity programs as those that focus on isolated dimensions—typically gender or ethnicity—and aim for percentage representation targets. While these programs may have been a good way to start in DEI, we need to recognize now that this one-dimensional approach fails to reflect the complexity of real individuals, and use what we have learnt to demand more of our DEI intiatives.
No-one defines themselves by a single characteristic; we are all multifaceted, often identifying with multiple diversity dimensions, such as age, disability, and sexuality, as well as other cultural groups such as being a Northerner or Southerner, a welsh-speaker, or someone who likes body art. It is unrealistic to force someone to associate with one aspect of their identity, and can drive a sense of unfairness and exclusion if you don’t happen to belong to one of the targeted diversity dimensions: initiatives like "Women in Tech" might unintentionally pressure women to pursue tech roles or discourage men from applying for tech leadership. We can’t solve historical injustices in opportunity by moving privilege from white men to other groups.
Focusing on one facet of identity to also leads us to fall short in terms of organizational outcomes. Psychologists Gaither, Fan, and Kinzler [2020; reference at end] randomly assigned six-to-seven-year-old children to discuss either eight aspects of their identity with a researcher - such as which city they were from, whether they liked sports, and whether they were a neighbor - or eight physical attributes - such as having two eyes, a mouth and teeth. The children then carried out several flexible thinking tests, and those who had discussed their multi-faceted identities performed significantly better than those who thought about multiple physical traits. [More details about this research? Listen to episode 7 of my podcast].
The researchers went on to show that this enhanced mental agility depended specifically on thinking about your own identity and not the equally complex contemplation of the same eight identities in terms of someone else.
Takeaway: diversity programs that reinforce single identities can limit flexible thinking and unintentionally exclude. This reinforces the importance of searching for an aspect of diversity that is universally shared, and embraces the complexity of human identity.
The case for cognitive inclusion
How can our workplaces be inclusive of everyone, and of each individual’s multi-faceted identity? Being fair in terms of DEI means searching for an aspect of diversity which is shared by everyone – regardless of their age, disability, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, welsh-speaking abilities, or whatever - so that adapting our workplaces to welcome and enable it will benefit everyone. We are searching for the universal design of DEI.
Cognitive diversity satisfies these requirements: the differences in the way that we absorb, process and communciate information. Unlike visible diversity dimensions, cognitive diversity is often overlooked, but it already exists in your organization. For example:
One colleague may thrive after networking, while another feels drained.
Some employees prefer self-paced online training, while others excel in group presentations.
We all have these preferences. We can learn to work outside them, but consistently having to work in a different style is tiring and eventually leads to mental health problems. When our workplaces enable us to share the natural strengths of our full identities, we are automatically healthier and deliver higher quality work. I am describing a workplace that has a cognitively inclusive culture.
Cognitive inclusion, neurodivergence and moving beyond labels
Each of us sits somewhere on various cognitive spectra. One is the autistic spectrum: at its extreme, people are diagnosed as autistic, but most of us recognize some element of autistic behavior in ourselves. It’s the same with the ADHD spectrum, and others.
It makes sense to take guidance in designing our cognitively inclusive cultures from best practises in neurodivergence inclusion, because designing for the extreme of each spectrum ensures that everyone will be optimally enabled, regardless of their exact positions on those spectra.
This approach also means that labels are no longer needed. Focusing on enabling all cognitive styles removes any need to require people to associate with group labels like “autistic” and “dyslexic”, and benefits all people of genders, cultures, and whichever identity dimension you can think of.
For some, declaring affinity with a group is important and affirming. I frequently use the term "my autistic son"; he also has learning difficulties meaning he will never be in a position to make this decision for himself, and we see this shorthand as a way to quickly communicate our accepting attitude and buy understanding for any non-typical behavior that people may notice. But this is deeply personal, and others prefer “person with autism” - emphasizing that autism is a part of them but does not fully define them - or may prefer not to mention it at all. I have always found that people have good reasons for making their choice.
In a cognitively inclusive culture, the decision about whether and how to share this information is a personal choice, not a pre-requisite to request accommodations whose success depends on your manager and which may well stimulate an undercurrent of resentment and stigma amongst other team members who are the only ones adapting. Cognitive inclusion is a collection of behaviors and practices that enable everyone, without requiring disclosure.
Takeaway: cognitive inclusion is the universal design of DEI, and benefits everyone, removing the need for labels and enabing environments where people with diverse cognitive styles can thrive.
Inspiration from neurodivergence – the power of language
Being “a good calmer-downer” is incredibly important to my son. Managing mental stimulation is a skill he needs to learn and we do everything we can to support him, and any gain will always be a positive identity trait. This noun framing reinforces identity and motivates enduring traits.
In this situation, verb framing – “you are good at calming down” - is less effective because it implies that something is transient. But we can learn that when we are giving feedback, verb framing is a way that everyone finds easier to accept and act on because it doesn’t feel like a personal attack on their identity that we instinctively resist. Consider: “you’re a poor leader” (implication: permament; nothing you can do about it), or “you led that project poorly” (implication: one-off or situational behavior that can be changed).
If you think that the impact of such precise use of language is small, think again! In one example, Bryan et al. [2011; reference at end] investigated whether they could motivate voter turnout by using noun-based or verb-based surveys up to one-day before gubernatorial elections, and checking after the election in official records to see whether or not someone had voted. In one experiment, in California and after correcting for other variables that impact voting such as gender, age and educational level, the noun-phrasing “you are a voter” resulted in 95.5% turnout compared to 81.8% in the verb-phrasing group (“you are voting”). The researchers tested with a larger and more diverse sample, representative of national diversity, in New Jersey, and found that 89.9% turnout in the “you are a voter” group compared to 79.0% in the “you are voting” group.
There is also anecdotal evidence that language we use to our children has a permanent effect on how they behave as adults, even in situations which are unfavourable to them. Samuel and Pearl Oliner [1988, reference at end] conducted interviews of "rescuers" who risked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust and "non-rescuers" who did not help to try to uncover causative factors. One significant finding was that Rescuers were often raised as "kind, compassionate, or good people" by their families through explicit reinforcement and modeling by parents, teachers, or community members. They were often described in this way by members of their families and communities. The noun phrasing was so effective in shaping the core identity of children as moral and good that it motivated them to act antruistically in this most dangerous of environments that caused people to behave altruistically as adults, even at great personal risk.
And returning to the research by Gaither, Fan and Kinzler: the researchers went on to show that the flexible thinking boost caused by considering their identity as multi-faceted was further significantly enhanced when noun-phrasing - such as “you are a sports person” – was used instead of verb-phrasing – “you play sports”.
Takeaway: the cognitively inclusive approach of learning from neurodivergence and adjusting how we frame feedback for everyone reinforces positive traits and inspires behavioral change, improving mental health and organizational productivity.
Conclusion
Inclusion isn’t about ticking diversity boxes or achieving quotas. It’s about intentionally creating workplace cultures where individuals, each with their uique cognitive style, can thrive and contribute their best to the collective genius. By refocusing away from diversity metrics and towards cognitive inclusion, organizations will unlock better outcomes for everyone, making this universal approach to DEI not only good for employees, but also good for business.
References
Bryan, Walton, Rogers and Dweck (2011). ‘Motivating voter turnout by involing the self’ Proceedings of the Royal Academy of Sciences 108(31) pp.12653-12656.
Gaither, Fan, and Kinzler (2020) ‘Thinking about multiple identities boosts children’s flexible thinking’ Developmental Science 23(1).
Oliner and Oliner (1988) The Altruistic Personality: Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe.
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.
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