{"id":374077,"date":"2026-04-11T05:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T05:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/374077\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T05:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T05:07:09","slug":"the-untapped-potential-of-neurodiversity-thats-wasted-in-most-workplaces-no-such-thing-as-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/374077\/","title":{"rendered":"The untapped potential of neurodiversity that\u2019s wasted in most workplaces \u2013 No Such Thing as Normal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI don\u2019t need to connect all of the dots to get from A to Z,\u201d he says. \u201cGive me A and F, I can just figure out where Z is. It\u2019s no effort. Effort for me is going A, B, C, D\u2026 that\u2019s brutal.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rowley is a guest on the latest episode of No Such Thing as Normal<\/a>, which looks at neurodiversity in the workplace. He says most workplaces remain optimised for one narrow style of thinking, but the majority of their employees don\u2019t naturally operate in this way.<\/p>\n

And the people who feel that friction most acutely are the neurodivergent. The modern work environment is particularly challenging for those with dyslexia, ADHD and autism: constant masking, chronic stress and burnout are common. But that\u2019s for those who can secure a job. The unemployment rates among autistic people in New Zealand are high.<\/p>\n

But Rowley, who himself is autistic and ADHD, says the answer is not simply better support and being more accommodating. It is about recognising these \u201cdifferent thinkers\u201d as a valuable untapped resource, the missing piece for organisations trying to solve increasingly complex problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the longest time I just felt like a bloody alien and weird and alone. Now, I know there\u2019s a whole load of people who are really similar to me\u2026 But we\u2019re undervalued, misunderstood, not appreciated. And really, it\u2019s the secret sauce to everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got all of these organisations full of amazing people trying to solve problems,\u201d he says. \u201cBut almost all of the time, you\u2019ve got the wrong people working on the wrong kind of problems. Once you really begin seeing\u2026 how human brains are different, and how we work together better, it\u2019s magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RichRich Rowley with Neurofusion business partner Bex Waugh. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Rowley\u2019s company, Neurofusion, helps organisations better understand and utilise the value of employees through the Brainbadge certification programme. While it is dedicated to improving the lives of the neurodivergent community, its approach to neuroinclusion encompasses everyone. Rowley says the starting point is fostering a culture of belonging. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about building psychological safety within a group of people,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s really the key to everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neurodivergent people may be the ones most visibly disadvantaged by narrow workplace norms, but Rowley believes many workers are operating in environments that fail to reflect how they work best.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you align the right kind of thinkers with the right kind of problems, everything just falls into place,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you get this right, everything will improve. Your bottom line, your wellbeing\u2026 it will all get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to the full conversation on No Such Thing as Normal<\/a> \u2013 an NZ Herald podcast, hosted by Sonia Gray, with new episodes available every Saturday. <\/p>\n

Made with the support of NZ on Air.<\/p>\n

You can listen to it on iHeartRadio<\/a>, Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> or wherever you get your podcasts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI don\u2019t need to connect all of the dots to get from A to Z,\u201d he says. \u201cGive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[806,49264,138,20209,305,78,195165,424,3025,14472,111,139,7805,12909,69,1118,72024,6046,8830,195164,312,10467,19346,9100,8475,223,4468,19137,195162,195163,87539,28045],"class_list":{"0":"post-374077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-as","9":"tag-boring","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-entire","12":"tag-have","13":"tag-in","14":"tag-inability","15":"tag-life","16":"tag-most","17":"tag-neurodiversity","18":"tag-new-zealand","19":"tag-newzealand","20":"tag-no","21":"tag-normal","22":"tag-nz","23":"tag-of","24":"tag-organisations","25":"tag-potential","26":"tag-rich","27":"tag-rowley","28":"tag-says","29":"tag-struggled","30":"tag-stuff","31":"tag-such","32":"tag-thats","33":"tag-the","34":"tag-thing","35":"tag-traditional","36":"tag-untapped","37":"tag-wasted","38":"tag-worked","39":"tag-workplaces"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}