Organisations are defined by the teams that constitute them. However, what happens when you are the ‘only’ inside such a team?
Kickstarting the Inclusive Summit, Morna McAulay, having been a long-standing data and technology leader for several big-tech companies, such as Booking.com, delved into the significance of building nurturing teams within these businesses. While data and analytics showcase what these companies are doing, their teams encapsulate the reason behind their success.
Diversity plays a pivotal role in cultivating innovation in its true essence, which marks a crucial aspect for a company’s prosperity and survival. Notwithstanding, neurodiversity per se is slowly making its way as a trait which companies can utilize and make the most of. The current business landscape is setting a barrier to neurodivergent people, hence the need for neurodiverse advocacy. In fact, neurodivergent people bear specific characteristics that can leverage and make themselves stand out in the business field, since the field itself has forced them to become more resilient.
In order to convert companies’ environment into a more welcome and empathy-oriented space, Morna McAulay, shared a few strategic techniques: challenging the big-thinkers by implementing a x10 mindset, mixing up the meeting styles, purpose-driven actions, acknowledging the subjective and leveraging the different ideas, which lead to curated plans and a respectful team.
Thus, team leaders should not be stuck in an echo chamber of recruiting people with a mindset akin to theirs, but rather viewing the bigger picture and reckoning what people deriving from multiple backgrounds have to offer to the company’s innovation prospect.
image © Afroditi Zaggana
