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Dyslexic Thinking the Key to Sustaining Innovation Gains in the 21st Century
Dyslexic Thinking the Key to Sustaining Innovation Gains in the 21st Century

September 26, 2022

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What do world-renowned brands Apple, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, AT&T, General Electric, Virgin Atlantic, Ford, CNN, Ikea, DreamWorks, The Body Shop (...and the list goes on) have in common? These are all the products of a dyslexic mind!  Curious? Read on to find out more.  

A neurodivergent condition, Dyslexia is one of the Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) recognized by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016. Specific Learning Disabilities are a heterogeneous group of conditions wherein there is a deficit in processing language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself as a difficulty to comprehend, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations and include conditions such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and developmental aphasia.

Dyslexia is the most common SLD, and estimates suggest that 1 in every 5 individuals is dyslexic. Dyslexia commonly manifests as difficulties with reading, spelling, and speaking, socio-emotional life, and executive functioning. Even as society typically defines them in terms of their challenges, individuals with dyslexia have brought pathbreaking innovations and entrepreneurial ventures that have impacted every aspect of our life.  It is not an exaggeration to say that if an innovation has changed the world, it is quite likely the work of a dyslexic mind. There’s simply no aspect of modern life that is untouched by the genius of a dyslexic mind. According to BBC Research over 40% of all self-made millionaires are dyslexic.  

Here’s what science tells us about the dyslexic mind.  

Dyslexics stand out from the crowd due to their remarkable strengths, i.e., an innate capacity to process information differently, enabling innovative thought and perception. They think creatively, laterally, and with a multi-sensory lens, which leads them to creative and out of the box solutions for problems. Dyslexic individuals can perceive connections with ease that may well be ‘invisible’ to a non-dyslexic mind.  

The cognitive flexibility associated with dyslexia manifests in noteworthy talents, which result in holistic and novel perspectives. In The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain, Fernette and Brock Eide identify four key areas of comparative advantage among dyslexics, including 

  • Spatial reasoning,  
  • Interconnected reasoning (ability to perceive patterns and examine a situation from multiple perspectives),  
  • Pattern narrative reasoning (ability to view facts as experiences, examples or stories), and 
  • Reasoning in dynamic settings, with incomplete or changing information. 

All around us are examples of dyslexic individuals who have risen to the top by tapping into what Dr Sally Shaywitz (Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity) terms the dyslexic “sea of strengths”. Yet, they are judged for their challenges with processing language, often assumed to be “unintelligent” due to their poor ability to spell and read. 

However, with the right support and accommodations dyslexics are known to succeed. Today, more and more individuals are ready to #Speak4Dyslexia.

Shilpa Rao, Head of Artificial Intelligence Products at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) devised innovative tips and tricks helped her navigate a rigorous academic programme as a dyslexic, including colour coding her books, which led her down the path of engineering and today is leading AI driven innovation for one of India’s pioneering tech firms. 

As a young boy diagnosed with dyslexia, Kunal Jhunjhunwala, Founder and MD of  Airpay Payment Services, learnt that with the support of his family, friends and teachers, he could pursue his interest in technology. He remarks, “While I was slow in learning the alphabet, the encouragement of my parents, teachers, and peers motivated me to carry out Grade 10-level programming and school projects while still in Grade 7”. 

Virat Bhatia, Managing Director at Apple India and proud dyslexic, recommends highlighting the dyslexic individual's areas of strength or things that excel at so that their peers may respect them, aside from their desire to be compassionate and contribute to an inclusive society. 

Dyslexia - the catalyst for sustained innovation by an untapped, future-ready workforce 

Ernst and Young’s The Value of Dyslexia report maps the strengths of dyslexics that are critical to succeed in jobs of the future, as identified by the World Economic Forum. The Report concludes that new jobs that are projected to be created in the coming years will demand competencies which align closely with the strengths of dyslexic thinking, such as leadership and social influence, creativity and initiative, and analytical thinking and innovation. Inclusion of dyslexics in the workforce provides an opportunity for organisations to bridge the skills gap and be future ready.  

Hiren Shukla, E&Y Global and Americas Neuro-Diverse Center of Excellence (NCoE) Leader, cites that just after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisation needed to rapidly reengineer business processes to adopt the change in working environment across all the global offices.  It was the team of NCoE that able to quickly turnaround a solution- "Making that entire app took four days. Now, I don't know if anybody else would be able to do this. With the time saved, the team built a business intelligence analytics platform (a product we did not even expect!), that we have now sold for double-digit millions of dollars."1 

For India to keep up with global competition, the NITI Aayog in its India Innovation Index Report 2021 recommends a sharp focus on developing the knowledge-intensive workforce, instead of the traditional view of human capital as a monolith. Given this need, we believe that cognitive diversity (specifically dyslexia and other specific learning disabilities) is the secret ingredient needed to unleash creativity and innovation in India. In fact, we firmly believe that without the contributions of cognitively diverse individuals such as dyslexics, India cannot realise its vision of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy.  

We agree with Laura Powell, Global Head of Human Resources, Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC, who states that “The skills companies need are evolving fast with a much greater focus now on empathy, creative thinking, innovative problem solving and being able to communicate and build relationships across multiple networks. These are all areas that dyslexic people are known to excel at.”  

Inclusion of neurodiverse individuals is no longer just a way of marking a diversity checkbox- it is an essential ingredient of an organisation's strategy for enhanced innovation; productivity; employee motivation, engagement and retention; and customer satisfaction. To that end, it is critical to forge inclusive pathways of success. This provides renewed impetus for employers to integrate people with SLDs into their workforces, as well as for creating work environments that accept and celebrate the strengths of those who think differently.  

According to P Rajasekharan (Raja), Co-Founder of award-winning impact enterprise v-shesh, “The message is loud and clear for businesses to revisit their conventional practices, otherwise we will miss out on talent. This (the benefits of inclusion) is not just for neurodivergent talent... It's simply better for the entire workforce.”  

Small steps can move mountains- will you commit to taking the first step to including individuals with SLDs at your workplace?  

Notes:

1. Inaugural Dyslexia@Work Workshop by ChangeInkk Foundation (link

This article is written by Deepika Ghosh, Lead for Workplace Inclusion and Entrepreneurship, and Noopur Jhunjhunwala, Co-founder and Trustee at ChangeInkk Foundation. 


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At ChangeInkk Foundation, we strongly believe that without the contributions of individuals with Specific Learning Disabilities, India will not grow to become a $5 trillion economy. After all, 40% of the world’s self-made millionaires are Dyslexics and #DyslexicThinking has powered most innovations that have changed our world! So, we are working hard to break the stigma surrounding Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs) and are raising awareness around the many strengths of dyslexic minds. We are actively building inclusive ecosystems that support them- from cradle to career.

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