Inside View

I share thought leadership on the transformative impact of embedding neuro-inspired design in the culture of teams and workplaces. When cognitive inclusion is built into the system, people metrics like engagement and wellbeing rise, and so do business metrics like retention, innovation, and performance.

Drawing on science, business literature, and lived experience, I explore how taking inspiration from neurodivergence-inclusion creates Neuro-Inspired Teams™ where every member - whatever their neurostyle - can contribute and thrive. Because cognitive inclusion isn’t a nice-to-have niche. It’s the foundation of future-ready performance.

Everyone can be a high performer - when leaders shape the right culture

Award-winning leadership consultant Dr. Lisa Colledge shares how Neuro-Inspired Teams™, universal inclusion, and her FIT Framework are reshaping leadership for the future. Discover how cognitive diversity drives innovation, engagement, and high-performing teams, and why culture, not compliance, is the real key to sustainable business success.

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Lisa Colledge Lisa Colledge

When students get neurodiversity, they’ll take it to work (podcast)

Discover why student awareness of neurodiversity shapes the future workplace. In conversation with Leiden University, Dr. Lisa Colledge shares practical neuro-inclusive strategies for supporting autism, ADHD, and dyslexia helping leaders attract Gen Z talent and build high-performing, inclusive teams.

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How to design teams that perform intelligence and innovation work like Unit 9900

Learn how cognitive diversity drives innovation, resilience, and cybersecurity. Elite intelligence units such as Israel’s Unit 9900 leverage autistic precision and dyslexic strategic insight to detect hidden patterns and strengthen national security. By designing inclusive cultures, organizations can unlock untapped neurodivergent talent and transform team performance.

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Autism traits and high-performing teams: lessons from Silicon Valley

Inspired by Steve Silberman's "The Geek Syndrome," this article emphasizes the benefits of neurodiversity for organizational success. Silicon Valley’s tech-centric culture attracted autistic individuals, highlighting the value of cognitive diversity. By fostering diverse thinking styles and supportive cultures, organizations can enhance innovation and performance. Key points include leveraging diverse cognitive strengths and creating inclusive environments to unlock collective genius.

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Stop waiting for a diagnosis: neuro-inclusive design beats tradition so you can outpace, outperform and outlast your competition

Discover why neuro-inclusive design outperforms traditional accommodations—and how building culture, not compliance, creates future-ready, high-performing teams. Learn how Neuro-Inspired Teams drive engagement, retention, and resilience through scalable, sustainable inclusion that works for everyone.

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Unlocking Your Institution’s Collective Genius: Cognitive Inclusion Improves Wellness and Maximizes your Societal Impact

To maximize institutional impact, it's crucial to go beyond merely increasing diversity and focus on creating a cognitively inclusive culture. While diversity in research, students, and staff is important, the real advantage comes from enabling everyone to contribute their best. This means fostering a culture that values different cognitive styles, such as those found in neurodivergent individuals, and providing support that enhances mental wellbeing and engagement. Research shows that such a culture not only improves individual and team performance but also amplifies the institution's societal impact.

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Tech’s autism at work programs: why these pioneering programs must evolve

Autism-at-work programs like those from SAP and Microsoft proved the value of neurodivergent talent—but today’s leaders need scalable, diagnosis-free solutions. This blog introduces the FIT Framework (Fair, Intentional, Team-Minded) for building neuroinclusive workplaces that boost innovation, retention, and performance—without requiring formal programs or disclosure.

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What’s the blueprint for innovation? ADHD traits and a lesson from evolution (with video)

Advocating for enhancing innovation culture by embracing diverse cognitive styles crucial for thriving in dynamic environments. It highlights traits associated with ADHD that align with effective exploration behaviors, crucial for innovation. By fostering an inclusive environment that accommodates neurodiverse individuals alongside neurotypicals, organizations can tap into a spectrum of specialized skills, ensuring adaptability and competitiveness.

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Creativity is a natural dyslexic trait, and a critical part of your organization’s collective genius

Dyslexics exhibit superior holistic visual-spatial processing and memory for contextual information, which enhances their creativity and ability to generate novel ideas. They excel in original thinking, accuracy in predictions, and problem-solving flexibility, thanks to distinct brain structures and connections. While dyslexics might struggle with precise details, their cognitive strengths complement those of others, highlighting the evolutionary advantage of diverse cognitive styles and the importance of fostering an inclusive organizational culture to leverage these varied abilities.

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When your ADHD team lead feels like the problem, and what actually works

When fast-paced leadership clashes with team needs, the issue isn’t ADHD, it’s misaligned working styles. This blog shows how neuro-inclusive team design improves performance, trust, and mental health without needing diagnosis. Using tools like the FIT Framework and Neurostyle Navigator, teams create clear, flexible norms that support different neurostyles and sustainable success under pressure.

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Start-up acquisition: from promise to performance

Large corporations often acquire start-ups to boost innovation and gain employees with a risk-taking mindset, while start-ups seek the scale and resources of corporates. However, integration challenges like power imbalances and culture clashes can hinder success. Lisa argues that a cognitively inclusive culture, which embraces diverse thinking styles and values curiosity, respect, and open communication, can facilitate smoother integrations and accelerate benefits from acquisitions. She suggests that focusing on such a culture during acquisitions can prevent negative outcomes and enhance overall innovation.

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Need to adapt? Secrets of the best team problem solving

Promoting cultural fit can stifle innovation by encouraging conformity. Effective problem-solving relies on cognitive diversity—different thinking styles—not just demographic diversity. Research shows cognitive diversity enhances team performance. To harness this, organizations must foster a supportive culture of curiosity and psychological safety, alongside demographic inclusion, ensuring diverse cognitive styles can thrive and drive business success.

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From risk to advantage: why manager engagement is the game-changer in 2025

Global employee engagement has dropped to 21%—only the second decline since 2009—costing an estimated $438 billion in lost productivity. The key driver? Falling manager engagement, especially among younger and female managers. Dr. Lisa Colledge explores why this matters and how investing in manager training is the single most effective way to strengthen team performance, boost engagement, and build long-term organizational resilience in 2025 and beyond.

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Actionable communication: inspiration from autism best practices

Improve business communication by adopting autism-inspired practices to create clearer, more actionable messages. Miscommunication can lead to frustration, unengaged culture, and reduced performance. By slowing down, reducing noise, and clarifying idioms, you make communication more inclusive, benefiting not only autistic employees but also non-native speakers and your entire organization. Effective communication requires effort from both parties: the sender should aim for clarity, and the recipient should seek understanding. Implementing these strategies can enhance engagement, satisfaction, and productivity across your organization.

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Maximizing creativity in brainstorming: idea generation inspired by neuro-inclusion best practices

Inclusive brainstorming taps into the collective genius of diverse teams by accommodating different communication and thinking styles, particularly those of neurodivergent and introverted individuals. Humans have evolved to excel at problem-solving through specialized sub-groups, and to capture their full potential, brainstorming processes need to be more inclusive. Best practices include sharing materials beforehand, offering a mix of verbal and written contributions, and allowing time for post-session input. By fostering an environment that supports diverse approaches to ideation, teams can unlock a wider range of creative solutions and ensure that all ideas are heard.

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Let’s get engaged — right now!

Employee disengagement is a widespread issue, with 8 out of 10 workers globally checked out, leading to lower productivity, profitability, and customer loyalty. Engaged employees are passionate about their organization's mission, but they represent only 20% of the workforce. Improving engagement requires making it a strategic priority, seeking external help, and actively listening to employees' feedback to boost performance and culture.

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What’s the best way to appreciate your employees?

Employee engagement is critical for business success, yet only 23% of employees globally are engaged. While leaders often think transactional rewards like gifts show appreciation, employees seek deeper connections through belonging and purpose. To re-engage staff, focus on enabling each employee’s strengths, fostering a culture of inclusivity, and aligning their efforts with the organization's success.

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Personal insights and reflections Lisa Colledge Personal insights and reflections Lisa Colledge

My reflections on my first half year as a neuro-inclusion entrepreneur

Nearly a year after discovering her corporate role was redundant, Lisa reflects on her first six months as a full-time entrepreneur. Transitioning from a corporate environment to her own business focused on enhancing organizational innovation and talent management through a diverse cognitive approach, she shares five key insights: entrepreneurialism can be collaborative, different mindsets serve different goals, authenticity and self-trust are crucial, and past experiences now make sense in her new venture. She emphasizes the importance of continuously finding and nurturing one's Ikigai—purpose and fulfillment.

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