Episode 16: The dyslexic brain and a blueprint for resilient, innovative teams
Published on 21 January 2025 • Hosted by Dr Lisa Colledge
In our ever-changing world, innovation and resilience have become essential for organizational success. But what drives these capabilities? Research increasingly shows that cognitive diversity—the variety of thinking styles within a team—is a significant factor.
In the latest episode of Culture by Neurodesign, I explored the role that the traits of dyslexia play in stimulating innovation and adaptability, drawing from the work of researchers Helen Taylor and Martin David Vestergaard. Their research provides a compelling perspective on why dyslexia, which affects approximately 20% of the population, offered evolutionary advantages that helped ensure that humanity not only survived, but thrived.
1. Dyslexic strengths in action
Dyslexic thinkers excel at holistic perception—they quickly identify patterns and connections across different types of new information. This allows them to process novel environments and challenges efficiently, making them valuable contributors when teams face uncertainty.
2. Episodic memory and long connections
Dyslexic brains also have enhanced episodic memory, which allows people to recall rich contextual details associated with a fact. Their brains are also super-wired with “long connections” that link distant parts of the brain, supporting the original recombination of information. This makes dyslexic team members particularly skilled at generating novel ideas and solutions.
3. The innovation blueprint
However, dyslexic strengths also highlight the importance of teamwork. While dyslexic thinkers may excel at exploration and invention, they are less good in areas such as procedural learning which lets us memorize sequences of actions, and focused attention. This underscores the need for teams to include diverse cognitive styles—combining exploratory thinkers with planners and evaluators—to thrive.
Key takeaway for leaders
By emulating evolution’s solution of cognitive diversity with social collaboration between people with different styles, organizations can build teams that naturally adapt, innovate, and thrive in dynamic environments.
If you’d like to hear more about these insights, listen to the full episode above. And if this resonates, share the episode with someone who would benefit—building awareness is the first step towards more inclusive workplaces.
What to read some more about why embracing diverse cognitive styles is the key to sustainable innovation and growth?
The article that Lisa discusses: Helen Taylor and Martin David Vestergaard (2022) Developmental Dyslexia: Disorder or Specialization in Exploration? Frontiers in Psychology 13, article # 889245.
Dyslexic strengths - the article version of this podcast: Creativity is a natural dyslexic trait, and a critical part of your organization’s collective genius.
Read about rational decision making, a strength associated with autism: Bad decision? You’re not alone, but let’s try to avoid making the same mistake again…
Read about comfort with exploring new ideas, a strength associated with ADHD: What’s the blueprint for innovation? ADHD traits and a lesson from evolution.
I’m Dr Lisa Colledge, and I help ambitious leaders build future-ready teams they trust to deliver now and adapt to whatever’s next — driving engagement, performance, and enduring resilience.
Learn more about building Neuro-Inspired Teams that outpace, outperform, and outlast your competition.
