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Top 10 Advantages of ADD in a High-Tech Career
Having ADD can be the competitive edge

	Pete Quily (addcoach)

I have Attention Deficit Disorder (which I find is more of a surplus of attention, really). I coach adults with ADD, have an ADD resource website with over 100 pages of information, an ADD blog, and lead the Vancouver Adult ADD support group. So, I'm fairly familiar with ADD. I've been using Mac computers for 20 years, sold them for seven, and have spent thousands of hours on the net. So, I'm fairly familiar with the high-tech world.

I've noticed many similarities between the two worlds.

I believe there are disproportionately many with ADD who work in high-tech. Approximately five percent of the population has ADD and 85 per cent of adults with ADD don't know they have it. It seems to me that ADD and high-tech are natural fits. The constant change in the high-tech world can be stressful and troubling for some people but is often stimulating and energizing for the ADD-er. A great source of Dopamine hits. Although there are no specific statistics, a number of other ADD experts I've talked with agree with my observation.

Many only see the problems associated with ADD, and many, especially men, avoid getting a diagnosis. This avoidance is attributable to ADD's portrayal as an almost totally pathological condition, which causes it to be viewed as just a weakness.

To give some perspective and to help those in the industry recognize and develop their ADD-related strengths as well as manage their ADD challenges, I thought I'd list some advantages of having ADD in the wired world.

I also hope this might help those who may be afraid of getting diagnosed and treated (medication, coaching, therapy etc.) for ADD because of those who condemn ADD as a moral failure with claims like "there's no such thing as ADD, turn off the TV, stop eating sugar, beat your kid more often, and twirl around 3 times and tap your heels and it will go away." ADD is an inherited neurobiological condition. Every medical and psychological association has stated this. As more people see the advantages of having ADD, they will actually be more inclined to seek diagnosis and treatment. Some wrongly believe ADD is negatively related to IQ or that all ADD-ers are slow learners or below average IQ. I have it and made the dean's honors list, and many PhDs have it. MENSA has an ADD special interest group with more than 300 members. It comes down to a difference in brain wiring, and in some fields, such as high-tech, marketing, media and the arts, entrepreneurship, etc., the unique wiring of the ADD brain is a competitive advantage.

Top Ten ADD Advantages in a Hi-Tech Career

1. The Ability to Hyperfocus

This means hours of full engagement and concentration on a task, IF you find it interesting. You can get into the zone and be totally immersed in what you're doing, while the outside world disappears. When I went on the net for the first time in 1993 at an Internet cafe, I got on the machine at 8 p.m. and around 4 a.m. decided it was time to go home.

2. Rapid-fire Mind

Your brain processes information at hyperspeed. You can do things in 30 minutes on a computer that might take other people hours. The downside is if you're stuck with old hardware and not enough RAM you'll be frustrated because it can't keep up with the speed of your brain.

3. Multitasking at Will

You're able to run 14 applications at a time and effortlessly switch among them without breaking into a sweat and are able to do several projects at a time with ease.

4. High Energy Level

You're able to keep going on a project. If it's interesting, an ADD-er will be more into creative and entrepreneurial activities than clerical or repetitive ones. 14-hour days? No problem, adrenaline is my fuel source.

5. Highly Creative

You're able to think beyond the box. This comes naturally to ADD-ers, while others pay handsomely to learn this. Since you take in more information than the average person does, and you're easily distracted, you're more likely to view a problem from more angles than vanilla people (non ADD-ers) and therefore come up with more possible solutions to a problem. Need an idea generator? Find an ADD-er.

6. Quick Learner

ADD arises mainly out of boredom - you have no trouble paying attention to something if it's interesting. Most people find it difficult to do boring or repetitive things, but these can often totally shut an ADD-er down. Your rapid-fire brain + highly creative mind + the ability to hyperfocus equals fast absorption of new information. Dr. Ed Hallowell, who has ADD and has written several Delivered from Distraction : Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder, said he stopped teaching psychiatry at Harvard University because the non-ADD-er brains were just to slow. He got tired of being continually frustrated waiting for them to catch up to the ADD students.

7. Stimulus-Seeking Brain

A perfect match for the wired world: an under-stimulated brain and an over-stimulated virtual environment. Being an info junkie can be a good thing. Well, not always.

8. Constantly Scanning your Environment

This allows you to notice more and find information and resources that others miss, to see possible problems before they arise, and discern opportunities that others may not see because they have tunnel vision vs. multiplex vision. An ADD-er invented the electronic ticket.

9. Great in a Crisis

In a high-energy, intense situation, with lots of chaos and change? Sign me up - I thrive on stimulation, change, and chaos. We can create order from chaos effortlessly. We can also create such an environment as well, if needed.

10. Risk Taker

Impulsivity means you're more willing to take risks and have a bias for action, acting now while the opportunity is hot instead of getting into analysis paralysis. Many entrepreneurs have ADD, e.g., Paul Orfalea, who founded Kinko's, JetBlue Founder and CEO David Neeleman, who attributes his creativity to ADD. Both are billionaires. Imagine how successful a high-tech CEO would be if they didn't take many risks.

These are just a start of the advantages of ADD - for more go to the list of 151 positive characteristics of people with ADD at my ADD Resource website.

This is not to say there are no disadvantages or real problems associated with ADD in a high-tech career. There most certainly are, and if you don't learn to manage them they can cause a great deal of trouble and grief to you and those around you, but that's another article.

This has appeared on my ADD website http://www.addcoach4u.com and my ADD Blog http://www.adultaddstrengths.com.

2006-02-18 18:29

�2006 OhmyNews

That's the one I was leaning towards . . . I was hoping to learn that it did not interfere with typing. While wearing the glove it is much easier to type on my AlphaGrip, but I am still not speedy enough to use it full-time. I'm getting there though.

I kick myself when I think how I caused my own hand/wrist/arm injury. Trying to resolve my back pain, I rushed into using my inherited recliner, where I had to "reach" to reach the keyboard . . . my arm will never be the same.

I am in the recliner again now

, but I'm spending a buttload of dough to make it happen.

"Have no clue" is an understatement!!! Not being nasty here -- just stating a fact. I know an MTSO who says when she tries to call physician's offices and gets the manager and explains that she is calling requesting to speak with the person in charge about doing their transcription for them, most often the answer she gets is "What's transcription?" She swears they hire personnel based on a certain part of their anatomy and it's not the brain.

Then, if she's lucky enough to get through to the physician in charge, he is not willing to pay a decent fee. She has apologized to me for not paying me more but told me that on some accounts they are only making 1/4 of a cent after expenses (including MT pay). She said they have to bid low to get the work. She hates marketing now.

Suppose you worked in a department store, or as a receptionist, or even at McDonalds. You were given a specific shift, specific hours... you don't have the option of doing your work at your convenience. For argument's sake, say they gave you a 8-4 or 9-5 shift. Suppose there were very little, if any, customers in the department store or the McDonald's in the morning and you were told you had to work after 4 or 5 to make up for this, or suppose again there were greeters at your receptionist job, or no drivers at your job as a tolltaker and you're likewise told you had to work extra hours beyond your shift, or a policeman and had made no arrests in the a.m. and you had to work after your shift until you did to make up for the slack. Get my meaning? IN WHAT OTHER JOB (I DEFY ANYONE TO NAME JUST ONE, BESIDES HOME MT.... COULD THE EMPLOYER DEMAND THIS? Just name me 1!

in the Independence, MO area. The city governments have passed laws banning pit bulls and last week something like 100+ pitbulls were picked up by animal control or dropped off at the city pound and all were destroyed.

Personally, I think the owners of these animals should be held just as accountable as the dog. Well, I guess maybe putting the owner to sleep is a bit extreme.

in the morning (used to be 4) w/Nutrasweet, a little regular powdered creamer and a little liquid French Vanilla creamer (yes, I do like it sweet!) If I'm really sleepy and need the boost, I'll have another cup or two.

Then I immediately start drinking diet Dr. Pepper, and not the caffeine-free kind. Love it. I drink diet Dr. Pepper throughout the day and night, about 6 cans a day (it used to be diet Coke). I've joked with my friends and family that it might be time for them to hold an intervention for me with the Dr. P.

I do sometimes worry about the mass quantity of Nutrasweet I consume each day. Anybody else?