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Adults with ADHD are 300% more likely to start their own business. That stat might surprise you. After all, ADHD is usually framed as a workplace liability, something to be managed or accommodated, at best. But look closer and a different story emerges. This isnt about ADHDers being bad employees. Its about what happens when you take people with brains wired for innovation, energy, and creativity and put them in systems that reward compliance, not curiosity. Weve worked with hundreds of ADHD adults and leaders across industries, and again and again we see the same pattern. Many dont leave work because they cant cope. They leave because theyre ready to lead. Why Traditional Workplaces Push ADHDers Out Lets start with the obvious. Most workplaces are built around neurotypical brains. They rely on linear timelines, sustained attention, meetings that run on strict agendas, and policies over people. These structures tend to favour those who are wired to act based on importance: I do this task because it matters. ADHDers, by contrast, have interest-based nervous systems. We act when something grabs us. This isnt a weakness. Its a different kind of wiring. But it means we often struggle to thrive in environments where were expected to push through boring tasks without stimulation, autonomy, or flexibility. Many of us end up masking our difficulties, overcompensating with perfectionism or people-pleasing. Eventually, we burn out. Katie was diagnosed with ADHD in her 40s, after years of trying to hold it all together in a leadership role in education. She could never understand why tasks that seemed effortless to others felt impossible for her. Alex, by contrast, was one of the first children diagnosed with ADHD in the UK back in 1990. But even with a diagnosis, understanding how ADHD showed up in adult life, especially in professional contexts, took decades. This mismatch between wiring and workplace is not just frustrating. Its deeply disempowering. Which is why so many ADHDers eventually create their own rules by starting their own businesses. Why Entrepreneurship Works for ADHD Brains ADHDers often thrive in fast-paced, high-stakes, creative environments. These are exactly the kinds of conditions that entrepreneurial life can offer. Starting your own business allows for flexibility, urgency, spontaneity, and passion-led problem solving. You get to build systems that work for your brain, rather than constantly struggling to fit into someone elses. Many of the traits that get pathologized in school or corporate life, such as impulsivity, hyperfocus, risk tolerance, and non-linear thinking, are the same ones that make ADHDers natural entrepreneurs. Were often great at big-picture visioning, rapid ideation, crisis problem-solving, and building deep, values-led connections with clients or audiences. Of course, entrepreneurship also comes with challenges. Executive function difficulties dont disappear just because you work for yourself. In fact, they can be magnified, especially without support. But when ADHDers have autonomy, interest, and the ability to outsource or collaborate around their weaker areas, the results can be extraordinary. The Hidden Cost of Being Forced to Fit In Many ADHDers dont wake up one day and decide to become entrepreneurs. Often, they escape into it. They leave workplaces where they were misunderstood, micromanaged, or made to feel broken. They start building something of their own not just out of ambition, but out of necessity. Weve coached ADHDers who felt paralysed in open-plan offices, punished for needing movement breaks, or quietly passed over for promotion because they didnt look organized enough. Others left high-paying jobs after burnout, only to discover that once they were in charge of their environment, their disorder started to look a lot more like a strength. For women and marginalized genders, this story is even more complex. ADHD has long been underdiagnosed in women, in part because it doesnt always show up in loud or disruptive ways. Many women internalize their struggles, masking them behind competence, caregiving, and overachievement, until something gives. Entrepreneurship becomes a space not just of career growth, but of identity reclamation. Rethinking Leadership, Neurodivergence, and Success So what does all this mean for the future of work? If organizations want to retain and empower neurodivergent talent, they need to rethink what leadership looks like. Its not just about offering accommodations. Its about redesigning systems with flexibility, autonomy, and human-centred thinking baked in. Its about recognizing that some of your most innovative thinkers may not look professional in the conventional sense but are already solving tomorrows problems today. And if youre an ADHDer reading this, wondering if theres something wrong with you because the nine-to-five grind just doesnt fit, maybe the problem isnt you. Maybe your brain was never meant to sit quietly in someone elses system. Maybe youre here to build your own. Thats the core message of our book ADHDNow What? Not to try harder or mask better, but to understand your own brain wiring through ADHD coaching and lead from it. Whether thats in business, parenting, or life, ADHD coaching isnt about fixing you. Its about helping you do you, on purpose.
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AI is already transforming how we operate, unlocking productivity gains that were once out of reach. But amid this rapid acceleration, theres a growing risk: that we design work around what machines do best, and lose sight of how people grow, adapt, and ultimately, drive innovation. Lately, Ive been having conversations with my peers in the learning and development community about this. Were at a pivotal moment. The choices we make now will determine whether AI leads to a more empowered and resilient workforce or one where employees can prompt algorithms but atrophy the very human skills that enable creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. No trade-off The good news is that it doesnt have to be a trade-off. We have a rare opportunity to redesign work as a true partnership between people and technology. AI supercharges productivity. But what if it also expands human capability as we work? Imagine a financial analyst using AI not just to generate a report, but to understand the why behind the numbers. Or a junior marketer learning in a simulated environment where AI offers real-time feedback and suggestions. These arent futuristic hypotheticals, theyre design choices we can make today. A coach, not just a tool When applied with care, AI can become a coach, not just an automation tool, supporting people in building skills through their day-to-day work. Theres an old saying that experience is the best teacher. I know this to be true because Ive lived it firsthand. During my first 15 years working in L&D, I had the great fortune to work with true masters in our craft, not just learning from textbooks and theories, but truly apprenticing through hands-on experience. Since my early career days, the 70-20-10 learning model has become a widely recognized framework for L&D: 70% of learning happens through experience, 20% through relationships, and 10% through structured training or study. So what happens when AI produces the perfect solution effortlessly in less than 30 seconds, potentially diminishing these vital learning experiences? True learning, growth, and adaptation come from doing the work. Writing the book. Solving the complex problem. Navigating a conflict. Its in these moments of hardship, challenge, and struggle that people grow and change most profoundly. Learning by subtraction In the AI era, learning will be just as much about subtractionchallenging ones current mental models, questioning assumptions, and letting go of old ways of being and doing that no longer serveas it is about adding new knowledge. It is through opportunities for innovation, like hackathons, or creating slack time where workers have autonomy over how best to use their skills and talent, that we can focus on more strategic work and stimulate novel ideas. Some companies are already embracing short-term gigs that get employees out of their comfort zone and contribute outside their usual roles: a finance team member joining a product sprint, a marketer exploring data science. These types of hands-on experiences not only require skill; they produce skill, as well as build confidence and curiosity to tackle even greater challenges. Social beings Humans are inherently social beings; we learn, grow, and innovate with and through others. What happens, then, when technology begins to separate us from one anotherbreaking down the vital connections that allow junior workers to learn from senior ones, and novices to apprentice with expertspotentially leading to isolated and fragmented workforces? The answer isnt to slow down tech adoption, its to double down on connection. Cultivating an environment rich with social connection creates trust, shared purpose, and the kind of informal interactions that spark new ideas and strengthen culture. It’s within this context of human connection that we see the true value of our uniquely human skills emerge. This is backed by Workdays research, which shows that 83% of employees believe AI will elevate the importance of uniquely human skills. Skills like emotional intelligence, creativity, and communication are no longer nice to have, theyre essential. The future belongs to those who recognize the power of AI and humans working together. By intentionally designing work as a true partnership between people and technology, we can unlock a future of unprecedented productivity, innovation, and fulfillment.
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Douglas Rushkoff, the writer and media theorist who chronicled the countercultural spirit of early 90s online culture in books like Cyberia, hopes AI can help recapture that eras sense of possibility. “I feel like there’s another opportunity to kind of stop using technology on people, and for people to start using technology to realize new visions,” says Rushkoff. He recently joined the AI consulting startup Andus Labs, where he serves as a kind of scholar-in-residence. Hes also helping produce an upcoming Andus event called After Now, which will take place on July 23 and allow both online and in-person audiences in Manhattan to share thoughts on how AI will shape the future. Speakers include musician Brian Eno, The Atlantic CEO Nick Thompson, MIT scientist Nataliya Kos’myna, and investors Esther Dyson and Albert Wenger. Thompson will speak on AIs impact on the media and information ecosystem. Eno, who has long worked with pre-LLM generative technologies to create music and art, will join Rushkoff in a conversation about “emergence, uncertainty, and the creative power of letting go.” Comedian Greg Barris is scheduled to demonstrate how to build a collaborative AI assistant. Entrepreneur Julia Dixon, who created the AI platform ESAI to help college applicants despite having little tech background, will discuss how no-code tools can turn “AI curiosity into scaled impact.” Dyson and Wenger will explore how AI may transform business, along with broader economic and social systems. The event will also help Andus Labsfounded by Chris Perry, a former innovation executive at marketing agency Weber Shandwickbegin building a network of AI-focused professionals. But according to Rushkoff, it’s equally an opportunity to reflect on what the AI era should look like: not just how the technology is used, but how society and work may need to evolve alongside it. “Rather than looking for fast answers, how do we iterate with these technologies to create new and more compelling questions?” says Rushkoff. Already, Andus Labs is collaborating with Marina Gorbis, executive director of the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, on a concept they call a “civic stack” for public AI applications. The company also plans to help corporate clients build internal AI innovation labsspaces where small teams can explore how AI might serve their unique needs, rather than treat it as just another IT product. “As if they’re bringing in Lotus 1-2-3,” Rushkoff says. “The idea is to go into a company and find 10 or 20 people who are willing to think and experiment in this way, and have a certain amount of their time be able to be dedicated to really thinking through what aspects of their company they want to start to interrogate and amplify with these technologies, and then working with them to hopefully develop bespoke instances.” Andus Labs also plans to publish insights from its work, Rushkoff says, as part of a broader effort to promote what it calls “generative thinking”not just by machines, but by humans. “We’re trying to be to the autonomous technology age, what Bauhaus was to the industrial age,” Rushkoff says. “Bauhaus was looking at how you design industrially around the human body, and human perception, and human scale.” Rushkoff is the author of more than a dozen books, including Survival of the Richest and Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, and hosts the podcast Team Human. His work often critiques techno-solutionism and the commodification of human attention, pushing instead for more humane and equitable uses of technology. His goal with Andus is to focus on a more human-centered approach than that of traditional tech firms, which he says often see AI as merely a new domain for market expansion. He doesnt intend to shy away from broader societal questions, including why people still need to work for a living, even as AI reshapes the economy. “I know it sounds idealistic, but I guess what I’m saying is these apparent AI challenges can launch different kinds of conversations,” he says. “And then they suggest a different way of working with AI, which is not to accelerate the rate at which we can develop industrial age, easy solutions for problems, but rather to engage in a new style of generative thinking, [where] we iterate questions and problems with artificial intelligence.”
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