Say Hello to Generation Different

Without direct experience of living with autism, you might find World Autism Day on Sunday (April 2nd) – a celebration of the strengths and differences of having a different-wired brain – a useful prompt.

But as someone on the spectrum, I can’t help thinking how much better it would be if it was something bigger – a catalyst for all of us to do differently every day each year, with generations Y, Z and Alpha showing us the way.

The reason is simple.

At a time when the world is struggling to respond to all forms of change from environmental to technological and beyond, an army of young people is already at hand, challenging conventions and breaking norms around neurotypicality and gender conformity.

When and where I grew up, in a blue-collar fishing village, men weren’t supposed to be different, express their feelings or show signs of weakness.

My, how things have changed.

A combination of the great leveller that was the global pandemic, the democratising effect of the rise of digital, and the conduit to share personal feelings and experiences created by social media has fused three young cohorts into a global movement: Generation Different.    

These young people want a kinder, more human way of interacting between people, and people and brands. They believe that feelings can and should be shared and that strengths and weaknesses are equal.

Consider the way the world – product design, to take just one example – has long treated women as second-class citizens.

Now consider the one in seven people who are neurodivergent – up to 15% of the population – who, without equality campaigns or quotas, have to conform to established systems and procedures not designed for them, meaning they travel the world in third-class.

Change is coming, however, as Generation Different rejects old ways that no longer suit, celebrates the different – the neurodivergent, especially, and champions the unorthodox.

As a designer, I now find some of the best talent I interview doesn’t want to work in formal company structures. And it’s no coincidence that the best creative team I ever worked with never began work before 11pm – hardly an approach that fits with the traditional HR model.

As a group, Generation Different embodies and embraces diversity of thought. And with more ways than ever at its fingertips to mobilise it, it is thinking different, doing different and driving innovation.

By definition, the diversity of thinking in its widest sense that this dynamic cohort embodies is the new big wheel or next big thing. And to harness it, organisations must be willing to embrace and accommodate it accordingly – connecting with and adapting to it one to one.

'Think different' was an early ad slogan used by Apple – a neat fit, given co-founder Steve Jobs demonstrated autistic trait, though he never publicly acknowledged it.

And it’s no coincidence that it’s in technology, engineering, and creative companies that Generation Different is making its clearest mark.

With 75% neurodivergent workforce (the majority are autistic), engineering company Ultranauts’ mission is to prove that neurodiversity is a competitive advantage in business. And it has given IBM – a champion of 'diversity of thought' through its longstanding Neurodiversity@IBM programme – a run for its money to prove the point.

Meanwhile, UK intelligence and security organisation GCHQ, which has a programme for dyslexia and neurodiversity, now recognises dyslexic thinking as 'mission critical' for protecting the country.

And yet, a recent report from Sage, Birkbeck University, and Neurodiversity in Business suggests that 43% of neurodiverse employees are likely to leave their current role unless tailored adjustments are made to suit their needs.

The lesson is as clear as it is simple: organisations not taking on neurodivergence risk losing out on competitive advantage. The time is now to latch onto that energy, to work with it in the way this cohort chooses, then see where it can lead you and what it can help you do.

And that points to an exciting journey into the future – something that’s way more than a celebration of difference held just one day each year.