It's been said that a company is only as good as the people it keeps. Good leaders understand this. They have a keen eye for talent and a passion for developing it. They see strengths - and weaknesses - in people and put them in roles where they can succeed - even where they don't think they can. But many times, they fail to look beyond the obvious, hiring people who think and act alike in the spirit of "cultural fit." And this is a mistake.
The key to success in today's hypercompetitive business world lies in differentiation. And differentiation is driven by diversity.
The best ideas come from teams comprised of individuals from diverse backgrounds with diverse opinions who operate differently and push those around them to do the same. But when it comes to hiring, such individuals are often overlooked because they are different.
When Opportunity Knocks, Open the Door and Let it in
It is estimated that one percent of the world's population - or roughly 74 million people - are on the autism spectrum. Like Einstein, Mozart, Nicola Tesla and others who were also suspected to be autistic, they have incredible minds and valuable skills. And with the right nurturing, they can open the door to completely new worlds.
In 2013, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a Call to Action, inviting businesses to make concrete commitments to employ people on the autism spectrum. In doing so, he rightly noted that "People with autism have enormous potential. Most have remarkable visual, artistic or academic skills. And research suggests that (they) have certain abilities in greater abundance than 'neurotypical' workers do, such as heightened pattern recognition and logical reasoning, as well as a greater attention to detail. These qualities make them particularly successful at certain kinds of employment, such as software testing, data entry, lab work and proofreading, to name but a few."
As head of SAP Ariba - a software company - I was fortunate that my parent company, SAP, was taking action, launching the Autism at Work program. Created in alignment with the Denmark-based not-for-profit Specialisterne (Danish for Specialist) Foundation, which strives to enable one million jobs for people with autism and similar challenges through social entrepreneurship, corporate sector engagement and a global change in mindset, the program is designed to source, train, onboard and retain talent in the autism spectrum. Talent that could deliver incredible value to our Products & Innovation organization.
So we went all in.
Dennis Pan is an outgoing young man with a BS in computational mathematics. Though wheelchair-bound, he carries a positive attitude wherever he goes. But for years, he was unable to find a job.
"Sir Winston Churchill had it right when he said 'Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm,'" Pan says. "My job search from 2008 to 2015 was a series of failures. I sent resumes to at least 300 different employers and got, perhaps, a dozen interviews. Headhunters contacted me with potential opportunities, but I never heard from them again after submitting my resume because I'm on the autism spectrum. So employers thought I'd be hard to work with. And because I'm in an electric wheelchair, they thought it would be costly and troublesome to provide me with physical accommodations."
But Pan didn't give up. In 2015, he joined the Autism at Work training program at SAP, and spent six weeks training. Today, he is working at SAP Ariba on the team responsible for developing our Supplier Risk solution, where he is focused on creating UI prototypes as well as performing quality assurance (QA) - and making meaningful contributions.
"Dennis' attention to detail has helped create unique prototypes for discussion with design partners," says his manager Padmini Ranganathan, Vice President of Products & Innovation. "His ability to look at a complex topic and distill it down into simple terms is perhaps his best trait."
Equally important is the unique perspective Pan lends, which Ranganathan says has had an incredibly positive impact on the team. "We don't perceive Dennis as being any different and I believe all teams at SAP Ariba will stand to gain by bringing in people with different abilities and ideas. In particular, people on the autism spectrum bring with them an unfiltered perspective that promotes innovation and inspires team culture."
Plant the Seeds and Watch them Grow
Specialisterne's logo is a dandelion seed. To most folks, it's an annoying weed ruining the beauty of the lawn. But it's also, when cultivated, a valuable and useful plant, known for its healing and medicinal properties. Cultivate it, and be rewarded.
The parallel is there. There is amazing talent on the autism spectrum. Cultivate it. And watch your business grow...