Latest / Finding God at Work / 16: Neurodiversity

Transcript

16: Neurodiversity · Finding God at Work

• 0:05
  (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
• 0:07
  This is Finding God at Work.
• 0:14
  Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
• 0:16
  isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
• 0:18
  course.
• 0:19
  Check it out at FindingGodAtWork.org.
• 0:27
  Our current series is wholehearted, becoming healthier Christians
• 0:31
  at work.
• 0:32
  And we've been working through different mental health
• 0:34
  challenges that people face.
• 0:36
  We've been talking about some things that are
• 0:38
  difficult or bad or primarily negative, like depression
• 0:42
  and anxiety and addiction.
• 0:45
  But we also get to talk about some
• 0:46
  beautiful things like addiction recovery or today, neurodiversity.
• 0:51
  Neurodiversity is a beautiful thing.
• 0:52
  It's an amazing thing.
• 0:53
  It is not a problem.
• 0:55
  It is not a bug.
• 0:56
  It's a feature of human experience and of
• 0:58
  work experience.
• 0:59
  And so I want to talk about that
• 1:00
  in light of the teaching of Scripture.
• 1:03
  Now, when we look at the Bible, the
• 1:05
  Bible is a collection of ancient texts.
• 1:07
  So the understanding of the brain that's emerged
• 1:10
  from scientific observation in the past couple of
• 1:12
  centuries, it was not accessible to the authors
• 1:15
  of Scripture.
• 1:16
  And God seems to think that that's just
• 1:17
  fine.
• 1:18
  God could have inspired Holy Scripture to be
• 1:20
  written at a time when there was more
• 1:22
  understanding of the brain.
• 1:23
  He did not do so.
• 1:25
  We can trust that we've got what we
• 1:26
  need in the Bible and that can integrate
• 1:29
  with any valid insights from the field of
• 1:31
  neuroscience.
• 1:32
  But part of what that means is that
• 1:34
  we can't actually put neurological categories on characters
• 1:39
  of Scripture.
• 1:40
  We can't go back in time and do
• 1:42
  a DSM-4 assessment of Ezra or Nehemiah
• 1:46
  or Esther or Job.
• 1:48
  That's not going to be possible for us.
• 1:51
  I tried a little bit looking at the
• 1:57
  statements like, this sure looks like depression.
• 1:59
  But for more nuanced things like thinking about
• 2:02
  the autism spectrum or ADHD or other things,
• 2:05
  we just don't know.
• 2:07
  We don't know what the brains of the
• 2:09
  different Bible characters were like.
• 2:11
  We're not there to scan them and have
• 2:13
  beautiful insights.
• 2:15
  But with that caveat, what we do see
• 2:18
  in Scripture is incredible diversity of all kinds.
• 2:22
  So neurodiversity is one kind of diversity.
• 2:25
  Pretty much every other possible imaginable kind of
• 2:28
  diversity that people were aware of that was
• 2:30
  within the realm of cultural understanding in Bible
• 2:34
  times is embraced and affirmed by Scripture.
• 2:37
  So I just want to give a few
• 2:38
  examples of this, right?
• 2:40
  So what I call the motley-crew dynamic.
• 2:43
  Motley-crew, not the band, but the phrase
• 2:46
  in the English language that means like a
• 2:48
  band of ruffians of diverse sorts that get
• 2:50
  together and try and do something.
• 2:52
  Motley-crew, we see this in King David's
• 2:55
  life.
• 2:56
  So this is from 1 Samuel, chapter 22.
• 3:00
  David's on the run.
• 3:00
  He's gathering a crew and everyone who was
• 3:03
  in distress and everyone who was in debt
• 3:05
  and everyone who was bitter and soul gathered
• 3:07
  to him and he became commander over them.
• 3:10
  And there were with him about 400 men.
• 3:13
  Okay, so part of this is there's a
• 3:14
  socioeconomic reality going on here where people that
• 3:17
  are willing to throw in with like a
• 3:18
  rebel force are people who, you know, are
• 3:21
  kind of on the outs in society and
• 3:22
  it's getting at that.
• 3:23
  But this also means that it's a very
• 3:25
  ragtag group of people with diverse skills and
• 3:28
  backgrounds and even different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
• 3:31
  So at the end of that book of
• 3:32
  the Bible, 1 and 2 Samuel are kind
• 3:34
  of a combo book.
• 3:36
  2 Samuel chapter 23, we get this list
• 3:41
  of David's mighty men, his mighty warriors.
• 3:43
  They're almost like his special forces and they're
• 3:46
  from different backgrounds.
• 3:47
  So there's Joshua Bathshebeth.
• 3:49
  He's a Techaemenite.
• 3:51
  You've got Shammah, the son of Aggi the
• 3:54
  Hararite.
• 3:55
  In another passage we learn about Uriah the
• 3:57
  Hittite.
• 3:57
  So David is not just gathering people from
• 4:00
  one tribe.
• 4:01
  He's getting people from multiple tribes, even non
• 4:03
  -Israelites sometimes, if they're willing to kind of
• 4:05
  be under his leadership and putting together this
• 4:08
  ragtag crew that has diverse skills, diverse approaches
• 4:11
  to life.
• 4:12
  And they get the job done.
• 4:13
  They get the job done.
• 4:14
  They defeat the Philistines.
• 4:15
  David becomes king.
• 4:16
  There's all sorts of great stuff.
• 4:18
  In Jesus, great David's greater son, he also
• 4:21
  has a ragtag crew that he puts together.
• 4:23
  He puts together women and men from all
• 4:25
  different walks of life.
• 4:27
  There's Joanna the wife of Kooza we learn
• 4:28
  about and Luke who was very wealthy because
• 4:31
  her husband Kooza was part of Herod's household
• 4:33
  and she helps fund the ministry of Jesus.
• 4:36
  Obviously he has the 12 apostles that travel
• 4:38
  with him and they do various things but
• 4:41
  they also come from various backgrounds, right?
• 4:43
  So you've got Judas Iscariot who was able
• 4:45
  to manage money.
• 4:46
  You've got Matthew who was a tax collector.
• 4:49
  You've got a bunch of people who were
• 4:50
  fishermen like Simon and James and John.
• 4:53
  You've got Simon the Zealot, right?
• 4:55
  Possibly that word zealot describing the zealot faction
• 4:58
  in Israelite society.
• 4:59
  So Jesus, like David, he's drawing from different
• 5:02
  backgrounds, different kinds of people, putting them together
• 5:05
  with different skill sets, allowing them to function
• 5:07
  together, and they get the job done by
• 5:10
  God's grace after Jesus' resurrection.
• 5:12
  Those apostles go out and they preach the
• 5:14
  word throughout the Mediterranean world and you know
• 5:16
  that evolves into the church as we know
• 5:18
  and see it today and millions of people
• 5:20
  who have come to faith in Jesus and
• 5:21
  entered the kingdom of God.
• 5:23
  So God likes using motley crews.
• 5:27
  There's the motley crew dynamic in Scripture.
• 5:29
  He likes using ragtag groups of diversely backgrounded,
• 5:32
  diversely gifted, diversely skilled people to get the
• 5:35
  job done, whatever the job may be.
• 5:39
  Okay, how does this relate to neurodiversity?
• 5:42
  Neurodiversity.
• 5:43
  Well, the specific dimension of diversity that we're
• 5:45
  dealing with with neurodiversity is that every brain
• 5:48
  is different.
• 5:50
  Every brain is different.
• 5:51
  Neuro means brain and nervous system.
• 5:54
  Diversity means different.
• 5:55
  So neurodiversity is just a one-word concept
• 5:57
  for every brain is different and your brain
• 6:00
  is part of your body.
• 6:02
  So again, we're reaching back to our theological
• 6:04
  anthropology.
• 6:05
  Remember, Valerie E.
• 6:07
  Hess and Elaine M.
• 6:08
  Arnold, they have their book, The Life of
• 6:10
  the Body.
• 6:11
  We quoted from them, I'll read it again,
• 6:13
  something that is going to be redeemed is
• 6:15
  worth caring for.
• 6:18
  Your body, including your brain, if you are
• 6:21
  in Christ, is going to be redeemed.
• 6:23
  Your body will be resurrected on the last
• 6:25
  day.
• 6:26
  You will have a life and embody the
• 6:28
  life with God and the people of God
• 6:29
  for eternity.
• 6:31
  So your brain, the way your brain is
• 6:34
  deeply matters and it's worth caring for.
• 6:38
  Okay, so how does that relate to the
• 6:43
  workplace, to the work we're getting done at
• 6:45
  work?
• 6:46
  Well, I want to talk a little bit
• 6:46
  about the idea of fit, culture fit, okay?
• 6:51
  Because when we talk about neurodiversity, people will
• 6:54
  sometimes talk about being neurodivergent or neurotypical.
• 6:58
  But typical is just a synonym for quote
• 7:00
  unquote normal or normative.
• 7:03
  And there is no normal setting for human
• 7:05
  life.
• 7:06
  There are cultures that are different from one
• 7:09
  another in terms of what is considered normal.
• 7:11
  So what is neurotypical varies from culture to
• 7:14
  culture.
• 7:15
  Just a simple example of this.
• 7:17
  Think about if you have maybe an antipathy
• 7:19
  about physical contact, some people's brains are like
• 7:22
  this, where they really dislike being touched by
• 7:24
  or touching other people.
• 7:26
  If a bunch of people that were like
• 7:28
  that, that all had that similarity in their
• 7:30
  brains, formed a society, do you think people
• 7:33
  would greet each other by shaking hands?
• 7:35
  I think not.
• 7:36
  And so all that it means that it's
• 7:38
  neurotypical not to have that kind of antipathy
• 7:41
  is there's enough diversity of brains that when
• 7:44
  the culture was being formed, enough people were
• 7:46
  comfortable with physical contact with strangers, that shaking
• 7:49
  hands developed as a way to express that
• 7:52
  greeting in certain human cultures.
• 7:54
  But there are other human cultures where different
• 7:56
  greetings are used.
• 7:57
  Like there are cultures, for example, in Japan,
• 7:58
  where bowing is still a way of greeting
• 8:00
  each other rather than physical contact with a
• 8:02
  stranger.
• 8:04
  It could be we don't know, we don't
• 8:05
  know, but it could be that there are
• 8:06
  different brain structures that affected how those different
• 8:09
  cultural phenomenon developed over time.
• 8:11
  That's an interesting research project for somebody to
• 8:13
  look into how has brain structure historically developed
• 8:15
  cultural norms?
• 8:17
  Okay, so my point being that what is
• 8:20
  typical varies from place to place, and is
• 8:24
  probably the result of things that are in
• 8:27
  common between a large population of brains.
• 8:32
  And that means that it's okay if you
• 8:34
  don't fit the mold doesn't mean there's anything
• 8:37
  wrong with you.
• 8:38
  It just means you're different than what's the
• 8:41
  norm in that particular corner of the world
• 8:43
  where you happen to be.
• 8:47
  How does culture fit in the workplace?
• 8:51
  There's a lot of laws in the United
• 8:52
  States, at least, that prevent discrimination on a
• 8:55
  variety of subjects, right?
• 8:57
  So like, unless you're part of a specific
• 8:58
  religious organization, you can't discriminate based on religion,
• 9:01
  you can't discriminate based on gender or sexuality,
• 9:03
  other things.
• 9:05
  You can't discriminate based on race.
• 9:07
  But you know what you can discriminate on
• 9:09
  is culture fit.
• 9:11
  So like if somebody doesn't want to hire
• 9:13
  somebody, and they want to give a reason
• 9:15
  for it, that's socially acceptable and legally acceptable
• 9:17
  in our context.
• 9:19
  Culture fit is like the cure for a
• 9:21
  thousand evils, right?
• 9:21
  You can just say, oh, they just weren't
• 9:22
  a good culture fit.
• 9:24
  It's a really vague way of saying, oh,
• 9:26
  we feel like this person wouldn't be like
• 9:28
  us.
• 9:29
  It's not a great reason to not hire
• 9:32
  somebody.
• 9:33
  Now that being said, culture is real.
• 9:35
  There's no way to be culture neutral.
• 9:37
  Every community has a culture, every workplace has
• 9:40
  a culture.
• 9:42
  And there are different extremes of that.
• 9:44
  So it's not that trying to fit into
• 9:47
  a culture is a bad thing, but that
• 9:50
  we need to think about it in terms
• 9:51
  of what's healthy rather than the extremes.
• 9:54
  So on one extreme, you might have the
• 9:57
  boss's idiosyncrasies define what's quote unquote normal.
• 10:01
  So so this often happens when there's a
• 10:04
  leader who's not very self-aware.
• 10:05
  So maybe the boss really hates music during
• 10:09
  the workday for whatever reason.
• 10:11
  So the boss makes a rule that nobody
• 10:12
  can listen to music during the workday, even
• 10:14
  though a lot of people work at their
• 10:17
  desks and could use headphones and like wouldn't
• 10:20
  affect the boss rates like this boss's brain
• 10:22
  and the idiosyncrasies of the boss's brain somehow
• 10:24
  get applied to everybody.
• 10:26
  Okay, that's one extreme of culture fit where
• 10:28
  it's like, we're going to take just one
• 10:30
  human being and take everything that's weird about
• 10:32
  them and say that that has to be
• 10:33
  normative for everyone else.
• 10:34
  Really unhealthy at the other extreme, though, is
• 10:38
  bosses that bend over backward trying to say
• 10:41
  yes to everyone, not just trying to accommodate
• 10:44
  people's needs, but trying to make everyone happy.
• 10:48
  And that is that is a recipe for
• 10:50
  leadership disaster trying to make everyone happy.
• 10:52
  Let's say one person says like, Oh, I
• 10:54
  really like this messaging app.
• 10:56
  And another person says, Oh, I like that
• 10:57
  messaging app.
• 10:58
  And the boss wants to make everyone happy.
• 10:59
  So the boss says, we'll use them both.
• 11:01
  Well, that's terrible.
• 11:02
  That's terrible for team dynamics.
• 11:04
  So you got to check both messaging apps,
• 11:05
  you can't navigate smoothly through conversations, right?
• 11:09
  Because you have to check both of them,
• 11:09
  like, which app did this conversation happen in?
• 11:12
  What you need is the leader to take
• 11:14
  account of, okay, what are people's real needs?
• 11:15
  It sounds like that messaging app thing that
• 11:17
  may not be a real need.
• 11:18
  That sounded like a preference.
• 11:20
  Listen to people, maybe get feedback, like maybe
• 11:21
  one of those apps has features that the
• 11:23
  other one doesn't have or, or whatnot.
• 11:25
  And so then the leader needs to make
• 11:27
  a decision and lead and say, Okay, we're
• 11:29
  going with this app.
• 11:30
  And here's how we're going to make sure
• 11:31
  everyone's needs are met.
• 11:33
  That way, there's cohesion, the team's able to
• 11:34
  communicate smoothly.
• 11:36
  That's what direction and cohesion for a team.
• 11:41
  Okay, so if at one extreme, you have
• 11:43
  one person's idiosyncrasies determining the culture for everybody.
• 11:46
  And the other extreme, you're just trying to
• 11:47
  make everybody happy and say yes to everybody's
• 11:49
  preferences.
• 11:50
  What's in the middle?
• 11:52
  The middle is providing direction and cohesion while
• 11:55
  taking people's real needs into account, accommodating those
• 12:00
  needs and the mission.
• 12:03
  So that that direction and cohesion, that's for
• 12:05
  the mission, we're going to get something done
• 12:06
  together, we're going to be a ragtag crew,
• 12:08
  but we're going to get something done together.
• 12:10
  And so we want to accommodate people's needs
• 12:13
  while also having mission cohesion while also having
• 12:16
  mission direction.
• 12:18
  That's the needle that leaders have to thread.
• 12:20
  And it's never done perfectly.
• 12:22
  You can never make everybody happy.
• 12:23
  Not only can you not even make everybody
• 12:25
  happy, there will be times when people have
• 12:29
  intelligent, emotionally thoughtful, differing opinions about significant
• 12:33
  issues.
• 12:33
  And the boss will have to make a
• 12:35
  decision.
• 12:36
  And some of those people will be like,
• 12:37
  reasonably disappointed with that decision.
• 12:41
  And it's just like, it's impossible to even
• 12:42
  make reasonable people happy.
• 12:44
  Like, that's part of leadership is it's just
• 12:46
  like you got to live with it and
• 12:47
  move forward together.
• 12:49
  But when we think about neurodiversity, a healthy
• 12:53
  leader is going to look at their team
• 12:55
  and say, Oh, every brain is different.
• 12:59
  Not every brain is like my brain.
• 13:00
  Not every brain is like every other brain.
• 13:03
  I want to accommodate for different kinds of
• 13:05
  brains in as much as I can.
• 13:08
  While we still get our work done together,
• 13:11
  accommodation and mission cohesion.
• 13:14
  So some of that's really abstract.
• 13:15
  So like, let's give an example, use the
• 13:17
  example of a messaging app.
• 13:18
  Let's say you're hiring for a role and
• 13:20
  somebody applies who is blind.
• 13:22
  They're legally blind.
• 13:23
  And the boss just assumes, Oh, they couldn't
• 13:25
  do this job because they're blind.
• 13:27
  Whoa, wait a minute.
• 13:28
  Wait a minute.
• 13:30
  Are you sure?
• 13:31
  Like, is visual communication and information actually essential
• 13:36
  to this particular job?
• 13:37
  If it's an office job, if it's a
• 13:39
  knowledge work job, probably not.
• 13:41
  That person could have accommodation by using software
• 13:45
  that works with whatever messaging app everyone is
• 13:47
  using it that reads it to them in
• 13:49
  audio.
• 13:49
  This is smoother than ever today with the
• 13:51
  use of AI transcription and other things, and
• 13:53
  still get the job done.
• 13:54
  My father was a software engineer, had a
• 13:56
  blind coworker did a phenomenal job.
• 13:59
  That's an example, maybe more along the lines
• 14:00
  of inclusion around disability and diverse abilities, rather
• 14:05
  than neurodiversity as such.
• 14:07
  But the same thing is true around neurodiversity.
• 14:11
  Blindness is really obvious.
• 14:12
  That's why I use it as an example.
• 14:14
  ADHD is less obvious.
• 14:16
  Okay.
• 14:17
  Now, you may get to know somebody and
• 14:19
  they may have a diagnosis, and it may
• 14:21
  be obvious in different ways, but it's not
• 14:22
  as obvious as being blind.
• 14:24
  It's really hard for you to constantly be
• 14:27
  interrupted.
• 14:28
  Your brain is already moving from task to
• 14:30
  task to task to always be interrupted when
• 14:32
  you're in the middle of something is just
• 14:33
  the worst.
• 14:34
  Let's say, again, you have a boss that's
• 14:36
  like, oh, we want to have really rapid
• 14:39
  responses to our messaging system.
• 14:41
  When you send somebody a message, let's say
• 14:43
  on Microsoft Teams, and then you don't hear
• 14:45
  back from them for five minutes, you walk
• 14:46
  over to your cubicle and you're like, why
• 14:47
  didn't you do that?
• 14:52
  The boss could be having an idiosyncrasy of
• 14:54
  I like fast response times on messages, and
• 14:57
  I can read a message and then switch
• 14:58
  back to my task at hand really easily.
• 15:00
  So everybody else should be able to do
• 15:01
  that too.
• 15:03
  And so they do that, right?
• 15:05
  They enforce their idiosyncrasy on the whole team.
• 15:07
  Somebody who has ADHD may really struggle with
• 15:10
  not having uninterrupted time because of the distracting
• 15:15
  nature of those messages.
• 15:17
  So instead, what a healthier response of the
• 15:19
  boss would be would be to consider, oh,
• 15:21
  how quickly do messages actually need to be
• 15:24
  responded to for the sake of the mission?
• 15:26
  It's reasonable to need a quick response sometimes,
• 15:29
  but it's also reasonable to accommodate the needs
• 15:31
  of diversely brained team members.
• 15:34
  So okay, how about we come up with
• 15:36
  a standard, a standard of how quickly a
• 15:39
  response should be expected?
• 15:40
  Or how about we come up with times
• 15:42
  that are an exception to that?
• 15:43
  Like maybe under normal circumstances, if you're not
• 15:46
  in a meeting, please reply to a message
• 15:48
  as soon as possible, like within a minute.
• 15:51
  But if you are in a meeting, pay
• 15:53
  attention to the meeting, ignore your messaging app.
• 15:55
  Or if you have focus time engaged.
• 15:58
  So maybe focus time is like one of
• 15:59
  your little status symbols that you can select
• 16:01
  and be like, I'm in focus time.
• 16:03
  And so then when you're messaging someone, you
• 16:04
  see that they're in focus time and you're
• 16:05
  like, oh, they're going to be ignoring messages.
• 16:07
  And that's okay.
• 16:07
  You make that part of your culture.
• 16:08
  Just one example of how accommodation for neurodiversity
• 16:13
  could look like in an office.
• 16:16
  The key is still prioritizing mission cohesion, right?
• 16:20
  Still providing direction as a leader while accommodating
• 16:22
  for other people's needs as much as you
• 16:25
  can.
• 16:25
  Again, even though the Bible doesn't explicitly speak
• 16:28
  to neurodiversity, I think that reflects the pattern
• 16:31
  we see again in the Bible of a
• 16:32
  motley crew.
• 16:33
  David, Jesus, others, they were able to put
• 16:36
  groups of people together because they had tolerance
• 16:38
  for differences and they were able to move
• 16:40
  them and direct them towards a common aim
• 16:42
  while still accommodating those differences.
• 16:46
  What does this mean for all of us?
• 16:47
  I've been speaking about leadership dynamics.
• 16:49
  And if you are a leader in your
• 16:51
  workplace or a manager of some kind, you
• 16:53
  can take this into account.
• 16:54
  That's your goal, is to accommodate while also
• 16:58
  providing mission direction and mission cohesion.
• 17:01
  But for all of us, for all of
• 17:03
  us, I want to say just one more
• 17:05
  idea, kind of related to that idea from
• 17:07
  the Life of the Body book, something that
• 17:09
  is going to be redeemed is worth caring
• 17:11
  for.
• 17:12
  That caring for your own brain as you
• 17:14
  get the job done can be part of
• 17:17
  your walk with God.
• 17:19
  So the idea here is that self-discovery
• 17:22
  can, by God's grace, lead to self-acceptance,
• 17:26
  which then leads to more fruitful work.
• 17:31
  Self-discovery can, by God's grace, lead to
• 17:34
  self-acceptance, which then leads to more fruitful
• 17:36
  work.
• 17:37
  So we used the example of ADHD earlier.
• 17:40
  I'm not personally diagnosed with ADHD, although I'm
• 17:43
  talking so fast during this episode.
• 17:44
  It's kind of like I do have some
• 17:46
  tendencies sometimes.
• 17:48
  My mother has ADD.
• 17:49
  I have other family members that have ADD.
• 17:51
  Very close friends of mine have ADHD, so
• 17:53
  I've tried to do a lot of listening,
• 17:55
  understanding their experience and what it's like to
• 17:57
  be constantly distracted, or on the flip side,
• 18:00
  what hyper-focus is like.
• 18:02
  It's also a very common type of neurodiversity,
• 18:05
  and so I want to just use it
• 18:07
  as an example.
• 18:07
  If you don't know you have ADHD, if
• 18:10
  you don't have that language, if you don't
• 18:11
  have that structure, then you might just experience
• 18:16
  what you're doing in the workplace as like,
• 18:19
  man, I just wish I could be better
• 18:20
  at this.
• 18:20
  Like, I wish I could focus better.
• 18:22
  Why aren't I better at focusing?
• 18:23
  Or I wish I could stay on top
• 18:24
  of my tasks better.
• 18:25
  Why aren't I better at that?
• 18:27
  Gonna be a lot of shame there.
• 18:30
  But self-discovery, by God's grace, can lead
• 18:32
  to self-acceptance.
• 18:34
  So if you learn that you have ADHD
• 18:36
  by talking with a therapist or a psychiatrist,
• 18:39
  somebody that can do an assessment and help
• 18:41
  you understand it, maybe even you're wondering this
• 18:43
  as you listen to this podcast episode or
• 18:45
  other podcast episodes more geared towards understanding the
• 18:48
  brain.
• 18:50
  But if you get the language for that,
• 18:52
  that's self-discovery.
• 18:53
  You're like, oh, this is how my brain
• 18:55
  works.
• 18:55
  My brain makes all these connections all the
• 18:57
  time.
• 18:58
  That's incredibly helpful for creativity and for not
• 19:01
  missing pieces that could benefit from being placed
• 19:03
  in certain contexts, but it does make staying
• 19:06
  deeply focused on one thing hard sometimes.
• 19:09
  Or sometimes I'm super, super deeply focused on
• 19:11
  one thing and it's hard to pay attention
• 19:12
  to other things that matter.
• 19:15
  Self-discovery, that's the first step.
• 19:17
  Then, by God's grace, that leads to self
• 19:18
  -acceptance.
• 19:19
  We've talked in other episodes about how self
• 19:21
  -acceptance is like the mirror image of God's
• 19:23
  love for us.
• 19:25
  Once you realize, oh, I have a brain
• 19:26
  that's like this, self-acceptance is saying, I
• 19:29
  receive the brain that God has given me.
• 19:32
  I accept myself.
• 19:35
  I receive the brain that God has given
• 19:36
  me as a gift.
• 19:39
  That can be really, really hard.
• 19:40
  Self-acceptance is not an easy thing.
• 19:42
  Just like we have faces and you might
• 19:45
  have certain features of your face.
• 19:47
  We're like, oh, I wish that was different.
• 19:49
  That can be really hard.
• 19:51
  That's a very personal thing.
• 19:52
  That, again, we mentioned healing prayer related to
• 19:55
  addiction recovery.
• 19:57
  This is one of those things that can
• 19:58
  really help as well.
• 19:59
  That sense of, can I come into God's
• 20:01
  presence and be honest with him about how
• 20:04
  I feel about my brain and can I
• 20:07
  let him minister to me in that place?
• 20:11
  Then, by God's grace, if we do experience
• 20:14
  that progressive, step-by-step self-acceptance of
• 20:16
  saying, this is my brain and it's okay.
• 20:19
  It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with me.
• 20:20
  I'm learning how to adapt.
• 20:22
  Then, that leads to more fruitful work because,
• 20:25
  as far as culture fit goes, your workplace
• 20:27
  has an imperfect culture.
• 20:28
  No, no culture is perfect.
• 20:30
  Your brain is an imperfect fit for that
• 20:32
  culture, regardless of whether you're neurotypical or not.
• 20:34
  But then, once you've reached a point of
• 20:36
  self-acceptance, you can identify, aha, here's the
• 20:40
  Venn diagram of the culture of my workplace
• 20:42
  and the reality of my brain and where
• 20:45
  is that overlap?
• 20:46
  How can I operate there?
• 20:48
  How can I not let the parts that
• 20:49
  don't overlap be a source of shame?
• 20:51
  Because that's not something that's wrong with me.
• 20:53
  That's something that's just a reality of shortcomings
• 20:55
  of human cultures.
• 20:57
  I'm going to accept that I can't do
• 20:59
  everything that might be desired by my boss
• 21:01
  or expected in this culture, and then I'm
• 21:04
  going to advocate for myself.
• 21:06
  So, maybe you can nudge the culture a
• 21:08
  little bit just to have that Venn diagram
• 21:10
  overlap a little bit more by advocating for
• 21:12
  yourself.
• 21:13
  Again, this will depend on your context, to
• 21:15
  what extent your boss is somebody who would
• 21:16
  be willing to listen to this.
• 21:18
  But again, like with the messaging thing, maybe
• 21:21
  you can advocate for some focused time during
• 21:23
  your week and say, hey, can I have
• 21:25
  some time when I'm not responsible to immediately
• 21:27
  reply to messages?
• 21:28
  That would be really helpful for me.
• 21:30
  See if you can just ask your boss
• 21:31
  for something like that.
• 21:33
  And the reason that leads to more fruitful
• 21:34
  work is that in as much as you
• 21:37
  personally learn how to operate in that Venn
• 21:39
  diagram overlap, or you even increase the Venn
• 21:41
  diagram overlap by nudging the culture of your
• 21:43
  workplace, you can get more stuff done.
• 21:46
  There's more accommodation while still having mission cohesion
• 21:49
  and mission direction.
• 21:50
  That's what we're going for.
• 21:51
  Again, self-discovery by God's grace can lead
• 21:53
  to self-acceptance, which then leads to more
• 21:56
  fruitful work.
• 21:57
  And the great thing is that as you
• 21:58
  mature into that process, you're able to advocate
• 22:01
  not just for yourself, but for other people
• 22:02
  too.
• 22:03
  And in fact, pretty much whenever you advocate
• 22:05
  for yourself, you're advocating for other people too,
• 22:07
  even if you don't realize it.
• 22:08
  Almost every time that you help nudge a
• 22:11
  culture to be a little bit more accepting
• 22:13
  and open and working together with a diversity
• 22:17
  of people, that's going to have benefits beyond
• 22:19
  you individually.
• 22:22
  So I want to encourage you that it's
• 22:24
  worth it to advocate, not just for yourself,
• 22:26
  it's not a selfish thing, but for making
• 22:28
  the work culture healthier and more fruitful for
• 22:31
  everybody.
• 22:34
  Lord Jesus, thank you that your creativity is
• 22:37
  reflected in so many diverse ways in all
• 22:39
  of our brains.
• 22:41
  Keep us close to you as we try
• 22:43
  and understand ourselves, as we ask for your
• 22:47
  help to accept ourselves.
• 22:50
  And as we do fruitful work, do your
• 22:51
  work in us, as we do our work
• 22:53
  with you.
• 22:55
  Amen.
• 22:59
  Thanks for listening.
• 23:01
  Finding God at Work is a production of
• 23:03
  Mission Central, a ministry based in Aurora, Illinois,
• 23:06
  dedicated to forming Christians for mission in everyday
• 23:08
  life.
• 23:09
  You can subscribe to the podcast wherever you
• 23:11
  listen to this episode to get 10 minutes
• 23:13
  of teaching on faith and work every Tuesday
• 23:15
  and Thursday.
• 23:16
  To get resources to go deeper with each
• 23:18
  podcast series, read our blog, and get info
• 23:21
  about upcoming courses on faith in the workplace,
• 23:23
  go to our website, missioncentral.church.