29. ADHD Abilities: Superior Problem Solvers
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At first glance, ADHD is just a big bundle of suck. You can't remember important dates or deadlines, focusing on school and work is very difficult, impulsive urges can cause financial strains, and so on.
Being a valedictorian and an exemplary employee are all things I've longed to experience.
That's because, unfortunately, we live in a neurotypical-obsessed world, so we value and reward those behaviors. It's not a conspiracy; it's how the world runs. Businesses and corporations can only make money because some person is okay with standing on an assembly line and screwing the lids onto Snapple bottles for 8 hours a day or sitting in a cubicle.
Now, I'm thankful for my ADHD, even blessed by it. I believe in nature and evolution, as well as spirituality. Nature, god, evolution, or whatever you want to call it doesn't make mistakes. The more I learned about my inability to focus, the more I began to see it as less of a sickness and more like an intellectual immune response to keep me away from things that weren't meant for me; it was protection shielding me from something very unnatural for humans.
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I feel like I talk all the time about how to manage ADHD and not enough about how to harness its benefits. Believe it or not, all of the symptoms and side effects of ADHD are not bad or negative. Quite the opposite; some neurodivergent symptoms may be your secret weapon for success.
Many of the articles I find about adult attention disorders come from an angle of "lack" from the start, with article titles something like: "How do I focus on boring stuff with ADHD?"
Though it's essential to learn a bit of self-regulation, themes like that imply that these are the areas we should always focus our energy on. People with inattention can concentrate easily. We don't focus so well on the things not meant for us.
Today, let’s talk about one of the special powers scientists have concluded are uniquely abundant among people with neurodivergence. Creative problem-solving or divergent thinking.
I used to be so devastated...
"I used to feel so devasted, at times I thought we'd never make it. but now we're on our way to greatness, and all it ever took was patience". I listen to this when I start to doubt myself. Those are lyrics to a Joey Badass song that resonate with me very much.
As I already mentioned, today, I wanted to talk about one of the potential benefits of ADHD—heightened creative problem-solving. A large part of living with neurodivergence is constantly comparing yourself to neurotypical people.
For me, that's just an elaborate setup for failure. Instead, you should focus on your capabilities and pursue those things. A couple of years ago, I had an awakening of sorts. After years of failing to perform in a regular job time after time, I accepted something I had run away from for years. I'm not normal, and I never will be. I used to hate that feeling, and though it still hurts me occasionally, I'm glad I'm not normal.
What is creative problem-solving or divergent thinking?
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The process of generating innovative and unique ideas to solve problems or overcome challenges. It involves breaking free from conventional thinking patterns and exploring multiple perspectives, possibilities, and solutions.
Divergent thinking emphasizes generating a wide range of ideas, often encouraging quantity over quality in the initial stages. This approach allows for exploring various alternatives, unconventional methods, and imaginative solutions. It involves thinking beyond the prominent and established norms and often requires thinking outside the box.
Creative problem-solving is instrumental for success at school and work. Research has found that people with ADHD have more creativity and idea generation than people without the disorder. Neurodivergence can lead to outside-the-box thinking that is so important for innovation.
It's not just an anecdotal riff I use to make myself feel better about feeling so out of place in the neurotypical world. I always try to bring receipts.
The studies
White and Shah conducted a study in 2006. This study, published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, investigated the relationship between ADHD symptoms and divergent thinking. They found that individuals with more significant ADHD symptoms generated more original ideas in a divergent thinking task, suggesting a positive association between ADHD traits and originality.
This is a fascinating study. In the upcoming parts, I will explain how this data was obtained.
Inhibition Control/Memory
Researchers acknowledge that people with ADHD may seem to fall short in academics or areas of employment, which is thought to be caused by poor inhibitory control. Specifically, individuals with ADHD may have deficits in "executive" inhibition, which is required to inhibit a prepotent response or to protect the contents of working memory.
From what I can understand, that translates to: We struggle with inhibiting automatic or impulsive actions and may have challenges maintaining and manipulating information in our working memory without interference.
For example, it might be hard to finish a task that requires sitting down and focusing because the natural urge to get up and do something immediately satisfying, like eating a snack or playing Call of Duty, may be abnormally challenging to resist.
Being unable to seemingly pay attention while doing things you don't want to do, has to be one of the biggest reasons you and definitely me felt shitty about having ADHD. But here is a reason why I stopped looking at it as a reflection of my "inability":
Influence to creativity
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Recent empirical studies have demonstrated a relationship between creativity and executive inhibition, and several observations and analyses suggest that executive inhibition may influence creativity.
This is because "inhibition affects two aspects of creativity: convergent and divergent thinking.
Convergent thinking is a cognitive process associated with problem-solving and finding a single correct answer or solution, often characterized by a linear and logical approach.—left brain activities.
On the other hand, divergent thinking is a cognitive process that involves generating multiple ideas, possibilities, or solutions in response to a problem or stimulus. It is a form of thinking that emphasizes creativity, flexibility, and exploring various perspectives—right brain activities.
The findings of this particular study note that neurodivergent brains are predisposed to have difficulty with convergent thought.
A common way to measure convergent thinking in a laboratory is the Remote Associates Test (or the RAT). Here's how it works. The RAT requires participants to find a common element among three seemingly unrelated concepts (e.g., mines, lick, sprinkle), and then the test subject is asked to generate a fourth item related to each item in the trio (e.g., salt).
According to the RAT results, executive inhibition may hinder an individual's ability to suppress partial solutions such as those consistent with two of the three items on a given test trial (still using the example words "mines, lick, sprinkle). Someone with the inability to throw away answers that don't belong may believe "ice cream" is a compatible answer to the solution but fail to see in real-time that the answer "ice cream" can pair well with the words lick and sprinkle, but not mines). Poor inhibition allows intrusions to interfere with identifying solutions that meet all criteria within short time frames.
Poor inhibition may reduce the ability to "stay on task" long enough to arrive at a solution or even pay attention to italicized text or other text that could be part of instructions, etc. We miss the small details initially.
Divergent Thinking
The results were almost the opposite when they tested divergent thinking abilities. A popular measure of divergent thinking is the Unusual Uses Test (UUT), which requires participants to generate as many uses as possible for a common object, such as a brick (e.g., build a house or pave a driveway). The number, originality, and flexibility of responses are taken as indices of divergent thinking.
That's because divergent thinking may require the activation of low-frequency concepts or ideas (e.g., Eysenck, 1995). This means if the ideas you generate are less inhibited by what's considered "rational, typical, or normal," this facilitates divergent thinking because concepts and ideas are less likely to be deterred.
A perfect way to sum up what this is saying- Being unable to see the forest for the trees. Sometimes logic and rational thought rule out good ideas because they don't seem relevant. People who are less inhibited neurologically tend to be better at developing new ideas.
The test results
Ultimately, the study suggests (in its own words)" that ADHD in adults may be associated with better performance on certain types of creativity tasks, specifically those that involve divergent thinking.
What are the implications for creative achievement outside of the laboratory? Studies of adults without ADHD suggest that divergent thinking ability is positively correlated with creative achievement in "real life" It goes on to say that they "found that highly creative individuals (outside of a lab), even with lower levels of executive inhibitory control, perform better on tasks of divergent thinking relative to individuals with less creative achievement.
Get it? So you may not be able to fill out TPS reports on time at the office or pay attention at some boring ass meeting, but you can outperform most in areas of out-of-the-box thinking. The implications of this should be entirely uplifting for you. If that doesn't excite you, you may need real-life examples.
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Rise of the divergents (the movers and shakers)
Photo by Clement Eastwood
Types of jobs great for creative problem solving
Creative fields: Careers in art, design, writing, music, and other creative disciplines often provide an outlet for divergent minds. These fields encourage thinking outside the box, embracing unconventional ideas, and pushing the boundaries of traditional norms.
Research and development: Jobs in research and development, particularly in scientific or technological fields, can be an excellent fit for divergent thinkers. These roles involve exploring new possibilities, solving complex problems, and developing innovative solutions.
Entrepreneurship: Starting one's business allows divergent thinkers to shape their path, develop unique ideas, and challenge existing industry norms. The entrepreneurial journey often requires creativity, adaptability, and the ability to see opportunities where others might not. Fun fact, if you have ADHD, you're statistically 3 times more likely to start a business? Facts.
Consulting and problem-solving roles: Divergent thinkers can excel in consulting positions, providing fresh perspectives and creative problem-solving approaches to help clients tackle challenges and find innovative solutions.
Innovation and product development: Roles in innovation and product development involve identifying market gaps, conceptualizing new products or features, and bringing them to fruition. Divergent thinkers excel at generating new ideas, envisioning possibilities, and iterating on concepts.
Teaching and education: Divergent minds can make excellent educators, as they can approach teaching from alternative angles and adapt their methods to meet diverse learning needs. They can inspire creativity and critical thinking in students, fostering a love for exploration and discovery. I wonder how fulfilling every teaching environment can be. I'm sure it varies.
Social entrepreneurship and advocacy: Divergent thinkers often have a strong sense of social justice (shout out to martin luther)and may be drawn to careers that involve advocating for marginalized groups or driving social change. They can leverage their unique perspectives to challenge societal norms and champion inclusive practices.
Conclusion -
Creativity models suggest that the ability to diffuse attention and generate ideas, focus attention, and work within certain constraints may be necessary for actual creative production.
It says that if you want to succeed, you can, but considering certain frameworks and disciplined practices are incredibly helpful and will ensure you succeed.
This is what I had in mind when I created The You Testament. The The You Testament is a course designed to help people (especially those with ADHD) achieve their goals and bring balance to their lives. I released this course on Spotify. Look for an episode titled "The You Testament". This audio workbook lasts about two hours and includes a link to a free interactive e-workbook and a softcover version. Click here if you want to see how this workbook can help you achieve your goals in life.
Is divergent thinking one of your ADHD superpowers?
Let me know in the comments what you think! And if you like what I'm doing here and want to support or comment on social media, please like, join and follow the Attention, Please! group on Facebook. You can also share this blog with your friends who prefer reading over listening to podcasts, like yourself.
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Much love, DC out!
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