Tent caterpillars create a cocoon for an entire colony. Within a colony there are two types of caterpillars. One type, the pioneers, weave long threads that form the skeleton of the store. The others, the workers, weave crossed threads that fill the structure. If there are too many pioneers, the tent is too big and it collapses. If there are not enough pioneers, the carp is too dense and the colony suffocates. Live the difference.
Within the colony of human beings we can find similar differences. Some are explorers, entrepreneurs who push the boundaries of our environment in art, science, or business. The rest fill in the details like accountants or managers.
As a manager, you know that creativity is the quality that allows your company to expand and improve its products, services and processes. The best salespeople, strategic planners, and inventors are creative people who generate a constant stream of ideas. However, creativity can be accompanied by other not so desirable characteristics such as impulsiveness, lack of organization of ideas, role and time, and social problems in communication and relationships at work or at home.
SAM WAS THE BEST SALESMAN the company had ever seen, but his boss was about to fire him because he couldn’t do the paperwork.
MARY WAS A VERY SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIC PLANNER at work, but at home she couldn’t clean up after dinner, her husband had to teach her how to put things away.
ANDREW WAS AN EXPERT IN HIS FIELD, but in his head it felt like a fraud. The dissonance between his status as an expert and his mental image of himself led to severe depression and two years of lost work.
OR MAYBE HE HAD TO SHOOT MICHEL. He was too argumentative. He was always antagonizing someone. No one would work with him as a team. Too bad your work was excellent.
Attention deficit disorder (ADD) * is a neurological difference in the brain that causes difficulties with the executive functions of planning, prioritizing, making decisions, organizing, time management, and more. It affects 3-5% of the adult population (Kevin Murphy, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Chief of Adults: ADHD Clinician at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester) and appears frequently in fields where creativity is required. To put it another way: the positive asset of creativity and the negative problems are the two sides of the coin.
We all feel disorganized, forgetful, or at odds with the world at times, but for those affected, ADD is a long-lasting quality of life problem. One of their most common complaints is the feeling of not being in harmony with their surroundings. They may be frustrated by their own failure and deluded because they cannot make effective use of their potential. They have great difficulty taking advantage of their many ideas and carrying them out.
From your point of view, as a manager, ADD can be a matter of lost productivity and accidents. You probably hired them because they were passionate, smart, full of ideas, and had great energy (all typical ADD qualities), but once at work the difficulties appear. Now you can consider them lazy or irresponsible due to frequent absenteeism, delays, below-average productivity, missed deadlines, or pointless conflicts.
Or you can see another picture, a person whose work is excellent, but is working exceptionally long hours for the work done, seems overly sensitive to comments, may be having difficulties in his private life due to poorly managed finances or friction with his spouse , or seems to have a problem with alcohol or even drugs.
The first step for that person (and it may be you, the manager) is a medical diagnosis by a doctor with knowledge of ADD. If the diagnosis is for ADD, the doctor will prescribe one of several medications. Medication helps the brain work effectively, but it may not be enough. The second step is to seek the help of a trained ADD coach who can help you see where and how ADD is affecting your life and guide you in developing strategies to handle problems and use your strengths.
HERE ARE SOME TIPS for dealing with employees who may be affected by ADD.
* – Recognize that the problem is not voluntary disobedience or moral failure but neurological in origin.
* – Provide lots of positive encouragement and guidance; negative reviews they give themselves.
* – Help them adapt their work environment to their personal needs.
* – Provide support systems to help with paperwork and other detailed tasks that are stifling for people with ADD.
* – Provide a knowledgeable coach on ADD problems. Coaching for ADD focuses on understanding how ADD affects the client and building structures to manage daily tasks.
To conclude, Mr. or Mrs. Manager, if you are concerned about your productivity level or your bottom line, look to the strengths of your employees and help each one to do what they are good at and you will be greatly rewarded.
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* Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is not a useful name. It is not an attention deficit but an inconsistency of attention. A person with ADD may pay a lot of attention to things that are interesting and therefore stimulating, but they have difficulty controlling their attention in situations in which they do not find stimulation.
Attention deficit and / or hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the current term as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) of the American Psychiatric Association. The current understanding of researchers is that there are two different problems, attention deficit and hyperactivity that can occur together or separately. Hyperactivity is a well-known problem in children, but it usually disappears in adolescence; Attention problems tend to persist in adults.