Being Neurodivergent In A Neurotypical Business World
My manager called me into a meeting with him. I was in my first position out of college. I had been there for a few months now and I was starting to figure things out. I was enjoying having a dual-screen setup for the first time. One of the things I had figured out in my extended undergraduate journey was that watching movies while I worked helped me keep focus. So I started throwing up movies on one screen and programming on the other. Then I got called into this meeting.
“Leo, we can’t have you watching movies while you work. Other people have noticed and said a few things.”
I nervously agreed and went back to my desk. Guess I would figure something else out.
Fast-forward a few months later. I was getting my performance review.
“Hey Leo. You’ve done extremely well so far. But one thing I keep hearing is that you need to slow down. You’re getting more code review comments than the other developers.”
I agreed that I was, because I was pushing code at a much faster rate. Yes, I may have been getting 3 times as many code review comments, but it was because I was opening up 3 times as many pull requests.
“You need to slow down.”
