Julie Legg and Jel Legg discuss ADHD Superpowers – is there such a thing, what it really means, and why it is such a polarising ADHD subject?
They discuss the balance between strengths like creativity, crisis management, and empathy, and the challenges these traits can pose. With insights on harnessing these abilities and embracing neurodiversity, the episode offers encouragement for ADHDers to discover and celebrate their unique talents while acknowledging the complexities of living with ADHD.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Defining ADHD Superpowers: The term “superpower” is used metaphorically to describe certain ADHD traits that, when harnessed, can lead to exceptional performance in specific areas like creativity, crisis management, or problem-solving. However, these abilities are not consistently controllable and depend on the situation.
- Positive Traits of ADHD: ADHD individuals often excel in non-linear thinking, creativity, imagination, and innovation, making them valuable in team settings and problem-solving scenarios. Attributes like empathy, humour, and a strong moral compass can also shine, especially when confidence is cultivated.
- Challenges and Balance: The same traits that lead to success, like hyperfocus or impulsivity, can also cause setbacks, such as neglecting other responsibilities or making rash decisions. The “yin and yang” of ADHD traits emphasizes the need to acknowledge both their strengths and potential pitfalls.
- Harnessing the Strengths: Recognizing and celebrating ADHD traits is key to using them effectively. This involves understanding how the ADHD brain works and aligning tasks with dopamine-driven motivations. Team environments benefit from neurodiversity when ADHD thinkers are included and actively engaged.
- Addressing the Debate: They acknowledge that not everyone with ADHD relates to the concept of “superpowers,” especially those facing significant struggles. They emphasize that success often comes with hard work and resilience.
- Encouragement and Inclusivity: The episode ends on a motivational note, urging listeners to explore their unique abilities and reminding them that everyone has strengths, even if they require time and effort to uncover.
LINKS
- Julie is the author of THE MISSING PIECE: A Woman’s Guide to Understanding, Diagnosing and Living with ADHD (Harper Collins, 2024)
TRANSCRIPT
JULIE: I’m Julie Legg, author of The Missing Piece and diagnosed with ADHD at 52.
JEL: And I’m Jel Legg diagnosed at 55.
JULIE: Welcome to ADHdifference. In this episode we’ll be talking about ADHD and superpowers. It is quite a polarizing word really, Jel.
JEL: It is. It’s probably one of the most polarizing words you’ll find in the whole subject of ADHD, so we go into this episode treading lightly and with lots of respect to those people who, hearing the word, immediately feel grumpy and their backs are up over the whole concept that we could possibly have superpowers. So, how about we start by defining what we think the word means with, in relation to ADHD.
JULIE: Well, we all have powers. We have powers over our thoughts and our emotions. Sometimes it’s hard to regulate those, I will admit with ADHD, and that’s one of the traits and I guess the super part of it is the extraordinary element of it, in certain situations.
JEL: Yeah, I think thinking about superpowers, it’s not a superpower like a superhero has. It’s not something that we run around celebrating every 5 minutes, I’m sorry, every moment of the day. I’m thinking more we can be rather good at things if we’re giving the chance and so compared to other people we appear to have this thing called a superpower but it’s not a superpower. It’s just we can really achieve certain things, such as project management or crisis management, we tend to be rather good at them when our ADHD brains are engaged. Now, by that what I mean is we have this need to seek dopamine so, particularly if we’re not medicated and we’re having to find dopamine through action around us that which causes … say, take an emergency situation, where you have to respond very quickly to a crisis. It’s not a lot different in our minds to dealing with perhaps a computer game or a gambling situation where we’re just getting more and more dopamine from winning. It becomes almost like a game. So, we’re not the cleverest, or the smartest, or the best trained, or the most logical, or the best under pressure, it’s just sometimes in certain situations we appear to excel because we’re trying to feed this dopamine in our minds. Whereas a neurotypical will approach in a calmer perhaps, more logical way, which, in itself, I could argue from an ADHD perspective, makes it look like they’ve got the superpower, you know? Yeah. Because once we can achieve a great deal, we can also really mess things up. We can really fall flat on our faces and it can really go wrong.
JULIE: You mentioned being really good in an emergency situation and so if you talk about, or if you think about the likes of impulsivity and risk-taking, thinking without you know … [Consequences.] Doing without thinking of the consequences you know, that can turn out to be remarkably great or horrifically bad depending on the choices one makes. So, you know, I think we will call it, we’ll call it superpower, this is the name of the episode, so with that respect I don’t think it’s something that we have 24/7. We can’t necessarily switch it on in a timely fashion that we’re in control of, if that makes sense. So, in this emergency situation it happens just out of the blue and we react, and a lot of the time it’s a positive reaction with good results. But it’s …I think it’s to do with harnessing your ADHD traits. We have good ones and we have those that trip us up often but if you … you’ve got to identify it first and recognize it and I think part of that is through understanding your brain and how ADHD works for you. But if you’re in a situation where you’ve never really got to explore your traits, and really understand them, or never have been able to find the things that you excel at, I can really understand how some people would look at ADHD and superpower and shakes their heads and say “Absolutely not. I have none. I haven’t been able to use them even if I did.” So, we are recognizing that there will be some ADHDers who haven’t begun that journey yet or, for whatever the circumstances, hasn’t been able to explore it.
JEL: Yeah, and we … through these series, these podcasts and so on, we … we’re always talking about ADHD as though it’s something that defines a person and it’s the only thing that defines a person. It’s not. It’s something that we have or don’t have but we also have a whole bunch of other things that define us: a character we’re born with, our upbringing, the environment we’re in, the opportunities we had or didn’t have, a whole bunch of things then end up giving us an attitude towards life and a view on the world and that’s as varied as any aspect of humanity. So, some of us naturally, regardless of whether we have ADHD or not, may have a more positive engagement with the world and some of us have a more negative engagement with the world. So, you add ADHD to the mix and you see how you can’t just say it’s all down to that one diversity, that difference. It will amplify some things that I think are built into us anyway. Now we’re born with ADHD. We’re not even going anywhere near the idea of ‘acquired ADHD’ because generally, for the sake of all these conversations, it’s something we have from birth. It’s how our brains are wired and our need for dopamine. So, if you could do an experiment where you introduced ADHD into someone genuinely and it, for 6 months, and then measured how it changed them, then you’d get an idea of what I’m talking about but you can’t do that. You’ve had it all your life but you … does that make sense do you think Julie?
JULIE: Oh, I’m catching up with you on that one. It’s … from an ADHD perspective, we don’t know what it’s like to be neurotypical so we can only go with what we know, and I think you know, as I don’t think ADHD in itself is a superpower but I do think that there are traits that when harnessed can feel like it. And, you know, it’s really difficult in New Zealand particularly we’re not really good at celebrating amazing positive things. If we do attempt to often the ‘tall poppy syndrome’ pops up and we’re feeling that, you know, we shouldn’t really skite about it or talk about it, so it’s a very humble superpower if you would like to call that …
JEL: I’ll just pause you there just to say ‘tall poppy syndrome’ is a very Kiwi-New Zealand thing. I think historically Australia’s had a bit of an element too but certainly it’s a New Zealand thing and skite is a word which means show off or celebrate, self … yeah so but when you look at societies such as America, and to some degree Europe, people are held up and celebrated for their individual success especially. And so, by ‘tall poppy’ what we mean is all poppies are on the same level in New Zealand and if you achieve something for yourself, and stand up and say “Hey I think I’m pretty good at this,” everyone else … there’s a tradition of bringing you back down and say “Yeah yeah, but don’t get too carried away. Don’t show off.” We’re starting to lose that in New Zealand as the diversity that people come to live in New Zealand weakens it, which is good, because … but that is unique to New Zealand, so for all of those listening outside of New Zealand probably don’t really understand that concept but …
JULIE: The other thing I was thinking too, superpower. So, we hear ‘superheroes’ for example and generally they’re the good guys and they save lives and they have extraordinary powers but also they’re are super villains as well. So again, you know, we started off what is a superpower and power, we all have the ability to do it, but we can also have the ability to do some bad stuff too with as much vigour as doing good stuff and I think, yeah so I guess harnessed correctly and pushed in the right direction, it can have a very, you know, positive outcome. But you know, we also can be stuck in a cycle of despair as well and be extremely good at that without finding sort of the walls to climb out of that little pit. And I think we’re susceptible, ADHDers, to stay. I don’t know, what’s … what would be …
JEL: I think it … I think the implication of the word superpower, why it upsets someone who is not having a very successful life it’s just not working for them and the ADHD they see as the problem, the reason why they’re struggling with it, is superpower implies you’re very successful. You’re powerful, you’ve made lots of money, you’re celebrated for being brilliant at something, and life’s just great. And once you’ve got all that power and success and reward then you get choices and life gets even better. But that word superpower could be applied to some very simple mundane things such as, you may not be really wealthy and own a big company but you may be very good with empathy. You may be the best carer there is around and not all of us with ADHD are natural carers. Some of us can be brilliant at looking after the grandmother, or caring for a partner, or a fantastic parent. You know, there are simple little things that you have to recognize in yourself and say “Well I think I’m pretty good at this.”
JULIE: Yeah and take that for the win, you know, to be successful with ADHD. And also too, we work really, really hard to achieve what neurotypicals take for granted. It’s a hard slog at times and we shouldn’t romanticize ADHD either. It is a disorder by definition but it certainly is a difference. So, let’s take the wins as we find them and celebrate them and I tell you what, other ADHDers will celebrate with you. So, you might have to pick your tribe as to who you celebrate that with but harnessing it is key. So, there’s a number of things that ADHDers can really excel at and that’s imagination and creativity, which includes problem solving, and it’s just that non-linear way of thinking and looking outside of the box. And we were going to chat about HR actually, and teamworks, and how important it is to have neurodiverse people on a team just to get that balance, that outside the box thinking, and to mix things up.
JEL: We often use the word creativity and if you just hear the word creativity I think a lot of people assume, well that’s painting, writing songs, poetry, dancing. No, it’s not just that. It’s, as Julie says, non-linear thinking, creative thinking. So, you take two people working together: one person’s not neurodiverse, typical is the word I’m looking for, very logical, very risk averse but considered. The other person has the opposite attributes. Put them together I think they make a perfect team. One person likely, like more likely than not, the ADHD person will look at a problem and think “Well you keep doing it the same way, approaching the same problem from the same way, I think we could try it from this angle. We’re going to do this.” And the other person going “Ahhhh.” So, you can act what you, as a team, you run a higher chance of success if you take those two types of thinking, coming together. A team of pure ADHD people trying to say solve a problem could get a bit chaotic. A team of people with no diverse thinking could get a it stayed and not reach new outcomes.
JULIE: And as far as team building goes, there’s a lot of talk about diversity and across all sorts of diversity, not just neurodiversity, but I think it’s important not just to have neurodiverse people included in a team to keep the numbers up, but they have to be actively working to enhance the team, just like all team members should. They should all be contributing and included in decision making and the rest. And also, you know, some businesses would have a crisis team. If something happens the team gets together and they go and sort things out. Now I definitely would think that an ADHDer would be perfect in a crisis team. But there’s a wonderful quote by a lady called Verna Meyers and it is you know, “Diversity is being invited to the party but inclusivity is being asked to dance,” and I think that’s how important it is for ADHDers to be included in part of strategy, creative thinking, this is from a business perspective, yeah in all sorts. But no, we’ve got so much to contribute.
JEL: And that quote is brilliant because inclusivity, being asked to dance, aren’t being asked to come forward with creative solutions that when they work means the neurotypicals in the rest of the dance, which are going to be the majority, develop a respect and understanding of what … you’re not there just to tick a box. You’re there because you brought something to the party and made the dance more fun, had a good dance. It might have been a bit more of a chaotic dance but it’s certainly … that’s where it just works for everyone, it really does. So, let’s give a couple of quick examples. In our careers for instance, many years ago I got involved with project management on quite complex electronic products that had to be delivered very quickly compared with the market around the rest of the world that would take four five times longer. Our edge was to develop things quickly and we had to source components, from all over the world, very quickly and through non-linear ways. And I absolutely flourished in that environment because I could approach someone locally and say I need A, B and C. “Oh that could take a long time, oh I’m not sure.” Thank you, bye. Knock them aside, move on until … keep going until you’ve got the result. Completely dopamine driven. I’m going to achieve this and we’re going to do it it’s … and there’s no failure. There’s no not doing this. Then later in engineering I got involved with building space satellites and instruments of planetary landers and stuff like that but the thing, why you … the dopamine kicked in there, is you cannot send someone to Mars to fix something. There is no failure. Well, there it is often, it blows up but you that sense that you have to get it right and so we can apply ourselves in all different areas, tapping into something in our ADHD that drives the dopamine and then gets great results.
JULIE: You’re talking about where you succeeded and really strived in that, thrived in that area, likewise with me.
JEL: You’ve done the same.
JULIE: Yeah, but I think it’s this not accepting barriers that everyone else just “Oh no we can’t do that because of XYZ,” but unless all of those barriers are explored there’s always a way to overcome something and I was known in in my field for doing exactly that.
JEL: You know, some of the greatest names we know in our world at the moment and do, I hate the expression because it’s such a horrible corporate one, but that thinking outside the box or the square or whatever. You know, you need that diversity to push forward innovation.
JULIE: I agree. So, there’s imagination and creativity including problem solving. We talked about empathy as well. There’s humour. We tend to … if we feel brave enough, we’ve got a wicked sense of humour. Often for many ADHDers, we hide that because we’re not quite sure if we’ll come out with something that’s a little bit outrageous for the for the listeners but our tenacity, our drive, our hyperfocus at times. We’ve got a very strong moral compass too at times, our zest for life, and our initiative. Now I have to bring in here the yin and the yang as well, because they all sound a mighty beautiful list of wonderful traits to have but often, for example, when we’re hyperfocused which we could and could be considered a superpower for certain individuals, often everything else is left behind, you know. Other you know, other chores or other projects are pushed aside while you concentrate on one. So, while you could be an extreme success in one element of your life, other things may be not so. So, there’s always pros and cons, isn’t there.
JEL: Thinking, I’m just thinking of, sort of, we can be funny, and entertaining, and fast witted, and especially in social occasions where the energy’s vibing or we could be the life and soul almost of a social situation or a party, but it inside for me it feels like as you go into that space where you’re just buzzing and it’s really working, you you’re on a tight rope, walking on a tight rope. You’re getting the adrenaline of the feedback from people laughing but there’s no safety net. And if you get it wrong, you sort of, you can fall and crash and say the wrong thing quite quickly. So, it’s all risk, big reward and or complete failure. It can just drop right off a cliff. So, this idea of a superpower, it can also be super failure, super disaster, so no it’s not something that is a great … I mean look, you know, someone who doesn’t have ADHD certainly has can have superpowers in the same context of how we’re describing them. Someone can be extraordinarily logical, extraordinarily good at maths, or physics, or some science, and they appear to be exceptional and way beyond the average person, so we ascribe them “Oh they’ve got a superpower in maths,” but it’s just you can be very good at something. So, I think what you need to do with ADHD is you just need to find something that you’re good at.
JULIE: That math’s example, I mean you know, hyper intelligent in some areas but potentially their emotional intellect may be falling behind in some parts, you know what I mean? So maybe, good at one thing but not so good at the other. [Social … yeah, yeah.] So again, yin and yang and also some things that can be our superpower can also be our Kryptonite as well, in so far as it might work on one occasion and then not work the next. You know what I mean?
JEL: Yeah, and you know, we have these stereotypes of people that are very brainy, very intelligent, maybe not having social skills well I can absolutely attest to that. I’ve worked in environments with 40, 50, 60 doctors PhDs in physics and all sorts of strange space sciences and a less social, socially skilled bunch of people …I haven’t quite put this the right way, that they’re not just not socially skilled at all. Yeah, they really do fit the idea of misfits but you … the room is literally full of IQ. So I say about that because maybe that’s what if we get a room full of ADHD people maybe we appear different to other people from the outside. I want to get to the heart of this thing or people who really have a problem with this expression and don’t just don’t take it personally. It’s an attribute that doesn’t really mean what it says, so people do get very upset with the idea that ADHD is a superpower. It’s not attacking someone and taking away from the pain, and the hurt, and the difficulty living life with ADHD. It’s not taking away from that. At the same time, I suppose there’s a wee little plea: just accept some people are quite good at certain things and ADHD may accelerate them into what appears to be a superpower but it’s not a superpower really. And for all the success we may have in certain areas we pay the price too. We burn out we … yeah? Or we don’t get recognized always for what we can do. We get told to “Shush, you’re a bit mad. We’re not going to do it that way. Let’s go back to a more standard way.” So, we get pushed under the … pushed to the back of the room and ignored. And then, when we can’t use our creative thinking in a job or something, then we get pretty down actually, you know because we know we can be better than what’s going on around us but we get ignored and that’s devastating.
JULIE: So, I guess to sum up superpowers, ADHD is it a superpower in itself? I sit on the fence here and say aspects/traits of ADHD can feel like a superpower if they’re harnessed, if you understand your brain, and if you self-acknowledge and perhaps be acknowledged by others is helpful too in that situation. Own it. Own the win. Take it. For those that don’t own any superpowers, or don’t feel that they have, all I would just say is don’t give up your journey and sometimes you need to break out of your environment and go in search for it. It is … you are good at something. Everybody is good at something and maybe you just haven’t searched far enough yet, you know. But certainly don’t give up. And we’re not downplaying at all how hard ADHD can be and the challenges that we face on a daily basis, but taking the wins when we can is a real feel-good thing but also we can really succeed.
JEL: I second that. I agree with all of that. Yeah, it’s not a superpower. We just get lucky sometimes. We find something we’re good at but it’s not always luck. We can always, always, apply ourselves and everyone is good at something. That’s a fact, you know, simple fact, that’s indisputable. Everyone’s good at something. You’ve just got to find what it is and it just may be ADHD may give you a bit of an edge when you find that thing. Because you’re … it doesn’t matter what it is, it’s your dopamine and if it makes you feel good and it satisfies that, you’re probably going to be a bit better at it than other people.
JULIE: And on that note, thank you for listening.