In 2009, a colleague and I huddled in my office to hatch an idea based on a hunch. Today, I just saw an ad for @ONgov’s digital service (led by @hillary Hartley) that touted how it was inspired by the White House programs which were inspired by that hunch.
I may have just cried.
That hunch snowballed into a lot of things, including the first innovation lab in the federal government and then innovation labs throughout the federal government. It collided with other ideas to help form the White House Innovation Fellows and the U.S. Digital Service...
I don’t say those things to say “Look at the great idea we had!” (I always kept a quiet profile about it and most of my colleagues were unaware of my role). However, I now share that story as an autistic teacher when I teach my autistic students. The reason is this...
Autistic professionals can be very reluctant to claim credit for our accomplishments (which can accidentally penalize us in the workplace). However, I find we are often more comfortable discussing the impact we’ve had a hand in creating...
I help my students focus on the impact they’ve created in their work. It’s a way for them to sell themselves to employers where they might otherwise be very reluctant to. Take the focus off us and place it on those we’ve helped (I also find employers really respond to that).
A benefit is that autistic thinking can often see more clearly patterns, the big picture, the interconnected web of everything. Once I show a student how to map out their impact, they often begin to see it EVERYWHERE. A job stocking shelves suddenly reveals a #ButterflyEffect.
Anyway, every now and then I’ll see an ad or a news article that I can trace back to my work. I’ll ask myself “Wait, is this real?” It’s still a hard thing to grasp (It’s still a hard thing to tout!). But, I’ll always be proud of the impact.
So, I guess I’ll take this rambling thought thread and leave you with this: Whether you work or not, consider how your actions and efforts impact others. I guarantee you the scale of it is much bigger than you think.
Reflect on that. You’ve done amazing things.
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