Some of the symptoms that create challenges for those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may also contribute to a greater capacity for creativity under the right circumstances.
Traits associated with the condition, such as distractibility, a lack of focus, and a propensity to daydream, can make it difficult to thrive in traditional academic and workplace environments. But recent studies suggest that a lack of focus may also generate more creative ideas.
According to a new research paper presented at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity—the creative industry’s largest annual gathering—half of American adults working in creative industries identify as neurodivergent, compared with 31% of the general population. However, 90% report “masking” or hiding their neurological differences at work.
“Our new report explores how disability and neuro-inclusion in marketing is both a creativity and business unlock—helping to strengthen ideas, improve decision-making, deepen consumer trust, and drive business outcomes,” says Nathan Friedman, co-president of Understood.org, an advocacy organization for the neurodivergent community that co-produced the research paper.
Previous studies also found that workplace teams that include some neurodivergent professionals are 30% more productive, and that inclusive organizations are 87% more likely to say they make better decisions and earn higher revenues from innovation.
At the same time, certain attributes of the typical office environment—such as noisy open-office layouts, rigid schedules, and packed calendars—make it difficult for those with ADHD to hone their creativity.
“Many traditional workplace norms unintentionally create barriers that prevent people from fully contributing their ideas and strengths,” Friedman says. “When organizations embrace different ways of thinking, we found that creative teams develop stronger ideas.”
ADHD Creates More “Aha!” Moments
When presented with a challenge, those with ADHD tend to take a different path to finding a creative solution.
A study published earlier this year asked 299 college students to fill out an ADHD assessment questionnaire and complete a series of puzzles, then report on how they arrived at the solution—whether by using logical reasoning or in a flash of insight.
“People who had very strong ADHD symptoms, as measured by the questionnaire, solve more of these puzzles with self-reported insight,” says John Kounios, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at Drexel University and one of the paper’s coauthors. “That did not surprise us. But what did surprise us was that people with the lowest and the highest ADHD symptoms solved the most problems; the people who were in the middle solved the fewest.”
The researchers concluded that when it comes to creative problem-solving, it’s better to have lots of ADHD symptoms—which is conducive to more “aha” moments of insight—or almost none—which enables sufficient focus to deliberately work out a solution.
“When you have really strong executive function, that can help you in certain situations. But it can actually hurt you in others,” Kounios says. “For problems that are complex, open-ended—where you don’t know what the solution is going to look like in advance—you need to have these creative insights, and that’s a type of problem that perhaps the ADHD brain would be better at.”
Kounios says those with more ADHD symptoms are therefore likely to perform better in more creative roles, like business strategy, marketing, and innovation. Those with the fewest symptoms, meanwhile, would likely perform better in more analytical roles.
He also suggests that certain workplace norms stifle the potential of ADHD sufferers, who tend to struggle with time management, tedious administrative tasks, and short-term memory.
“If you’re hiring a person who has ADHD to help design marketing campaigns or come up with corporate strategies, you shouldn’t expect them to be detail-oriented,” Kounios says. “Similarly, people who are doing accounting and are working with spreadsheets—coming up with very precise computations for budgets and things like that—you shouldn’t be forcing them to come up with new creative strategies.”
Zoning Out: An ADHD Superpower
Another yet-to-be-published study that was recently unveiled at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology may have pinpointed the mechanism through which those with ADHD experience creativity, and it has a lot to do with their lack of focus.
While distractibility and mind-wandering are often framed as negative attributes of the condition, the research suggests that zoning out may be a strategic advance for those with ADHD.
“We found a positive link between ADHD traits and creative achievements,” says Han Fang, a PhD student at Radboud University Medical Centre in the Netherlands and one of the paper’s coauthors. “We also found the positive link between ADHD and deliberate mind-wandering, and a positive link between mind-wandering and creativity.”
The study, which surveyed 750 participants in Europe, found that higher levels of ADHD traits correlated with more mental drifting from the subject, and that more mind-wandering was linked to greater creativity.
“Our traditional way of thinking of ADHD and other neurodevelopmental problems—we always think of it from a medical perspective. We think of it as a problem or disorder we need to cure,” Fang says. “But the research that we did shows that it can also be linked with some positive aspects, which in our study is creativity.”
Though further research is still necessary, the data suggests that those with ADHD might be able to hone their creativity by letting their mind wander—something they’re often discouraged from doing in traditional academic and workplace environments.