Inclusive Improvement

CI Tools for Neurodiverse Teams

If improvement work relies on people thinking clearly, sharing ideas, and challenging assumptions, why are so many workshops still designed as if everyone processes information and participates in exactly the same way?

Join Niall Coney and Rich Seddon as they share how changes to the way improvement work is designed can support wider participation and surface ideas that could otherwise be missed. They will cover:

How standard improvement practices can limit contribution, often without anyone noticing

The elements of workshop design that directly affect participation, clarity, and insight

The habits practitioners rely on, and the small changes that produce very different outcomes

Lead improvement that people want to be part of
Successful improvement relies on more than choosing the right tools. It requires the ability to involve people, facilitate change, and turn ideas into action. Develop those skills through our Agile Lean Six Sigma Green Belt programme.

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Episode Highlights

• Why Inclusive Improvement Leads to Better Change (04:17)
Setting out why effective change depends on engaging different personalities, behaviours and ways of thinking, whether people identify as neurodivergent or not.

• What If the Quietest Person Has the Best Insight? (10:51)
Challenging the assumption that silence means someone has nothing to contribute, when the workshop format may actually be preventing their most valuable thinking from being heard.

• The Hidden Assumptions Shaping Our Workshops (13:27)
Examining how confidence, speed and vocal participation can be mistaken for engagement, capability and creativity in improvement settings.

• Seeing What Others May Miss (17:03)
Using visual exercises to explore how different ways of processing information can reveal patterns, inconsistencies and risks that others overlook.

• When the Workshop Environment Suppresses Insight (21:51)
Exploring how competing voices, background noise and visual overload can make it harder for some of the most perceptive people in the room to contribute.

• Designing Workshops for Better Contribution (23:28)
Sharing practical changes that give people more ways to participate, from providing materials in advance to allowing written and drawn input alongside verbal discussion.

• Why Improvement Needs People Who Challenge the Group (28:49)
Exploring how different thinkers may be less influenced by groupthink and more willing to raise potential problems, complexities and risks.

• How to Stop the Loudest Voice Winning (32:20)
Introducing structured techniques that reduce the social cost of disagreement and help teams surface ideas before moving towards consensus.

• Why Fast Thinking Produces Surface-Level Solutions (36:56)
Using a counterintuitive data example to show why quick, instinctive answers can be misleading and why meaningful improvement requires deeper investigation.

• Different Thinking Solves Problems Faster (44:54)
Demonstrating how cognitive diversity and unconventional thinking can help teams escape assumed constraints and develop stronger solutions.