What If the Quietest Person is the Smartest in the Room?

Presented at All Things Open 2025
Presented by Jim Scarborough - Kiteframe, L.L.C.

Title: What If the Quietest Person is the Smartest in the Room?
Abstract: You don’t have to be autistic or ADHD to build great software—but many of us are. Tech runs on pattern recognition, deep focus, and systems thinking—traits common among neurodivergent minds. Yet the systems we work in—hiring, evaluation, collaboration—aren’t designed for us. They reward performance, not impact. Noise, not clarity.

I’m a late-diagnosed autistic/ADHD engineer with over two decades in tech. For some of that time, I thought I was the problem. Then I realized: I wasn’t broken. The system was just built without people like me in mind.

In this talk, I’ll share a new way to see neurodiversity—not as an HR category, but as a signal that our systems need redesigning. You’ll hear how team defaults (like meetings, communication styles, and performance metrics) often create invisible barriers, and how small changes can unlock big value—not just for neurodivergent people, but for everyone.

This is a talk about leveraging everyone's strengths through robust systems. It's about how neurodivergent needs reveal the hidden inefficiencies—and the opportunities to grow together. And it's about how the future of tech depends on designing teams where people don’t just survive—they thrive.

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1. What If the Quietest Person is the Smartest in the Room? ©️2025 Kiteframe, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved. Jim Scarborough All Things Open 2025

2. PD https://freesvg.org/geometrical-shapes-wireframe-vector-image

3. PD https://freesvg.org/geometrical-shapes-wireframe-vector-image AGENDA THE SYSTEM MISREAD REFRAMING NEURODIVERSITY DESIGNING FOR CLARITY 3 2 1

4. © Rankin/Bass Productions

5. M isread → clarity lost We built our cultures to read volume as signal. THE SYSTEM MISREAD

6. REFRAMING NEURODIVERSITY

7. REFRAMING NEURODIVERSITY

8. The goal isn’t uniform speed. It’s mutual stability. REFRAMING NEURODIVERSITY

9. DESIGN FOR CLARITY

10. FRICTION DOMAINS & CLARITY INTERVENTIONS DESIGN FOR CLARITY Friction Pole Hidden Failure Mode Better Signal Design Underlying Principle Coordination (meetings) Loudest voice = leader signal; quiet data lost Shift part of collaboration async → written inputs → shared summary Persistence > performance Evaluation (metrics) Effort rewarded over impact; burnout mis-read as drive Measure outcomes and uptime, not face-time Impact > impression Feedback (flow) “Feedback sandwich” masks truth and builds distrust State the observation plainly → ask “What support would help you fix this?” Candor with collaboration Load & Recovery (what you called ‘stress’) Crisis-driven urgency loops; no rest state for deep work Build pacing plans into the workflow — not punishment but design for stability Pacing as capacity management

11. Clarity isn’t etiquette. It’s engineering for cognition. DESIGN FOR CLARITY

12. It might be carrying the cleanest signal you ever hear. Listen for the quietest voice.

13. THANK YOU Jim Scarborough linkedin.com/in/ke4roh https://www.kiteframe.app/ “Gotta listen louder, if you ever want to be heard.” - James Olin Oden (1971-2019)