For years, Colin Murphy sensed he processed information differently. Diagnosed with dyslexia at around age 12, he has lived with it for nearly three decades. In recent years, he has also recognized traits of ADHD in himself. While he has not received a formal diagnosis, online assessments consistently show he scores extremely high.
Naming both experiences has not changed who he is, but it has changed how he understands his story. It transformed frustration into insight, and self-doubt into a guide for growth.
Missed Support at the Start
Looking back, he wishes early assessments had gone further.
“They limited the diagnosis to just dyslexia, but I kind of wish that they’d done a more thorough diagnosis because I think they missed something there.”
The school offered accommodations like extra time, a quiet exam room, and adjusted grading in English, but they didn’t truly fit his needs. Colin reflects that the support felt generic rather than tailored.
“I don’t like saying I had to overcome my dyslexia, because it’s not necessarily something to overcome, but the accommodations weren’t really designed for me.”
First Jobs, Real Friction
With a background in chemistry, Colin started out in pharmaceutical labs. He learned quickly and loved new challenges, yet unstructured work stretched his working memory. He would be assigned a task due in two months, then asked on the deadline if it was complete. With little interim structure, Colin would often forget those tasks, leading to repetitive negative feedback on his performance.
Writing added another layer of challenge as Colin’s dysgraphia, which often accompanies dyslexia, created hurdles with handwriting and spelling. As he puts it:
“Even though I then went on to get a PhD and write academic articles, if I’m very tired, I can’t spell my own name.”
Building Systems that Work
Colin’s current role is in process improvement, optimization, and automation, areas where technology and structured thinking have become lifelines. He shares his insights by writing blog articles on neurodivergency and lean manufacturing on LinkedIn, often drafting with speech-to-text before refining his work through different tools.
“I very much appreciate doing this in more advanced times with advanced spellcheck systems and inclusive writing tools.”
Beyond software, he designs physical and visual methods of support. He uses noise cancelling gear in overstimulating environments and organizes home spaces to reduce lost time and decision fatigue, drawing on lean methods such as 3S and visual task boards with daily, weekly, and monthly cards that flip to show completion.
Reading is energy intensive, so he toggles text to speech and inclusive fonts designed for ease of reading, such as the OpenDyslexic font which “takes a lot less energy to read,” though workplace policies would sometimes block plug-ins he found helpful.
Masks, Energy, and the Social Economy
Career progress often seemed to reward ease in networking over delivery. Colin felt he never received targeted support or meaningful career development.
Too often, the relationship with employers seemed one-sided, with organizations not being aware of building inclusive cultures, particularly for hidden disabilities and lacking the expertise to properly invest in his development. The lack of support and inclusion left him to shoulder the responsibility of addressing challenges on his own.
To fit in, he masked more than felt natural.
“Often, neurodivergent persons are at a disadvantage, with neurotypical persons better matching social expectations and conscious or unconscious biases from leadership resulting in them progressing faster, as well as having privileged access to networks. As is common for neurodivergent persons, it takes additional energy above and beyond me to put on the performative mask to align with the majority’s social expectations. If I have had to excessively perform this mask during the week, it will typically result in having to spend the weekend in low energy recovery.”
From Layoff to Atypical Lean
After being laid off in May, Colin chose a path that aligns with his strengths. He founded a consultancy called Atypical Lean, where he uses lean manufacturing principles to build toolkits and training that will help businesses improve their culture and onboarding process, making them more neuroinclusive.
He sees a direct link between poorly designed processes and burnout, and he wants leaders to learn practical language and habits that reduce waste in work and protect human energy.
According to Colin, building inclusive practices and environments requires applying lean, or daily continuous improvement, to all aspects of the professional environment, from hiring and onboarding to performance reviews.
What He Asks of Leaders
Colin wants a baseline of knowledge and empathy. He urges leaders to recognize comorbidities, understand masking, stimming, and sensory overload, and remember that undiagnosed or underdiagnosed teammates are common.
The goal is simple: reduce the burden on neurodivergent people to conform and build systems where they can contribute without spending extra energy to fit in.