Exploring The Disability Mindset and Why It Matters to The Future of Business

Exploring the changing phases of the Disability Mindset has been one of the central themes throughout my academic and professional life.? Reflecting on the impact of this line of thinking and its effect across the cultural zeitgeist it continues to play a vital role in how we live, work, and play. Still, it is often veiled in shadows defined by antiquated ideas and a collective unconscious bias that has created a real barrier to its true offering. However, there is a silver lining, the advent of the digital age has created a path for the outgrowth of new voices of the world’s largest minority to be seen, heard, and understood. The Disability community can explore and amplify individual and communal voices in new and profound ways. That level of nuance and complexity offers novel perspectives of thinking, or perhaps rethinking the influence that disability can have on society at large. I have argued and will continue to do so that understanding and recognizing the Disability Mindset through lived experience is a key ingredient to a better world. It also is a central mechanism in highlighting the futurist approach to business.

?Within the changing tides of business, the Disability Mindset is not often sought out as a value add, or even seen as a solution-oriented model for growth. That needs to change now! One of the very tenets of the lived experience of disability is that all of us in this community are raised in a world that is not built for us. Having to find daily hacks, being creative and constantly iterating is a core value of the Disability Mindset. This rationale needs to become a fundamental precept to stimulate and create a competitive advantage for the future of business growth.

?As we look to key themes in the future of business, several elements come to the forefront where the Disability Mindset will play a critical role. One of those functions is highlighted in the future of work. As we have seen in a post-pandemic world, how employees engage in their work, where they work, and building a cohesive culture have been challenging.? The ability to think about employees’ needs, navigate different adversities, and ultimately find optimal ways to communicate can all be drawn from various elements of the Disability Mindset and actualized daily within corporate culture and seen as a vital addition to the management style of the future.

?Technology is another essential topic where the Disability Mindset can be a value add to the future of corporate strategy. Much has been spoken about the importance of accessibility, but I believe there is another added benefit that the Disability Mindset can offer businesses. With the fast-paced consequence of new technologies including AI, there is an undercurrent of anxiety that is proliferating throughout the corporate ecosystem. Many people feel their jobs will be redundant or eventually phased out. The Disability Mindset has always been predicated on the relationship between individuals and technology. Whether it be low-tech or high-tech, assistive devices from wheelchairs, and hearing aids, to speech-to-text tools and new prosthetics, the intersection between technology and personhood has always been a throughline within the disability experience. The Disability Mindset can be a template for change management and helping the C-Suite shepherd their organization through these shifting realities.

?July marks Disability Pride Month, and August begins the Paralympics. Each is significant in its own way, but from a business perspective, this is a moment to see the representation of disability on full display and recognize the growing power of the Disability Market. Acknowledging the Disability Mindset means understanding that this is a truly inclusive minority community, and it impacts all of us in some way, whether as an ally, family member, or personally. We all become residents in the land of disability. It is important to think robustly about this market, and the products and services that reach this cohort. However, as companies engage in using the Disability Mindset, there is an inevitable link to hiring practices and engaging this community in every step of the business journey to continually explore the market possibilities in new and innovative ways.

?I realize this is a primer, a short one at that. However, I hope to get people thinking about the possibilities brought about by embracing a Disability Mindset. This piece is just the beginning of an exploration that will bring about more in-depth analysis through other platforms coming soon because it deserves real inquiry into the power that Disability can offer all of us. ?

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