I'm not really into the oscars, but this year I was in the odd position of wanting 2 people to win Best Actor. I have loved both The Theory of Everything and Imitation Game and I still don't know which one I would have picked if I had to choose which is best film or indeed who was the best actor.
I really love Imitation Game, though it missed out on the awards. I've been fascinated with Alan Turing ever since I heard about his story and I love studying people who are considered to have great minds. Alan Turing was no doubt a very intelligent man, however what he had in intelligence he lacked in social skills. His colleagues found him difficult to work with and they did not really understand each other. These days he could have been diagnosed with Aspergers. Though it's not my place to comment or diagnose. But what I do think is he was a man with a different thinking style. He was brilliant in some areas and was lacking in others. An example of his concrete thinking stye in the film was where early on in the film a colleagues says 'we're going to lunch' Alan does not respond and then when the colleague asks him why he has not responded when he has just asked him to lunch he replied. 'You didn't ask me to lunch, you told me you were going to lunch'.
Alan was saved by a female colleague who understood him and taught him how to interact with his colleagues and eventually they came to an understanding. Alan learned to be nice to his colleagues and his colleagues learned how to interact with the guy who they all thought was odd and at times just plain rude. It is estimated that the work at Bletchley Park shortened the war by 2 or 3 years, saving thousands of lives, so potentially you're reading this now because the work of Alan Turing and the team at Bletchley Park may have saved your great granddad.
Work place adaptations do not need to be costly, it's not always about making restrictions or making doors wider, it can also be about colleagues taking time to understand each other and rather than see a disability see a difference and ability. In these situations I always believe good communication is key.
If you want to find out more about what I do please check out my website at www.workinmind.co.uk
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