Taming the Firehose: Technical Acceleration and ADHD

Fabric features every week, AI agents everywhere. DAX functions you've never heard of. The data platform world moves faster than any human can realistically keep up with—and for neurodivergent professionals, especially those with ADHD, this creates a unique paradox.

The same traits that make ADHD developers excellent at this work—pattern recognition across technologies, hyperfocus when solving complex problems, comfort with ambiguity, ability to context-switch—can become liabilities when the firehose never stops. Novelty-seeking becomes scattered learning. Hyperfocus becomes tunnel vision. Curiosity becomes analysis paralysis.

This 20-minute session shares practical, evidence-based strategies for thriving in high-velocity technical environments when your brain is wired differently.

You will learn:

- Recognizing the difference between "falling behind" (which is inevitable) and "becoming ineffective" (which is addressable)—and building a sustainable learning strategy

-Leveraging ADHD strengths (urgency response, lateral thinking, hyperfocus) through deliberate structure: public/client commitments, teaching, and deadline-driven projects

-Protecting deep work time when your brain craves constant novelty: environment design, dopamine management, and strategic use of time pressure

- Communicating your working style to managers and teams without oversharing or apologizing for neurodivergence

- Building external accountability systems (communities, user groups, blogging) that work with ADHD rather than against it

Identify which "keeping up" behaviors are productive and which feed overwhelm, enabling ruthless prioritization in fast-moving technical fields. Leverage ADHD-specific strengths (urgency, pattern recognition, hyperfocus) while mitigating challenges through environmental and structural supports. Communicate effectively with neurotypical colleagues and managers about working style differences without framing neurodivergence as deficit.