Do Aspies do good in business?

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Theoritically, if they are, are they better as number ones or number twos?

I know we often analyze people and their actions, so we often have a good understanding of customer psychology and such, but we also have many limitations that might make us require some guidance to be effective.

So, do you have any insights?

I sure don't

I'd like to think we make really good #2s.

Business is a very broad term. There are some areas we can excel in and others we should never get involved in.

I'm not sure what you mean, but let's say business related to your special interests. In my case, it's computers and software. So the question would be, could I be the CEO of a company that sells software/computers for example or am I better off as some kind of consultant so that I can focus on the task at hand and let someone else do the real workload?

Being a #1 would probably be too much of a social mess for us.

OK, I will give you what is, apparently, a proper ASPIE answer!

YES!

I have done good in every business I have been in! I have been fair, productive, economical, environmentally compliant, etc.... In my first business, I did a LOT for $1 or $5 a project. HEY, I was a little kid! I DID do a good job in every case though. In my second job, I did a LOT for perhaps $3/hour. I didn't break anything, cleaned up, organized things well, and helped people load things in their cars. In my next job I made perhaps $6/hour. I think I did better than anyone there, even though many did the same job. In my next job, I worked for myself again, and made about $10/hour. Again, I beat out the competition in every aspect. In my next job I made a LOT more, and I ended up being the one that supported the company. When I left, the company all but disappeared. They don't even take on new clients. In my next job, I made more but STILL did good.

NOW, as far as doing WELL, that is ANOTHER story! On my first job, I COULD have asked for $1 or $5 an HOUR! People STILL would have saved money. I also didn't really try to sell. I shouldn't even have taken my second or third jobs. In my fourth job, I COULD have charged $40/hour and STILL gotten customers. BTW I started that job when I was 17. In my fifth job, I should have pushed the idea of a raise or something. Some in my industry made 2.5 TIMES as much as I did. Still, even today, it is considered a decent salary. In my current job, my first year was on the written contract at $5000/year less than we agreed. I could have pushed it. I have not been as assertive as I should have been.

Sometimes good and well translate as to ENTIRELY different things! Did I do good? CERTAINLY! Did I do well? Probably not nearly as well as I should have.

I tend to think I make a better number two; however, should I acquire a quality right-hand man (so to speak) I think number one is feasible for me. I have a fellow co-worker who often understands the discombobulated verbiage I call points and often does a good job of helping me convey them to others.

That said, I think I might enjoy the position of number two better as it seems to me that it would allow for more freedom and flexibility--which I must have.

It is more, where do you fit?

CEO is outward looking, in all the world markets is there a place where our company could provide a better service?

Operations is no matter what happens, we will deal with it.

Both are reality based, if it does not work, you wind up pushing a desk somehere.

Most people cannot see beyond their desks. They have little idea where the work comes from, goes, or why the company makes money.

Since I've been in operations at our company, I have found it very well suited for me. Particularly when it comes to my strong desire for creativity and problem solving.

Some Aspies would do rather well as the "brains behind the operation", using a talent for systemizing to figure out the structure of a business and the oddity of thought to come up with original ideas.

A few would do well as entrepreneurs. Running your own business gives you a lot of flexibility, and if you are the creative type you could benefit from the ability to realize your own ideas.

Then for the organizers among us there are the book-keeping types of occupations, from accounting to office manager or data processing.

The nerdy types can keep a business's computers running, of course.

The one thing I think only a few Aspies might do well at is sales, which depends heavily on social interaction.

Others I've met (at local hacker meetings) as well as myself prefer the term, "geek."

Well, I'll give you two perspectives. I think they demonstrate the wide range of ways in which AS manifests itself.

There's my dad, who is undiagnosed, but I am next to positive he has AS. He is very introverted, and is the definition of deadpan and monotone. He's uncomfortable around people and new situations. But... He's been in accounting his whole life, done quite well, made lots of money counting beans for good companies. He's always been innately motivated, organized, punctual and professional. All key successful business traits. He's now recently retired and living quite comfortably.

Then there's me. Also undiagnosed, but I show nearly every known characteristic for AS. I'm smart and I got good grades in school until I went to college, when my life started to fall apart. I didn't understand what was wrong with me as I continued to fail, drop out, become apathetic about society. I was years behind on some very important social and functional development, and I could not truly live an independent life. I still really don't. Since I left home, I've always been supported in some way by family. I lost the one decently-paying and career-oriented job that I've had because of my problems with people. Now I work two easy and non-committal part-time jobs because no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to do better. I have a bachelor's degree and some professional credentials, but a lot of good that does the stony, distant and strange person that others seem to perceive me to be.

So to answer the original question.... Some do. Some don't.

it depends. i never could hold a job for more than a week. i get fired. the only time i had a job for a year i was working under the table and they didnt pay me and kept saying i would get paid later so i eventually quit. I cant follow instructions and dont know what to do in most work situations.

The primary requirement of most business is people skills.

After all, people buy people.

The sales and service industries will present particular problems for those on the spectrum, for this reason.

Likewise negotiation skills depend on the ability to think on your feet - which is heavily dependent on good executive functionality, which is a core AS deficit.

Subtracting negotiation and interpersonal skills from almost any business, leaves very little but the technical and artistic side.

So for a spectrumite with techie or artistic skills, the ideal scenario would be partnership with a tame, business-minded NT.

Even a job with minimal interpersonal requirement (ie - not working alone) is a potential minefield for spectrumites unless there are genuine incentives for NT's not to exclude them - such as a mutual dependency for success.
And even then, it's a 'cost' to the NT that will be continuously weighed against gains/profit.

I guess the ideal work scenario for most spectrumites would be getting standardised remuneration rates for work done in a solo environment.

The sad fact is that most Aspies would be happy to do twice the work expected of an NT to keep his job - but even high productivity doesn't cut enough to stop them being excluded/fired.

Hence the number of spectrumites employed in jobs massively beneath levels appropriate to educational attainment is enormous.
Which sadly, only goes to show that it's not even possible to work your way out of exclusion.

I think a lot of Aspies don't even bother applying for certain kinds of work, simply because they're intimidated by office/social working environments - and as a result, end up in very low-paid solo working environments.

The Aspie lot is a VERY harsh one.

Well, you must cut a fairly normal image to be given those jobs in the first place.
What kind of jobs were they, if you don't mind my asking ?

I think the whole Aspie work issue is fascinating - but suspect that high levels of under-employment mean that there simply aren't that many Aspies with much work experience to relate.

There can't be anything much worse than being stuck in a workplace where you're shunned and disrespected for 8 hours a day.

It would be interesting to see what percentage of the self-employed are Aspie.

ThisIsNotMyRealName is making fascinating claims (again) without any references whatsoever. FYI, I've never been unemployed, I've never been fired, and I've worked since 1987 in the IT-industry. I've also worked on less skilled jobs before I got my MSc, and I wasn't fired from there either, I actually got a permanent job from a temporary that I quit a couple of years later because of studies. You are just letting your stereotypes of AS judge your thinking (again). Besides, I did ask people what they worked with in Aspie-quiz a couple of years ago, and they could be found in basically every area.

Last edited by rdos on 05 Jan 2009, 4:58 am, edited 1 time in total.