Moving Towards "Neuroconvergence" with Google's Ennis Olson

The Anxious Achiever

Morra Aarons-Mele

Business, Careers, Management, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What if the problem isn’t your focus, your discipline, or your productivity, but the way you’ve been taught to work? In this episode, I talk with Ennis Olson, Global Innovation Lead at Google, about what changes when you truly understand how your brain operates. Ennis shares how his late diagnosis of ADHD and autism helped him make sense of a career built on creativity, curiosity, and constant reinvention and why those same traits can create friction in traditional work environments. We break down how to navigate days when your brain won’t cooperate, how to design your work around your energy, and why self-awareness is one of the most powerful tools you can build. Tune in to learn how to reduce anxiety, work more effectively, and lead in a way that honors how you’re wired. Check out our sponsors: Northwest Registered Agent - Protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes! Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/achieverfree Shopify - Sign up for a $1 per month trial, just go to http://shopify.com/anxiousachiever Talkiatry - Head to http://talkiatry.com/achiever and complete the short assessment to get matched with an in network psychiatrist in just a few minutes. Working Genius - Take the working genius assessment today and get 20% off with code ACHIEVER at working http://workinggenius.com Brevo - Meet brevo, the all in one marketing and CRM platform built to help you connect with customers, boost engagement and grow your business smarter. Go to brevo.com/achiever and use code ACHIEVER50 for 50% off. Notion - Notion is an AI powered, connected workspace for teams. Try custom agents now at https://notion.com/achiever In this Episode, You Will Learn 00:00 Why understanding your brain changes how you work. 05:15 How “seeing what others don’t” can drive success and anxiety. 12:00 Why great ideas aren’t enough without follow-through. 17:15 Tools for shifting focus when your brain won’t cooperate. 20:00 Why does your brain just not work some days? 28:45 How to advocate for what you need without overexplaining. 31:30 Tips to manage your energy when your schedule isn’t flexible. 34:15 How self-awareness and feedback build emotional flexibility. 37:30 Ways anxiety can become a tool for reflection. 45:45 The impact of a late diagnosis on self-understanding. 52:00 What does “neuroconvergence” mean? 58:45 What happens when you let go of what you’re bad at. Resources + Links Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever Watch the podcast on YouTube Find more resources on our website morraam.com Follow Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam Follow Ennis on LinkedIn: @ennisolson

Transcript

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0:00.0	What if you got to a point in your journey where you knew so intimately what you needed to do your
0:11.8	best work that you were in conversation with your brain all the time determining do I need to do
0:19.7	this meeting? And if I take a meeting at 5 a.m., how can I make up for it
0:26.0	later in the day or if I'm struggling to pay attention? How can I keep things novel so I can get
0:33.4	through? Today's guest is really skilled at doing this, and so we'll dive into his techniques
0:41.0	and also what he's bad at and he's just let go of. I'm Maury Arons-Mili, and this is the
0:48.3	anxious achiever, the show that looks at the intersection of mental health and leadership and
0:53.3	work and asks, how can
0:55.3	we do it all better?
0:58.8	Ennis Olson is global innovation lead at Google.
1:03.0	He has led innovation roles at some of the world's largest companies.
1:08.9	And Ennis embraces what he calls neuroconvergence, which is the incredible wisdom in developing
1:20.5	teams where we all have different neurotypes. We all have different strengths and challenges.
1:33.0	And yet, as a team, we thrive. Now, listen,
1:42.6	any sports team is built upon the theory of convergence. As I say later, on a football team, your kicker and your linebacker probably couldn't switch roles and do them well.
1:47.7	And yet they are both essential.
1:50.7	The thing about Ennis is that he has incredible emotional flexibility and has developed the ability to reframe situations in which his autistic and ADHD brain might be struggling
2:03.8	and find a way through, right?
2:07.3	Which is, to me, the skill.
2:10.9	It's the skill.
2:12.8	Is my brain struggling here?
2:15.7	Can I find a way to do it better?
	...

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