Episode 12: Same Message, Different Meaning — How Communication Lands with ADHD

In this episode of The Workplace Podcast, we explore a part of workplace communication that rarely gets named — the space after the conversation ends.

The same message doesn’t land the same way for everyone. For some people, understanding is immediate. For others — including many people with ADHD — meaning forms later, through reflection and integration. And when that difference isn’t understood, it often gets mislabeled as overthinking, being too sensitive, or not letting things go.

This episode isn’t clinical, and it isn’t about diagnosis. It’s about self-awareness as a professional skill.

We talk about:

• Why understanding doesn’t always happen in real time
• How ADHD (and other processing styles) can shape how communication lands
• The difference between participation and understanding
• Practical, workplace-appropriate strategies for navigating feedback and conversations when clarity comes later
• How to adapt thoughtfully at work — without over-disclosing or asking others to change

Whether you have ADHD or simply recognize yourself in the experience of delayed clarity, this episode offers language, perspective, and tools you can actually use.

This is part of an ongoing series about communication, feedback, and the unspoken expectations of work. In the next episode, we’ll apply this same lens directly to feedback — where immediacy, ambiguity, and identity often collide.

If you’ve ever walked away from a conversation knowing something landed — but needed time to understand what to do with it — this episode is for you.

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