SIGNAL VS. NOISE
Rethinking talent decisions in complex organizations
A keynote on cognitive diversity, decision-making, and why organizational systems reward the wrong signals
Why organizations keep selecting sameness
Organizations don’t fail at diversity because of bad intentions — but because their systems are built to misread intelligence, risk, and value. Across industries and sectors, we reward what feels familiar. We trust what behaves predictably.
And we overlook what doesn’t fit established ideas of competence.
This isn’t an inclusion problem. It’s a performance problem.
And it’s one leaders recognize — often with uncomfortable clarity.
The insights in this keynote don’t come from theory alone. They’re shaped by lived experience inside organizations where capability and contribution were repeatedly misread — not despite results, but because of how those results were delivered.
The psychology here is serious. The delivery makes it possible to stay with.
People laugh — not because it’s light — but because they recognize their own systems, habits, and decisions.
That moment of recognition is where real learning starts.
Not generic diversity theory — but the mechanics behind how organizations decide who is trusted, promoted, and listened to.
How personality frameworks (including the Big Five) quietly shape perceived competence
And why certain cognitive styles are read as “leadership,” while others are flagged as risk — regardless of results.Why fast thinkers and non-linear processors are systematically misread
Especially in environments that prioritize predictability over adaptive intelligence.Decision bias, cognitive profiles, and organizational blind spots
How good intentions still lead to poor talent decisions — repeatedly, and at scale.Where recruitment, leadership, and culture fail differently wired talent
Not only because of bias, but because systems are designed to reward legibility over capability.Why standardized inclusion initiatives backfire
And how well-meaning frameworks often reinforce sameness instead of performance.Where translation breaks down — and what it costs
How organizations fail to translate between differently wired minds, and how insight, speed, and value are lost in that gap.
Much of this insight comes from direct experience — from repeatedly having to translate my own thinking to fit systems that weren’t designed to read it.
That vantage point makes one thing clear:
The problem isn’t difference — it’s failed interpretation.
What this keynote covers:
Designed for organizations, teams, and audiences operating under real-world pressure — where decisions are made with incomplete information, uncertainty is normal, and performance matters more than performative inclusion.
This keynote is not built for consensus. It’s built for clarity.
The material is rigorous and the delivery is deliberately engaging.
On stage, difficult psychology becomes workable - without being watered down
- by using timing, precision, and humor to keep people with me while their assumptions are being challenged.
People don’t just listen. They recognize themselves, their teams, and their systems — and leave the room thinking differently than when they arrived.
The keynote is adapted to the audience in the room:
Leadership teams, managers, mixed organizations, conferences, or broader groups working with differently wired people.
The core insight stays the same. The translation adjusts.
People don’t leave agreeing.
They leave seeing differently.
Format & audience:
Independent professional assessment:
“The keynote provides a rigorous and nuanced understanding of how neurodivergence represents a genuine competitive advantage in organizations. Henriette Ovidia combines lived experience with analytical precision, communicating complex dynamics in a way that is both accessible and intellectually robust.”
— Lisbeth Kristoffersen, Specialist Psychologist in Clinical Adult Psychology, Clinical Neuropsychology, and Community Psychology
Because it gives language to patterns people already sense in work life
— but haven’t been able to name.
It resonates with:
Leaders
Managers
Team owners
Anyone responsible for evaluating, developing, or working closely with people who think differently
Especially when performance is there — but the fit is questioned.
“Difficult” employees are often your highest-leverage performers
Innovation comes from friction, not consensus
Most systems reward predictability over capability
Talent disappears when difference is treated as deviation
This keynote doesn’t shame people for these dynamics.
It shows why they happen — and what they cost, at individual, team, and organizational levels.
Diversity was the checkbox. Inclusion was the buzzword.
Divergify is the game-changer.
— Henriette Ovidia
Why this resonates:
FROM COGNITIVE DIFFERENCE TO ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE
Henriette Ovidia shows how cognitive difference becomes organizational advantage — without romanticizing it.
With precision, timing, and lived experience inside organizations, she exposes where behavior is mistaken for capability — and difference for risk.