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Dyslexic Skills for 2025

Writer's picture: Dorenda BrittenDorenda Britten

Updated: Nov 18, 2024


Paul Reid.


I had known Paul for some time when he told me he was dyslexic. I’m not sure how it came up, but at the time he was very generously helping me plan a project.

Some time later, when I had formed a team to do research on dyslexia in the workplace, I stumbled upon the World Economic Forums list of the Ten Skills of 2025. They were almost a perfect match for what my team and I were uncovering in the dyslexic community.


I asked Paul if he would comment on his expression of some of those skills.

  1. Analytical thinking and Innovation

  2. Active learning and learning strategies

  3. Complex problem solving

  4. Critical thinking and analysis

  5. Creativity, originality and initiative

  6. Leadership and social influence

  7. Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility

  8. Reasoning, problem-solving and ideation


Here is his response:

One of the most useful skills I possess is a talent for asking questions. When a friend and colleague of mine, a business analyst, discovered I was dyslexic, he initially offered to help me out.


What we discovered though was whereas he would write extremely long documentation for projects, using words to work out the problem, I was in my element with a white board. His observation was that while he thought in two dimensions I thought in three dimensions.


When talking through a challenge, I create a picture in my mind and can rotate it to see different perspectives – handy for articulating a problem which he could then record in words.


The thing with problem-solving is that it’s very difficult and inefficient to do alone. Communication with other thinkers is critical. As a keen observer and a listener, I have evolved a skill to bring diverse teams together. I am often called upon for my ability to ask pertinent questions of a group and to encourage everyone to speak their thoughts.


Somehow, getting to the nub of a question is like a sculptor with a block of stone. Its conversation back and forth, building on one another, eliminating what is not necessary. Once you have a clear understanding of the problem the solution becomes relatively easy.


Dyslexia has also given me another skill, that is relationship building. Relationship building leads to conversations and conversations always lead to learning.

A mentor once suggested to me that I have two ears and one mouth, meaning that being a good listener is very powerful. I always picture that in situations where self-management is difficult.


Most of what I learn is through listening and through curiosity. People offer so much information. My job, as I see it is to make sense of what I hear – create the big picture by helping to synthesise diverse opinions and ideas.


I take great satisfaction from my built-in tenacity. Typically, dyslexic thinkers must perform many workarounds to prove we are up to the job. I wonder if this has made us more resilient.

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