Ask Uncle Bill asked:
"Had a boss that many said had AD&D. Intensely focused on some things, disinterested in others but never could figure out which one he would be interested in. Mixed up my sense of priorities and made it really difficult to know what he would concentrate on. Just curious if this is ADD or something else.”
Without a proper diagnosis it would be impossible to determine if your former boss had ADD. However, the ability to hyper-focus on certain subjects and be disinterested in others is a characteristic of ADD. As someone who does not have ADD I can understand how frustrated you must have felt with your bosses shifting priorities. One way to deal with a boss like this is to have an honest conversation with your boss about how his shifting priorities are hurting your productivity. While this might not work for every boss, many bosses will at least have an understanding of the frustration that they are causing, and this should foster a better working environment. Another tool is to regularly meet with your boss and write down the major projects or priorities that you should be working on. This will help your ADD boss remember the priorities that he set for you and will give you both a framework to refer to in order to evaluate your job performance.
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