The Canary Code: Ludmila Praslova

"Exclusion does not need a reason.

Just an excuse."

The Canary Code is a leadership book, a lesson in how to design workplace culture. The lesson starts with the design of the book itself.  During this discussion, Ludmila mentioned that many of the challenges people with ADHD encounter mirror the symptoms of overwork. So the inclusive design of the book means that it's easy to digest for anyone. And that's really the message - if you design for the people who need workplace accommodations because of neurodiversity, everyone benefits. Friction is reduced. 

Ludmila N. Praslova, Ph.D. is named a member of Thinkers 50 2024 Radar, a global group of 30 management thinkers leaders whose ideas are most likely to shape the future of work.

She is a Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the Vanguard University of Southern California and regularly writes for Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Psychology Today, and Forbes.

She is the first person to have published in Harvard Business Review from an autistic perspective.

Dr. Praslova is a talent strategy expert with extensive experience in global diversity and neurodiversity. Her early experience in global diversity taught her the importance of creating culture-add work environments. However, the same experience and her continued career have shown that focusing on one aspect of diversity is not enough. Globally aware organizations are not always gender-inclusive, gender-focused advancement programs can exclude based on disability or socioeconomic origin, and neurodivergent people are often forgotten or segregated even in organizations considered champions of inclusion.

As a first-generation academic and a neurodivergent woman, Dr. Praslova knows first-hand that single-focus “inclusion initiatives” leave people behind. However, the principles of creating culture-add organizations can be applied to building systems for intersectional and holistic inclusion.

Her consulting is focused on creating organizational systems for supporting human dignity and well-being, and providing neuroinclusion training to organizations such as Amazon, Bank of America, and MIT.

She has a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Akron and is a Senior Certified Human Resources Practitioner (SHRM-SCP).

Dr. Praslova is an avid open-water swimmer, a gardener, and a poet.

She is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Thought Leadership

Some of Ludmila's publications:

The Canary Code A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work (Berrett-Koehler, 2024); Evidence-Based Organizational Practices for Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Equity (ed, Cambridge-Scholars Publishing, 2023); ‘An Intersectional Approach to Inclusion at Work’ (Harvard Business Review, June 2022); ‘The Radical Promise of Truly Flexible Work’ (Harvard Business Review, August 2023); ‘To build a healthy workplace, you need a toxic culture alarm’ (Fast Company, March 2022); ‘How Thought Leaders Can Support Workload Fairness’ (Psychology Today, December 2023); ‘How Managers Can Support Workload Equity’ (Psychology Today, December 2023); ‘How to Reclaim our Right to Rest – While Stigmatized’ (Psychology Today, December 2023); ‘Debunking Disability Employment Myths’ (Psychology Today, September 2023).

Ludmila in the media:

Media Kit - The Canary Code

Organizational psychology has been around for around hundred years, but Praslova believes the future of organizational psychology is changing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She foresees changes such as an increase in flexibility. Employees will be able to work remotely and off-site throughout multiple industries. To adapt to this new environment, leadership and management practices will become more adaptable and human-focused... These changes will likely fuel the need for more organizational psychology practitioners.

The book: The Canary Code book by Ludmila N. Praslova, PhD