When Your Brain Won’t Play Politics

When Your Brain Won’t Play Politics—Navigating Passive-Aggressive Cultures as a Creative Leader on the Spectrum
By Larry Lundstrom | CLLCTV.org

1. The Moment I Knew Something Was Off

I was standing in a pitch meeting that should have taken twenty minutes.
Forty-five minutes in, we weren’t debating mission, or audience fit, or even budget. We were stuck on whether the hero’s shirt should be blue or “a bluish vibe.”

People were nodding, smirking, tossing half-jokes that weren’t jokes.
I felt my chest tighten—that old, familiar mix of confusion and heat. My brain whispered the thing it always whispers in rooms like that:

“If we just say what we mean, we can all go home.”

Later a friend said, “Larry, you overreact when conversations get passive-aggressive.”
Overreact?
No—I react accurately to mixed signals my wiring refuses to normalize.

That’s when I started digging. What I found matters for every creative who thinks in colors that the corporate palette can’t name.

2. Asperger’s, Clarity, and the Social Noise Floor

Asperger’s (Autism Spectrum Disorder — Level 1) isn’t a deficit of empathy or creativity. It’s a different operating system—optimized for pattern recognition, literal language, and internal logic.

Neurotypical Default	Asperger’s Default
Infer meaning from tone, gesture, “reading the room.”	Infer meaning from stated words and consistent action.
Accept social white-noise (office politics, small talk).	Notice hidden agendas, mixed signals, inefficiencies—and feel physical discomfort.
Adapt quickly to group norms.	Question whether the norms make any sense.

When someone says, “Sure, that’s fine” but their shoulders stiffen, neurotypical colleagues file that away as normal workplace friction.
Your brain files it under Mismatch Error 404. The gap between words and subtext fires the same neural alarm bells most people reserve for actual threats.

It isn’t drama. It’s data your system can’t reconcile.

3. Why Passive-Aggressive Behavior Feels Like Sand in the Gears

Mixed Signals = Cognitive Dissonance
The spectrum brain runs on clear if/then logic. Passive-aggression scrambles the rules mid-game.
Delayed Feedback Loop
Indirect communication forces endless second-guessing. That drains executive function already taxed by sensory input.
Truth-Seeking Reflex
Many of us treat conversation like code review: find the bug, patch the logic, ship a cleaner build. Colleagues may experience that as “combative.”
Hyper-empathy (yes, really)
Research shows autistic adults often feel more affective empathy, just express it differently. We feel the tension in the room like feedback in a PA system.

4. Culture Shock: When Organizations Run on Subtext

A creative shop or church staff can preach transparency yet reward whoever masters the wink-and-nod. Signs you’re in that ecosystem:

Meetings after meetings where the real decisions happen.
Praise for “collaborative spirit,” punishment for blunt questions.
Performance reviews heavy on how you made people feel in hallway chatter, light on whether you shipped the work.

You’re not “bad at culture.” The culture runs on implicit rules—unwritten, shifting, and often illogical. Your refusal to fake-acclimate isn’t defiance; it’s integrity.

5. Tactical Playbook for Creative Leaders on the Spectrum

A. Replace Subtext with Shared Text

Write it down. Agendas, decision logs, creative briefs. Push conversation into documents where words must line up with intent.
Summarize out loud. “I’m hearing that the deliverable is X by Friday. Is that correct?” Watch unclear teammates squirm into clarity.

B. Set “Conversation Contracts” Early

Before brainstorming, agree on rules: brutal honesty about ideas, gentleness toward people, decisions by 3:00 p.m. That container calms neurotypical anxiety and gives you the direct runway you need.

C. Reframe Directness as Service

Explain: “I may sound blunt because I value your time and our mission. If tone ever feels off, flag me.” You disarm the myth that clarity = aggression.

D. Build a Two-Person Translation Layer

Find a colleague who gets you. Let them nudge you when politics matter and decode politics when they shouldn’t. One trusted ally beats ten casual lunch buddies.

E. Design Recovery Windows

Social camouflage burns calories. Block post-meeting buffers for a walk, noise-canceling headphones, a few deep breaths. Leaders who ignore recharge rhythms flame out or lash out.

6. What Healthy Culture Looks Like for Brains Like Ours

Explicit values lived in decisions (not wall art).
Feedback traces to behavior (“missed deadline”) not vibe (“seemed disengaged”).
Psychological safety to say, “I don’t understand the ask.”
Tolerance for solitude. Creativity happens away from the Slack channel.
Celebrated candor. When the messenger isn’t punished, the message improves.

If that isn’t your current workplace, you have two moves: influence or exit. Both require the same first step—believing your wiring is an asset, not a liability.

7. Final Word to Fellow Misfits

You’re not overreacting to passive-aggressive banter or illogical turf wars. You’re picking up signal most people tune out because it’s easier to blend than to mend.

The world needs fewer rooms where nobody says what they mean.
Let your refusal be a lantern.

Keep building,
Larry

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