For years Matt Kleiman’s Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and other learning disabilities deterred his success on traditional software development teams. Working alone, on globally distributed teams, and on amorphous tasks, Matt found himself struggling to meet the expectations of a software engineer. In an endless showdown against distractions, Matt almost gave up on his career.

This is the story of how Pivotal Labs’ Extreme Programming practices empowered Matt. Pair programming provides Matt with a feedback loop for his thoughts and a partner to hold him accountable eight hours a day. Test driven development provides him with a disciplined structure for operating and is the perfect counterweight to inevitable distractions. Matt’s journey has taught him why it’s so important to work in ways that allow individuals to flourish and for us to have empathy for the learning styles of our peers.