My Recent Interview on Faster Than Normal - An ADHD Podcast with Peter Shankman

The right structure doesn't suppress high-variance wiring. It gives it somewhere to go.

I was recently fortunate enough to have the opportunity to appear on Faster Than Normal with Peter Shankman. Not only is he an amazing host but the interview covered a lot of common ground that can hopefully be beneficial to other Children of Chaos. Not only did our shared neurological wiring have similarities but also the way that we approach focusing it in a productive manner.

FULL AUDIO OF THE INTERVIEW

[My ADHD was] diagnosed in my late 40s, actually by the VA — and I think out of curiosity, like I kind of knew but didn't. I'm Gen X, I was born in 1970, so there wasn't a lot of information about that. When I was younger it was called gifted and talented. It wasn't a defect or anything that impacted intelligence and ability."

Interview Transcript

Peter Shankman: It is exactly 102.4 miles round trip from my apartment to West Point and back. How do I know that? Because when I was training for my multiple Ironman triathlons, that was my long-distance ride. I would leave at like 5 a.m., get the GW Bridge right when it opened, bike over the bridge, go all the way up 9W, all the way through the mountains, and wind up at West Point. I would take a picture next to the West Point sign, then turn around, and usually with much bitching and complaining, make my way back home — usually getting home around 2, 3 PM. And then I would just lay on the couch and not move for about a month.

The reason I bring that up is because our guest today, Douglas Katz, is a West Point graduate. He’s also a disabled Army veteran, an inventor and entrepreneur, and the creator of Nulu — an adaptive kitchen knife designed to align cutting tools with human biomechanics. He continues to pursue other inventions and innovations focused on how people interact with everyday tools. In addition to his work as an inventor, Douglas speaks about the intersection of human capability design and performance, drawing on his experiences in the military, corporate leadership, and product development. He explores how physical limitations, aging, and cognitive differences improve the way people solve problems and build better tools. He’s been living with ADHD, and it’s been both a catalyst and a challenge throughout that journey. Douglas, West Point graduate, welcome to Faster Than Normal.

Douglas Katz: Thank you. I was jealous of you talking — I’ve driven that route, but the fact that you rode it is amazing. What a beautiful ride that must have been.

Peter Shankman: It is gorgeous. Not so much fun when it’s 98 degrees in the middle of the summer, but a beautiful ride. I probably know a lot of your fellow graduates — your fellow graduates who are skydivers train at the drop zone that I jump at. Have you gotten to go to a football game there ever?

Douglas Katz: I’ve been on the plane. That’s awesome.

Peter Shankman: I’ve been on the plane many a time with West Point jumpers, and they are all usually very, very cool. When were you diagnosed? Tell us your backstory.

Douglas Katz: Diagnosed in my late 40s, actually by the VA — and I think out of curiosity, like I kind of knew but didn’t. I’m Gen X, I was born in 1970, so there wasn’t a lot of information about that. When I was younger it was called gifted and talented. The schools had programs where it was different learning. It wasn’t a defect or anything that impacted intelligence and ability. As a result, I tended to do okay. I took heavy course loads, which I think helped. When I got to West Point, I fit in with that variable environment of just a ton of stuff going on, quick decisions and all that. So it wasn’t a surprise when the VA came back and said yeah, pretty consistent and pretty severe ADHD. But the great news is that you can’t have ADHD medicine. I was diagnosed about 10, 15 years before that with a heart valve issue, and stimulants can exacerbate that. Their answer to me was: you went to the academy, you had a great military career, successful civilian career, you’re inventing stuff — it doesn’t seem to have slowed you down. And I think that’s shaped my view of it in many ways.

Peter Shankman: Going through West Point — talk about the rigidity of that combined with ADHD. That must have made for some interesting times.

Douglas Katz: It is. And I’ve come up with an analogy. I’m not a computer science guy, but it’s almost like the ADHD is your BIOS and that can’t change, but the operating system can. I was fortunate in high school — although I did well, I was the kid with papers in every direction in a folder. And it kind of hit the Ctrl-Alt-Delete. For me, the guardrails were good, because contrary to what people think about the military, it’s actually a highly autonomous environment. They want innovation, problem solving — all the things that ADHD people are good at. But then it’s wrapped in a set of expectations and an understanding of what the limitations are. And they don’t feel like limitations, they’re guardrails. I thrived in that environment.

In fact, when I was in the Army — I’ve been out a long time, but my daughter is in the Coast Guard and she graduated in 2025 from the Coast Guard Academy. She admittedly was not the best fourth class cadet there. When she was transitioning to third class, when you actually start leading people, I looked back at my old OERs because I wanted to help her and provide some mentorship. And they all said: this guy should be in the field. Not in garrison, not in staff jobs — as much as possible out in the field in the highly unpredictable environment. So there’s enough to feed it that the guardrails aren’t the problem. It’s just like being a fish in water.

That’s why I’ve never really thought of it as a deficiency or a defect — until I got to corporate America. And the brakes get put on. There’s an overuse of structure, hierarchy, risk aversion. It took me actually leaving the corporate world and getting diagnosed after it to see the way out of that tunnel.

Peter Shankman: It’s interesting, because I’ve often thought that a military career would have been, in a lot of ways, very beneficial for someone with a brain like mine — but at the time, I would have hated it. As I got older I realized there’s beauty in structure, and beauty in very few decisions that you have to make for yourself. But when you’re in your 20s and undiagnosed, it’s just hell.

Douglas Katz: It is, and it’s not intuitive that that would be the case. Seeing my daughter — who is also ADHD — thriving in the Coast Guard, I think it’s those types of environments. And it took me losing about 25 pounds and getting tired of being hazed. Back then if you screwed up, they could take your food away, mess with your sleep. But it was a very effective way for me to say: okay. And it wasn’t punishment as much as — you’re playing for all the marbles when you’re leading. Not just your marbles, everybody underneath you and them coming. So it creates a sense of urgency that is that reset. After that, I don’t think it was an issue.

One of my cadet evaluations said “too much of a John Wayne” and I was like, okay, I don’t know how to read that. But later I was like, that’s okay — it was a different leadership style. I think sometimes there’s a fear that ADHD and structure will be incompatible, when I think the right type of structure in a manner that aligns with your own accountability — you look and go: okay, I get it, this rigidity is tied into that. Because everybody is following those rules, everything tends to work well. You have that sort of blank slate. And in training, they’re looking for unique ways to think, quick pivots, all these kinds of things. Because your mind is satisfied in one area, I think it’s easier to manage the other part.

And it’s interesting — I actually wrote an article today about how I’m using AI to help me with ADHD. But what it comes down to is I was also successful being part of a team where the intermeshing of people’s capabilities allowed for delegation and the right application of resources. So if I’m a lieutenant and I have all these sergeants underneath me, they’re executing with their teams and I can work on that broader strategic focus — which is much easier, I think, for someone with ADHD. And that’s how I’m tending to use technology now. To provide my own guidelines in the same way the military did.

Peter Shankman: Makes sense. You mentioned AI — you want to talk a little more about that?

Douglas Katz: Sure. What I’ve found — and I can’t get away from a Tony Stark/Jarvis type compatibility, and I think I’m giving myself way too much credit — is an ability to ideate quickly, go down rabbit holes, sort of the hyperfocus/no focus. But when you can quickly determine through hyperfocus whether you’re going down the right path, it becomes very powerful and empowering. I like to write. I like to get my ideas out. The article I wrote today had a lot of help — I’ll dictate an article and get help with AI. So is it AI generated? Well, it’s helping. But would I finish that article without it? Probably not. So I’m tending to use it for those delegated tasks in an unstructured way.

And I think for people with ADHD, sometimes the problem is there’ll be a technological tool constructed for them — but ADHD as a label tends to make people think homogeneously from the outside, as opposed to it being a very heterogeneous neurodivergence. The ability to interact with a tool, knowing it’s a tool — there are a lot of dangers with AI if you don’t think of it the right way. But by keeping it in that Tony Stark/Jarvis type relationship, when I watch those movies — I’m a comic book nerd — I look and say there’s no doubt that Tony Stark, at least as portrayed in the cinematic universe, is ADHD. He’s got different ideas going on and all that. So that’s kind of shaped how I’m using it. And it’s been a real combat multiplier. I don’t think enough is being said about the adaptive capabilities it brings to the table versus the replacement that people are thinking about. In corporate America, what they’re talking about now is that learning how to integrate it is going to be the key to success. I think people with ADHD — this will level the playing field and potentially give them an edge. Because there’s so much imagination and broad ideation and creativity. That’s not to say non-divergent people don’t have that, but it’s definitely a common thread through the neurodivergent population.

Peter Shankman: No, I love that. Tell us about the tools you’re creating and how you’re creating them for people wired like us.

Douglas Katz: The knife was really for me — for upper body issues. I like to cook. I had taken up knife making as a hobby, and at that particular time my physical challenges were worse. I was getting my shoulder reconstructed and had flare-ups of some other problems. And I’ve been in some ADHD communities where people are always looking for the solution. One of the things I did find were non-consumptive, free-time type things — and it sounds like you do the same thing with athletics. I train on keto, which provides good structure. But knife making was super helpful because I could work on a couple of different knives at a time. I could be in my workshop, and because it was a hobby and not a profession, I could let my mind go where it wanted that day without any adverse impact. Some of them might get done in eight months, some in eight hours. But it allowed my wiring to work the way it should.

What got me into creating the tool was that I couldn’t cook, I couldn’t make a knife — at least I couldn’t swing a hammer. I had been playing around with circular design, and that was how I created the product. It started out very rudimentary. I wanted to see how it worked, and I was able to bring a team along to bring it to market. We’re now currently at market. AI tools allowed me to create some proprietary models that defined how we’re looking at this market and helped me organize my thoughts to communicate it in a way that other people can connect with.

We’re also trying to pair it with an AI tool for people looking at using the knife — allowing them to overlay their own challenges onto a vault of documents I put together. Going as far as being able to drop a recipe in and have it break down the cutting tasks in a manner that matches that person’s capabilities. And even broader — an ability to integrate it into their interaction with their medical professionals and clinicians, and potentially tap into reimbursement through insurance. So we’re thinking wide right now.

Peter Shankman: I love it. How can people find out more about you?

Douglas Katz: I’ve put everything on one website — douglasmkatz.com. That has links to everything. Our product, the Nulu Navigator, which is a beta. Links to Nulu at nulunife.com. My wife and I have also launched another product called Golfresco — the only universal bistro table for the back of golf carts and UTVs. Whole other story there. I even invented a poker game at one point — my dream would be to host a tournament for that sometime. But it’s all there as a central repository.

Peter Shankman: We’ll link to that in the show notes. Douglas, thank you so much for taking the time today.

Douglas Katz: Thank you very much for the chance to talk about my story.

Peter Shankman: Most definitely. Guys, as always, we want to know what you like and what you want to hear, who you want to hear from. Let us know in the comments or shoot me an email at petershankman.com. We will see you next week with another interview, and we’re glad you’re here. Stay safe.

I am not a clinician but a person with a lived experience that I feel can help others and positively impact my fellow Children of Chaos. If this framing resonates, I speak on this. The Children of Chaos keynote is built for organizations, leaders, and parents who want to understand how high-variance minds work — and where they create disproportionate strength. Learn more at douglasmkatz.com/thechildrenofchaos.