What We Get Wrong About Culture Fit and the Language We Use

The lede:

• The language we use evolves over time.
• Culture fit is closer to understanding how we prefer to work, not who we are. 

While some like to start their day out with a morning stroll, others start their day with a morning scroll. And while I’m not proud of it, one of the first moves I make each morning is to grab my phone off of my bedside table and begin the daily check-up. From email to LinkedIn, Wordle to Instagram (don’t tell the Gen Z’s), I’m simply just catching up to the East Coast, which is three more hours into their day than I am. 

This morning as I was scrolling on Instagram, I wasn’t surprised to see several photos in my feed of a couple of pretty average morning lattés captioned with phrases like: ‘life-changing’ and ‘a miracle in a cup’. 

Ugh.

I often wonder to myself, is that subpar cup of joe really that incredible? 

To make our posts and comments stand out, we often use our best vernacular for items that frankly don’t deserve it. This has become such a normal occurrence that when situations like when your friend who was told by her doctor that she couldn’t get pregnant and is now in her second trimester- we don’t know what to say. What do we call that? 

Life-changing?

A miracle? 

Incredible? 

The exact same words we use to describe our morning coffee?

We use such grandiose words to describe a coffee that when something incredible happens and we’re out of words to describe it, we end up saying ‘no big deal but…’ or ‘this just happened’ because, well, sarcasm becomes one of the only tools in our belt left to use.

In the social media-driven world we live in, language isn’t just being diluted, it is evolving. Words that once meant one thing may now mean something else. 

While I recognize the irony of you reading this post online (and maybe even LinkedIn), the office jargon we use and the thought leaders that educate us are both helpful and confusing. For example, what does culture at work mean now? Leadership seems to mean 1000 things. Wellness? Balance? Culture fit? 

Let’s dive into culture fit. Click a few of the thousands of articles on the topic and each one brings you to a different site with varying definitions- both advocating the good and bad of culture fit. 

One of the recent articles about culture fit was written by the Wall Street Journal, cautioning us against a craft beer-sharing, ping-pong playing monoculture with no diversity or differing opinions. So what does this mean?

Throughout the pandemic, time and time again we were reminded that the future of work is upon us. And while that may be true, the future of work (read: technology) isn’t evenly distributed. A construction worker won’t be working from home like a UI/UX designer might, and a nurse will never have the same experience at work as someone selling insurance. This isn’t inherently good or bad; it just is. 

So here’s the bottom line: culture fit isn’t about hiring clones; it’s about hiring different individuals that view work in a similar way and thrive in similar environments. With 45 million people quitting the workforce since August of last year, we can clearly see that culture fit isn’t just about whether you watch Star Wars or football, like to run or read books, or like strolling or scrolling. Culture fit is about aligning with people that also want to work remotely or also want to work in the office. It is about doing group/creative work with people that also want to do group/creative work or working by yourself alongside people that also like to work by themselves. 

With the reality that the Great Resignation is far from over, it is important to note that the proper understanding of culture fit increasingly important. The correct definition of culture fit should help us to move past cloning employees and monocultures. The reality is that diversity in terms of opinions, background, experiences, and understanding is critical, but bringing people who can (and want to) work well in a similar environment is absolutely essential. 

To the leaders out there sharing your knowledge and adding value to the world around you; please remember to articulate what we mean when we share the words we use – starting with culture fit and ending with coffee.