This “culture fit” thing is getting a lot of abuse these days.
It’s supposed to be about alignment of values, behaviour, and teamwork style.
But today, I feel like it’s becoming a beautifully wrapped excuse for bias.
“We are looking for someone more like us.” Someone younger, you mean.
“We don’t think you’ll blend with the team.” Someone who can speak Chinese, you mean.
“We don’t like your vibe.” Someone who speaks England-English, you mean.
This one is culture or personal preference sebenarnya?!?!
I rather people just be honest about it.
We bias age, gender, racial, accent, education, social class and we don’t want someone smarter than us.
Damn.
You want a comfort fit, not a culture fit.
You want people who don’t challenge, don’t question, don’t disrupt the group’s familiar patterns.
And that’s okay too… as long as you and the company have no desire to grow.
Ultimately, great teams are built from diversity of thinking, background, energy, and perspective.
From my experience, companies that over-emphasise “culture fit” eventually become echo chambers.
And echo chambers make terrible business decisions because everyone thinks the same.
Think about it.
xoxoxo
