Fit Archives - understand-culture

The Airport Test

In December 2012 the sociologist Lauren Rivera published a study of hiring at elite professional service firms in the American Sociological Review. It drew on 120 interviews with employers. “Employers sought candidates who were not only competent but also culturally similar to themselves in terms of leisure pursuits, experiences, and self-presentation styles.”

Such concerns “often outweighed concerns about absolute productivity.” Evaluators described an “airport test”: whether they would want to be stuck in an airport with the candidate.

Competent Jerks, Lovable Fools

In 2005 Tiziana Casciaro and Miguel Sousa Lobo reported in the Harvard Business Review on how people in four organizations chose whom to work with. “Personal feelings played a more important role in forming work relationships.” If someone is strongly disliked, “it’s almost irrelevant whether or not she is competent.”

Their conclusion: “a little extra likability goes a longer way than a little extra competence.”

Have a Beer With

In 2004 pollsters asked which presidential candidate voters would rather have a beer with. In a Zogby poll of undecided or persuadable voters, 57.3 percent chose George W. Bush over John Kerry.

A Quinnipiac poll of more than 1,100 registered voters asked whom they would rather flip burgers and drink beer with. Half picked Bush, 39 percent picked Kerry and 11 percent did not answer.

Legacy

At Harvard, “over 33 percent” of legacy applicants, the children of alumni, were admitted to the classes of 2014 through 2019. The figure comes from filings by the plaintiffs in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. They said legacies were admitted at roughly five times the rate of other applicants. Harvard called their methods “deeply flawed.”

In July 2023 the Education Department opened an investigation of Harvard’s donor and legacy preferences. Amherst, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon and Wesleyan had ended legacy admissions.

Teflon

In August 1983 Representative Patricia Schroeder of Colorado spoke about President Ronald Reagan on the floor of the House. “He has been perfecting the Teflon-coated presidency: He sees to it that nothing sticks to him.” Reagan became known as the Teflon president.

Paid to Quit

The online retailer Zappos held “a second set of interviews purely for culture fit,” Fast Company reported. After the first week of training, it offered new hires “a bonus of $2,000 to quit and leave the company right now.”

The amount rose over the years. An earlier report put it at $1,000. According to another source, only 2 to 3 percent took the offer.

The Vocabulary of Fit

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Connections count as much as knowledge.

People person. Someone who is good with others and enjoys working with them.

Culture fit. A match between a candidate and the values and style of a team. It is a common reason to hire or reject.

Plays well with others. Once said of small children, now said of colleagues.

Well connected. Knows the right people.

Eighty-Five Percent

American career advice often says that about 85 percent of jobs are filled through networking. PayScale writes: “Some estimate that upwards of 85 percent of open positions are filled through networking.”

The figure is hard to trace. PayScale links it to a survey by LinkedIn and the Adler Group, with no sample or date. A 2023 article credits it to the job site Zippia.

The Strength of Weak Ties

In 1973 the sociologist Mark Granovetter published “The Strength of Weak Ties.” He had asked professional, technical and managerial workers near Boston how they found their jobs. Of those who found a job through a personal contact, 16.7 percent saw that contact often. Most saw the contact only occasionally or rarely.

“It is remarkable that people receive crucial information from individuals whose very existence they have forgotten.”

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Dale Carnegie published it in 1936. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has never been out of print. Its argument is that business outcomes follow from how people feel about you, and its instructions are about attention, names, listening and genuine interest. An American business classic is a book about liking.