The Catalyst Effect: Why ‘Fit’ Is Not Enough
I’ve never been a fan of the word ‘fit’ in the workplace. Sure, it has its place; jigsaw puzzles come to mind. But workplaces are not puzzles; they are living systems, not static shapes. In the case of a college campus, it is true that each campus has its own culture, customs, and traditions. For example, I am an undergraduate alum of Dartmouth College. We have (or at least had in my day) a certain kind of culture that finds joy in learning and discovery, without the annoying trouble of competition. At the same time, I found it difficult to belong there. Dartmouth gave suburban, affluent vibes and I was urban and working-class. There were students who belonged to multi-generational legacies, and I was a first-generation college student. I did not belong. I did not “fit.” But I did well academically by most measures.
If I were to think back on the arch of my journey as a learner, I always felt like a misfit in all contexts. I was a Black girl nerd who listened to grunge at the height of hip-hop in the mid-nineties. I was an athlete and a band geek who sported parachute pants and frequented Hot Topic. I was a poet who also enjoyed complex calculus problems. I was very comfortable being on the outside because I could observe the goings-on of lots of different people and groupings without getting too much attention placed on me. In a way, I am used to being a misfit.
So why does the word fit bother me so much? Like a jigsaw puzzle, it implies that only those with a certain shape (read: expertise), size (read: experience), and color (read: personality) will thrive in the context of a particular workplace. But workplace culture is far more nuanced than a jigsaw puzzle. They are more like a complex soup of chemicals waiting for catalysts to come in and make things happen. These catalysts could produce the status quo; they could change things up and make it interesting or they can be volatile and toxic to the environment. This provides a far broader range of individuals the potential to thrive. For that to happen, the environment must be hospitable to a range of catalysts. And there in lies the trouble. A society based on supremacy and dominance has difficulty with multiplicity (see my post We Need New Tools for more). It thrives on the idea of singularity: that someone must come out on top, that one person is the perfect fit for the jigsaw. In the spirit of new tools, I invite us all to think how we can retire the idea of “fit” and cultivate environs to host to a range of catalysts. For a catalyst does not force change. It invites it, lowers resistance, and lets transformation unfold. It can unlock potential, foster alignment, and spark collaboration. Or they can blow things up so that things can start fresh. What kinds of catalysts do your teams need?
