The upsides to not fitting in with your company culture

"Most organizations still hire for culture fit-even those that loudly champion diversity and inclusion. The phrase sounds benign, even wise: who wouldn't want colleagues who "fit in"? But behind this feel-good notion lies one of the biggest obstacles to innovation and progress in modern workplaces. Culture fit has become a euphemism for cultural cloning: selecting people who already look, think, and behave like the incumbents."

"The irony, of course, is that such homogeneity kills the very things organizations claim to want: creativity, adaptability, and innovation. As Adam Grant notes, originality thrives in contexts that tolerate dissent and deviance, not conformity. Yet the more organizations glorify "fit," the more they drift toward cultish sameness. The difference between a culture and a cult, after all, is just one letter-and often one lawsuit."

"Social psychology has long shown that we're drawn to those who resemble us; similarity reduces friction and uncertainty. But comfort is the enemy of progress. Uniformity might make life easier for recruiters and managers, but it makes systems fragile. Nature offers a cautionary example: reliance on a single variety like the Lumper potato turned a blight into national catastrophe due to lack of genetic diversity."

Many organizations prioritize culture fit when hiring, which often functions as cultural cloning that favors people who already look, think, and behave like incumbents. Such homogeneity undermines creativity, adaptability, and innovation because originality thrives where dissent and deviance are tolerated rather than conformity. Similarity reduces friction and uncertainty and thereby makes social interactions easier, but comfort becomes the enemy of progress. Nature offers a cautionary example: reliance on a single variety like the Lumper potato turned a blight into national catastrophe due to lack of genetic diversity. Over-reliance on one employee 'type' creates vulnerability to shocks, blind spots, and collective errors.

Read at Fast Company