What do you mean "Not a Cultural Fit"?

When speaking with executives and leaders who are interviewing a candidate they decide to reject or when reviewing existing personnel's poor performance, I sometimes hear the statement "they are just not a cultural fit".  This generalization can seem so nebulous that it feels comfortable to nod your head in agreement when deep inside, you aren't sure what exactly is meant by "not a cultural fit".  When it comes down to it, "cultural" can be code for does not share my values.  The problem is, does everyone know what our values are?

"...the cultural can be code for those who do not share my values...does everyone know what our values are?"
 
Cultural values to an organization are critical because they shape everyone's understanding of what matter's most.  Defining who "we" are and what "we" do is the clarity that every unit craves because it's the "north star" that guides everyone's actions. 

"Here's what we all know - even if there is not a cultural definition, everyone has their own answer to what "our" values are."

Here's what we all know - even if there is not a cultural definition, everyone has their own answer to what "our" values are.  Ask any group you are associated with this question - "what do we value the most?".  For example, try it at a meal with those you love as a table topic. You might be very entertained with interesting answers you never saw coming.  This can be a microcosm of the organizations that we lead where the clarity on values does not get discussed.  This lack of clear values makes behaviors and outcomes so divergent.

"Ask - What do we value the most?"
 
Here are the six key questions that Patrick Lencioni writes in his book, "The Advantage" as the fastest way to bring cultural into focus:

1. Why do we exist?
Answer the question to explain why your organization does what it does.  It's the most important "why" question that starts to bring clarity.

2. How do we behave?
Think of this as a way to answer the question -- if I was standing on the outside looking in, what behaviors would I want to see exhibited.  These are the behaviors to test for when interviewing.

3. What do we do?
This is the most basic answer to the work we do that creates value.  You would think that this answer would be obvious but often it can be the most assumed answer that needs clarification.

4. How will we succeed?
While this is straight forward, don't let it be missed or short changed.  The edge here has to be clear.  If you are not finding an edge that excites everyone, stay here until resolved.

5. What is most important right now?
Organizations need to know the next thing to rally around.  Some will remember times when everyone was working towards a singular goal and how everything became unifying around that mission.  Organizations (and Teams) will always perform best when they know what everyone across all departments/divisions/silos are working towards.

6. Who must do what?
Clarity on what is urgently the next mission needs to be followed by clarifying who will take on what roles and responsibilities that are critical to the mission.

In summary, when we talk about cultural fit, we have to know who we are as an organization.  Getting clarity provides the answers to the questions on culture and helps us to guide hiring choices and feedback on individual performance.