Wrong Fit, Right Fit: Why How We Work Matters More Than Ever
André Martin
IT Revolution (September 2023)

An essential alignment: WHO, WHAT, HOW, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY

Some of the most valuable business lessons can be learned from the tales composed by Charles Perrault, Hans Christian Andersen, Wilhelm and Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm, Joseph Jacobs, and Andrew Lang.

For example, in Andersen’s “The Ugly Duckling,” an infant swan lives with and is tormented by ducks. Then one day, he saw himself reflected in a clear stream. “His own image; no longer a dark, gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan. To be born in a duck’s nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan’s egg. He now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble, because it enabled him to enjoy so much better all the pleasure and happiness around him; for the great swans swam round the new-comer, and stroked his neck with their beaks, as a welcome.

“Then he felt quite ashamed, and hid his head under his wing; for he did not know what to do, he was so happy, and yet not at all proud. He had been persecuted and despised for his ugliness, and now he heard them say he was the most beautiful of all the birds. Even the elder-tree bent down its bows into the water before him, and the sun shone warm and bright. Then he rustled his feathers, curved his slender neck, and cried joyfully, from the depths of his heart, “I never dreamed of such happiness as this, while I was an ugly duckling.”

I share this brief except from a classic tale because I see parallels between swans in a duck workplace and (yes) ducks in a swan workplace. According to André Martin, “Gallup finds that businesses have lost an estimated $7.8 trillion [TRILLION] in productivity due to disengagement in the workplace and estimates that 60% of workers are emotionally detached at work.” Many of them are resentful misfits, actively engaged in reducing he success of their employer. Martin defines “fit” as “a deep and authentic connection to how a company works day-to-day…When [begin italics] right fit [end italics], is there the days feel easy [or at least easier], the work is more meaningful, and our connection to our company grows exponentially.” Martin goes on to explain finding [begin italics] right fit [end italics] inside a company has vthree key dimensions, as shown in Figure o.2 [Page xix].

These are among the passages in Parts 1-3 of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the scope of Martin’s coverage:

o A Theory of Fit (Pages xvi-xx)
o A Talent Market in Flux, and, Where Is Everyone? (5-7)
o Seven Trends (7-17)
o The State of Talent Today (25-28)
o Table 2.1: Fit Questions for Talent and Companies (35)

o Cutting Through the Noise (41-44)
o Excursion 1: Examine your most consistently held values (51-56)
o Excursion 2: What is the life you are trying to build? (57-60)
o Excursion 3: What is your superpower? And what are your shadow sides? (61-66)
o Excursion 4: Are you of company, craft, or cause? (67-70)

o Excursion 5: Who brings out the best in you? WhAt do you need in a leader? (71-73)
o Excursion 6 If you started a company, what would you do? How would you want it to feel to work there? (74-76)
o Excursion 7: What matters to you most right now?  (77-79)
o Excursion 8: What is your talent story? (80-82)
o The Reason Behind the Decisions We Regret (88-89)

o How Choosing an Experience Is Like Buying a House (90-93)
o The Subtle and Insidious Danger of Fitting In (104-105)
o Treating the First 100 Days as a Test Drive (107-111)
o Uncovering the Way a Company Really Works (111-124)
o The Fit Assessment (127-133)

I commend André Martin on a brilliant achievement.He provides an abundance of valuable information, insights, and counsel that will help prepare all organizations (whatever their size and nature may be) to attract and then retain the right employees and the right clients they will need in months and years to come. Moreover, the theory of Right Fit applies to divisions, departments, and project teams as well as to the entire workplace culture.

Here are two concluding suggestions while reading  Wrong Fit, Right Fit: Highlight key passages, and, record your comments, questions, action steps (preferably with deadlines), page references, and lessons you have learned as well as your responses to the questions posed within the “Excursion” material.  (Pay close attention to the “Key Points” at the end of chapters.) These two simple tactics will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent reviews of key material later.