HiRing for culture is a double edged sword

Hiring for cultural fit is something a lot of firms talk about. Some do it consciously through extensive culture focused interview rounds, while others do it more passively relying on the interviewer to sift out those that may not fit well in the org.

Hiring for cultural congruency is a double edged sword. While it definitely creates a group of people that are mostly in sync (having a default way of dealing with things), but it can also kill diversity and voices of divergent perspectives that are pivotal for an organization’s growth. Hiring for a board alignment with the organization’s nonnegotiable values is one way to balance this.

Needless to say, technical competence is table stakes (except a few emerging fields). It’s as much about ‘How we do it’ and not just about ‘What we do’.