Astrove, Stacy

Billsberry, Jon

Follmer, Elizabeth

Kristof-Brown, Amy

Talbot, Danielle

LSE Research Online

Misfit:	what	do	you	do	when	you	can’t	be	yourself	atwork?The	misfits,	the	rebels,	the	troublemakers,	the	round	pegs	in	the	square	holes,	the	ones	who	see	things	differently.They’re	not	fond	of	rules,	and	they	have	no	respect	for	the	status	quo.	You	can	quote	them,	disagree	with	them,glorify	or	vilify	them.	About	the	only	thing	you	can’t	do	is	ignore	them.		—			Steve	JobsMost	of	us,	like	Steve	Jobs,	have	come	across	misfits	at	work	and	we	may	have	experienced	thefeeling	ourselves	that	we	are	somehow	at	odds	with	our	work	environment.	There	have	been	many	studies	overdecades	exploring	how	people	fit	with	their	work	environment	finding	that	good	fit	leads	to	positive	organisationaloutcomes	such	as	job	satisfaction	and	productivity.	However,	there	has	been	little	research	on	what	people	do	whenthey	misfit	at	work.To	investigate	this,	we	conducted	a	two-phase	study	in	the	UK	and	in	the	US,	asking	employees	to	report	how	theyexperience	misfit,	and	what	they	do	in	response.	We	conducted	interviews	with	individuals	from	diverse	industriesand	occupations	to	answer	these	questions.The	ways	in	which	people	became	aware	of	their	misfit	varied.	Individuals	from	both	the	UK	and	US	described	theaddition	of	new	managers	or	co-workers,	restructuring	of	the	company,	and	promotions	into	new	positions	as	triggersof	misfit.	Others	cited	changes	in	culture	and	practices	in	organisations	and	the	gradual	realisation	that	the	statedvalues,	which	originally	attracted	them,	were	not	the	values	in	use	in	those	companies.We	found	that	some	became	aware	of	misfit	only	after	they	had	been	treated	as	such	by	their	co-workers.	Oneemployee	felt	she	had	been	“labelled	a	bit	of	a	freak”	after	sharing	her	outside	interests	with	her	co-workers.	Colleagues	also	sent	signals	of	misfit	when	people	did	not	behave	as	they	expected:	“in	terms	ofstereotypical	characteristics	of	an	accountant,	I	would	be	a	misfit.	And	this	is	just	feedback	I’ve	been	given”.	Evensimple	statements	calling	attention	to	differences,	such	as	“It’s	really	nice	to	have	somebody	here	who	is	not	likeeverybody	else”,	were	enough	to	trigger	our	participants	to	question	their	fit.Misfit	was	also	encountered	when	supervisors	told	individuals	they	were	not	meeting	performance	expectations.	Asone	participant	recounted,	“[my	supervisor]	gave	me	a	two-page	list	of	behaviours	that	they	wanted	to	see	out	of	me.I’m	a	goal-oriented	person	and	I	like	to	think	that	I’m	always	doing	a	really	great	job	and	frankly	I	didn’t	see	anythingwrong	with	what	I	was	doing”.	This	person	was	blindsided	by	a	negative	performance	assessment	that	suggestedshe	was	not	meeting	the	demands	of	her	job.	Until	that	point	she	had	felt	like	she	was	a	good	fit.LSE Business Review: Misfit: what do you do when you can’t be yourself at work? Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-07-09Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2018/07/09/misfit-what-do-you-do-when-you-cant-be-yourself-at-work/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/The	interviewees	told	us	how	miserable	it	was	to	experience	misfit	at	work	but	surprisingly,	most	simultaneouslyexperienced	good	fit	with	other	parts	of	their	work	environment.	For	example,	some	described	good	fit	with	their	jobs,but	misfit	with	co-workers	or	supervisors.	Employees	discussed	fit	as	a	state	subject	to	frequent	change	and	re-evaluation.	Participants	portrayed	misfit	as	a	problem	they	were	attempting	to	solve,	and	they	used	a	wide	variety	ofstrategies	to	attack	it.	We	identified	three	general	responses	to	misfit:	resolution	and	relief-seekingapproaches	represent	the	more	positive,	and	resignation	as	the	more	negative	end	of	the	spectrum.Resolution	of	misfit	can	be	achieved	by	leaving	and	finding	another	job.	In	both	of	our	studies,	leaving	was	one	of	thefirst	options	considered;	however,	most	dismissed	this	as	unfeasible	or	undesirable.	Instead,	many	attempted	toresolve	misfit	by	changing	the	environment.	For	example,	some	adapted	their	job	to	fit	their	skill	set.	Others	sought	tochange	themselves,	after	concluding	that	their	own	behaviour	had	contributed	to	their	misfit.	They	did	so	throughintrospection,	sometimes	with	the	help	of	mentors,	which	had	the	added	advantage	of	facilitating	personaldevelopment.	Personal	change	was	often	an	effective	strategy	for	resolving	misfit,	although	it	required	significanteffort	and	time.Unlike	resolution,	relief-seeking	strategies	are	defensive,	aimed	at	mitigating	the	negative	feelings	stemming	frommisfit,	rather	than	removing	the	underlying	sources.	For	example,	individuals	acted	like	they	fit,	adopting	behavioursand	language	to	give	the	impression	that	they	fit	in	at	work.	Those	who	made	such	surface-level	behaviour	changessaw	them	as	temporary	fixes	to	alleviate	the	pain	resulting	from	misfit.	Others	sought	relief	by	emphasising	andfocusing	on	the	positive	aspects	of	work.	Several	participants	were	quite	explicit	that	their	co-workers	were	the	onlything	keeping	them	from	leaving	whilst	others	drew	on	their	sense	of	vocation.	However,	these	relief-seeking	strategies	can	increase	stress	due	to	the	feeling	they	could	not	“bring	[their]	authentic	self	to	the	workplace”.Many	participants	were	able	to	resolve	or	mitigate	misfit,	but	when	misfit	was	ultimately	unresolvable,	resignationstrategies	became	the	last	line	of	defence.	Resignation	tended	to	show	in	two	ways	–	distancing	and	taking	pride	inmisfit.	Those	who	distanced	themselves	believed	that	environmental	change	was	impossible,	and	personal	changewas	not	desirable	or	feasible.	Thus,	they	gave	up	on	trying	to	improve	their	fit	and	resigned	themselves	to	theircondition.	There	were	those	however,	who	took	pride	in	their	misfit.	They	touted	the	fact	that	they	did	not	want	to	belike	other	employees	who	did	whatever	it	took	to	fit	in:	“I	see	through	the	games	and	I	don’t	want	to	play	them”.	Whenparticipants	reframed	misfit	as	a	source	of	pride,	they	often	did	so	after	making	unsuccessful	attempts	to	resolve	orrelieve	it.	It	is	not	surprising	that,	in	follow-up	interviews,	we	learned	that	these	employees	only	felt	relief	when	anopportunity	to	leave	eventually	became	available.Fitting	in	does	not	appear	to	come	easily	to	most	people,	but	instead	relies	on	active,	effortful	processes	requiringreflection,	adaptation	and	a	large	dose	of	persistence.Managers	should	be	cognisant	of	the	changes	necessary	for	people	to	fit	in.	Misfit	is	not	insurmountable,	andoften	minor	modifications	to	job	demands	may	help.	But	by	asking	people	to	change	values	or	ethics,	managers	maycreate	proud	misfits	who	resent	the	organisation.	We	suggest	engaging	employees	by	encouraging	them	to	voicetheir	concerns.	This	may	resolve	their	feelings	of	misfit	in	the	same	way	that	encouraging	authentic	self-expression	innewcomers	improves	retention.	Organisations	may	be	able	to	benefit	from	such	misfits	by	embracing	the	changesrecommended	by	employees	who	challenge	the	status	quo.♣♣♣Notes:This	international	research	team	came	together	through	mutual	interest	in	person-environment	fit	and	misfit	inorganisational	settings	and	have	worked	as	a	team,	across	continents,	to	bring	this	project	to	fruition.This	blog	post	is	based	on	the	authors’	paper	Resolution,	Relief,	and	Resignation:	A	Qualitative	Study	ofResponses	to	Misfit	at	Work,	Academy	of	Management	Journal,	April	2018.	The	post	gives	the	views	of	its	authors,	not	the	position	of	LSE	Business	Review	or	the	London	School	ofEconomics.Featured	image	credit:	Photo	by	Tarik	Browne,	under	a	CC-BY-NC-2.0	licenceWhen	you	leave	a	comment,	you’re	agreeing	to	our	Comment	Policy.LSE Business Review: Misfit: what do you do when you can’t be yourself at work? Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-07-09Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2018/07/09/misfit-what-do-you-do-when-you-cant-be-yourself-at-work/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/Elizabeth	Follmer	is	an	assistant	professor	of	management	at	the	Isenberg	School	of	Management	atthe	University	of	Massachusetts	Amherst,	US.		Danielle	Talbot	is	a	principal	lecturer	at	Coventry	Business	School,	Coventry	University,	UK.			Amy	Kristof-Brown	is	the	senior	associate	dean	in	the	Henry	Tippie	College	of	Business	at	theUniversity	of	Iowa,	US.		Stacy	Astrove	is	an	assistant	professor	of	management	in	the	department	of	management,marketing,	and	supply	chain	in	the	Boler	College	of	Business	at	John	Carroll	University,	US.		Jon	Billsberry	is	chair	in	management	at	Deakin	University,	Melbourne,	Australia.				LSE Business Review: Misfit: what do you do when you can’t be yourself at work? Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2018-07-09Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2018/07/09/misfit-what-do-you-do-when-you-cant-be-yourself-at-work/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/

Misfit: what do you do when you can't be yourself at work?

http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/91088/1/Follmer_Missfit_Author.pdf

Misfit: what do you do when you can't be yourself at work?

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