[jerickson]

We often find that there are plenty of technically qualified people out there, but what you can do isn’t the only factor in hiring. The most important thing about hiring talent is finding talent that works well with your existing talent. In other words: finding a good CULTURE fit. There are LOTS of smart people out there, but only a small percentage of those people are sociable enough to really do an exceptional job as a part of a TEAM, and teams, not talent, build products.

[nanijoe]

In my travels, I have found that "culture fit" is usually a euphemism for "we don't hire people that look different from us" . Now, before you think I'm accusing you of racism, I have found this to also include age, sex etc. So yeah, I call BS on the whole "culture fit" business

[j_baker]

Actually,I would argue that talented teams build products.

[jerickson]

Of course, but that includes being talented at being part of a team ;)

[tomjen3]

Bull. Being part of a team is easy. Shower regulary, say good morning to people, be polite and don't backstab (or don't let them know) it.

[pashields]

People who would work out perfectly in the R&D division of SAS Institute are not necessarily great first hires at consumer web start-ups (forgetting the potential skill impedance mismatches). There are lots of implicit ideas about "how things get done" that are part of any group. These ideas are the culture.

e.g. Does the team practice TDD? Do they focus on unit tests or integration tests? How is work assigned? Does the team prototype ideas or discuss them in the abstract? If someone says something you think is wrong in a meeting, do you confront them publicly or privately? 12-hour days? Do you pick tools that are cutting edge or proven? Duct tape together two open source libs for one feature or write your own? And of course, the classic: Is it better to a) ship early with known non-critical bugs, b) ship on time with no known bugs, but inadequate testing, or c) when all/most stakeholders feel confident the project is bug-free?

These questions aren't nearly as binary as I've presented them (and there are many more). If you and your potential new team don't agree on these issues that's a poor cultural fit. Like a poor technical fit, it doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't be hired, but it does merit significant consideration.

[adaml_623]

Can you elaborate on your definition of a good Culture fit.