The mistakes keep coming. Everyone around you seems to handle it easily. Every morning you think, "Maybe I'm just not cut out for this."
That feeling is sometimes right and sometimes wrong. The problem is that we don't distinguish what exactly we're "not cut out for."
"Fit" has several layers
How well people and their environment match is called "fit" in organizational psychology, and it has been studied for a long time. A meta-analysis combining 172 studies showed that the better the fit between person and environment, the higher job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and the lower the intention to quit (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman & Johnson, 2005).
What matters in this research is that it splits fit into several layers instead of treating it as one thing.
| Layer | Meaning | Signs it doesn't fit |
|---|---|---|
| Fit with the job | Do your abilities and interests match the work? | You can't get interested in the work itself. Effort brings no sense of improvement |
| Fit with the organization | Do your values match the company culture? | You can't relate to what the company values |
| Fit with the team | Do you work well with the people around you? | You like the work, but being at the workplace wears you out |
| Fit with your manager | Your relationship and communication with your boss | You shrink only in front of one particular person |
When you feel "not cut out for this," what you should do is completely different depending on whether the problem is the work itself or the workplace and people. If you like the work but the workplace doesn't suit you, you don't need to change careers. Do the same work at a different company.
"Not used to it" is different from "not cut out for it"
Another thing to separate is time. If you're a few months into a new job, of course it's not going well. Everyone goes through a stretch where there's a lot they can't do.
A hint for telling them apart is the slope of your improvement. Compared with yourself six months ago, can you do even a little more? If so, that's not "not cut out for it." It's "still on the way." If after six months you have no sense of progress at all and can't get interested, it's fair to question your fit with the job.
Before you quit, "remake" the job
When you feel you're not suited, your options aren't only "put up with it" or "quit."
Wrzesniewski and Dutton named the behavior of workers actively reshaping their own jobs "job crafting" (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). There are three directions:
- Change the tasks: spend more time on what you're good at, find better ways of working, take on new roles
- Change the relationships: work with more people, find someone you can talk to
- Change the meaning: rethink who this work actually helps
Of course, job crafting doesn't solve everything. In a workplace with almost no autonomy, there's little room to remake anything. But if you tried and nothing changed, that becomes one piece of evidence for thinking about whether you're suited. You won't have to decide whether to quit on feeling alone.
Today's exercise
- Write down three situations where you feel "not cut out for this"
- Sort each into a layer: job, organization, team, or manager
- Write down one thing you can do now that you couldn't six months ago
Situations: can't speak up in meetings / making number-heavy reports is painful / scared to report to my boss
LayerMeetings and reporting are "fit with the manager"; reports are "fit with the job"
JudgmentThe relationship with the boss weighs more than the work itself → consider changing the environment rather than the career
"I'm not cut out for this" easily becomes a way of blaming yourself.
Once you separate what it is you're not suited to, it becomes a way of knowing yourself.
References
Kristof-Brown, A. L., Zimmerman, R. D., & Johnson, E. C. (2005). Consequences of individuals' fit at work: A meta-analysis of person–job, person–organization, person–group, and person–supervisor fit. Personnel Psychology, 58(2), 281–342.
Wrzesniewski, A., & Dutton, J. E. (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Academy of Management Review, 26(2), 179–201.