May 2025: Fit

In this post:

Another look at improving self-awareness with a focus on personal fit.

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So far, this series of posts has covered Values, Passions, and Aspirations.

This post is about Fit.

The next two posts will be about Patterns and Reactions.

For any more hip readers out there, “Fit” in this context is equivalent to “the Vibe.” 

The following are the questions we’ll be exploring as we consider what we prefer our environment to be like and why:

1 If I had to describe my ideal work environment, what would it be?

2 What about my nightmare work environment?

3 What types of social situations and relationships tend to make me happiest?

Googling “fit” will provide many options to discuss. In this post’s context, fit is a noun. 

Fit is a quality that indicates how suitable a person is for a greater context, such as a task, an organization, or an environment.

I can’t help but think of the word “outfit” as I work on this post. Seeing an individual in business attire makes sense in a corporate office but would be jarring to see on a long haul trucker – that “doesn’t fit.” Meanwhile, someone in a hard hat and reflective vest carrying a clipboard? That guy almost fits anywhere…

Fit is about more than just appearances, of course. Let’s get to those questions.

If I had to describe my ideal work environment, what would it be?

My initial response to this question is to think “Well, have I really enjoyed any particular work environment in the past?”

I think it’s fair to consider school as a set of first “work environments.” The instructor is usually up front and all the students are usually arranged in rows or around a central area. For the most part, everything we work with is provided by the instructor or prescribed for our own gathering. My fellow students (or “coworkers”) through high school are mostly present due to the circumstances of their parents, i.e. they did not choose this “job.”

In college, the circumstances were similar, but there is generally more choice involved in their presence, which has a marked impact on behavior.

In the maintenance shop, my team shared a larger room with other teams. Our work products were on the flightline adjacent to our workshop. There were cafe-style computers available for our shared use on the walls of the large room and long tables in the center of the room, otherwise.

In my various acquisition roles, I have always sat somewhere in some size of cubicle farm. Even in the job that included flying, I sat at an assigned computer. 

This does not seem to help get me even close to an answer about an ideal work environment.

So, my next thought is more generic: “What sucked and what could have been better?”

My current workspace was probably constructed in the ’80s. There are odd and unpleasant smells, the carpet shows evidence of years of wear, and it is a mystery whether the vents have been cleaned in the past decade.

I am fortunate to have windows in my current workspace; however, these windows primarily face west. Once noon hits, the temperature of our space steadily rises. I often joke that this is an incentive to get out of the office as soon as possible.

I feel like our organizational structure – while it is going through growing pains – definitely has not hit the right mix of ‘lines of communication’ and ‘literal physical seating organization’ to make our team as effective as it can be.

Our network infrastructure, compared against our mission needs, is laughable despite us making do. Making do is obviously slow, unnecessarily painful, and actively counter to morale in the office.

Fortunately, most of the people I work with are great. Unfortunately, that does imply that not all of them are great.

…I feel like this question was meant to result in more positive sentiments.

I think if I summarized the generic features of an ideal work environment, they would be:

• Clean (I’m talking all five senses; yes, including taste. No, I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it’s still important.)
• Designed Intentionally to Promote Communication and Effective Teamwork (Includes seating organization, seating features…)
• Climate Controlled
• Actually Works

I don’t want it to feel clinical, either. I want it to feel pleasant, inviting, and professional.

What about my nightmare work environment?

My nightmare work environment would be one in which my senses are constantly offended, it takes offensively more time and/or effort to accomplish tasks than I know is necessary, leadership and even teammates are obstacles rather than facilitators, and I can’t even get something as simple as a whiteboard for my desk space.

…and I suppose reference the above question’s response for other details.

What types of social situations and relationships tend to make me happiest?

Compatibility with others is important, but even if I am interacting with people I may not be compatible with, I can be minimally happy if we can all feel comfortable being ourselves.

When pressure is low (or at worst, appropriate), and fun is kept in focus, I can be happy. When positive energy is reciprocated and clarifying questions are asked and answered, I am definitely happier. 

When my investment of time and energy returns or I am able to return someone else’s investment of time and energy with positive results – especially if mutually beneficial results – I can be happy.

I enjoy energetic expressions: if someone is gushing about something they enjoy, I will probably enjoy that conversation/ soliloquy. I offer bonus points to people that share such things with me because they trust me rather than because I am sometimes a captive audience.

Closing Thoughts

It might well be the case that I’ve got way more to unpack on the topic of Fit than I realized…

Given that this whole series is about Self-Awareness, I would say that writing this post has been quite the worthwhile endeavor.

What ideas did you have while reading?

 What other questions might you be asking yourself, now?