Deciphering CORPORATE CULTURE

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Has anyone here been able to get a handle on corporate culture? It's something that I've read about extensively, and have analyzed sort of "post-mortem" from past jobs where I didn't always clue in to its manifestations...I've been better able to apply the unspoken rules of org culture since though...it's definitely an NT "invention"

What's interesting though, is that an organization may claim to have a certain corporate culture but the unspoken culture is the one that prevails. I've read up on this; they talk about an organization that values people who are innovative and show initiative, but that same company rewards people who maintain the status quo. Or they talk about an organization whose senior management claim to have a culture of welcoming new customers, but the unspoken/unwritten culture favours those who work hard to maintain existing customers. Whatever, you get the idea.

I actually ran afoul of this conundrum at a previous job at a large company (I was one of the first out the door during layoffs) - senior management was always trumpeting about how we have to work more closely together, break down the silos, work smarter and share information between depts, etc, etc, but the culture of my technology dept was to not get too chummy with "the other guys" (usually in marketing or product management), rather to avoid offering them too much or understating what we could do so as to meet our budget/time targets. I found myself unwittingly going against the groupthink in this regard, asking why we couldn't provide these extra bells and whistles in the first release etc. My colleagues must have thought I was from the "wrong planet" for sure, LOL. So I ended up getting great reviews from our stakeholders, but not quite as good from my more immediate colleagues who started acting passive-aggressively towards me (keeping me out of the loop and all that awful "tribal" stuff). All in the name of corporate culture!! !

All I can say is, you've gotta take notes outside of work to record and analyze your observations about cultural manifestations...
Also, early on it's OK to ask people how they'd describe the corporate culture; you just can't wait too long to ask or they'll think it's weird.
Anybody able to recount their experiences with corporate culture? got wisdom to share?

I am learning that all too late. Corporations espouse one set of values, and practice another set. Corporate culture is also EXTREMELY hard to change, even if that structure is not optimal. It makes sense when you think about it, because the forces of inertia are always stronger than the forces of change. I imagine a big, cataclysmic event, such as the recession, destroyed inefficient cultures and changed others, but these structures probably don't change if they don't see a reason to change.

That's why I admire the beauty of some large, highly-traded public companies. Their highest aim is shareholder value, and they are able to cut the rot in their cultures very quickly, albeit ruthlessly.

I don't do corporate culture at all well for all the reasons stated by Jayo. I have laboured for years under the belief that I was very good at corporate intrigue. However, having been a casualty on numerous occasions and never being able to break out of a very specialised and marginal role, I have come to know and understand that being successful in the corporate world will never make me happy. Over many years I pretended to want to break out of my specialist role, but deep down I was terrified of doing so. It is only in recent times that I have realised that these aspirations are not for me. I have disposed of them. This disposal of inappropriate career goals and a general recalibration of my thinking about myself has been what has opened my mind up to be able to accept that I have Aspergers. It has all been a true revelation; the more I read the more obvious my lifelong issues are to me and how blind I have been.
So, in the end, I no longer care if I succeed in the corporate world. I have lost the fear of failure. Ironically, this has empowered me. For example, when I go into performance reviews, I am largely detached from the outcome of the review and I am very open about what I can or can't do. If they say that I need to be more motivational and charismatic, I tell them that it just isn't going to happen and that they should employ someone else for the purpose. I am fortunate in that I am unlikely to be completely at a loss for a job.I do essential but generally disliked work. My ability to churn out documents, process, systems and crunch data is very good. I am an intellectual monstrosity that lurks in the dark corners of the offices who spits out reports, documents and manipulates formulaic and programmatic mazes in spreadsheets faster and more effectively than anyone else.
If I were 'let go', I might have to take a pay cut to get another job, but I have been quietly delinking myself from any forms of economic dependence. The way to beat the corporate world is to not owe them anything and to be able to walk away if necessary. The moment they feel you need them more than they need you, they can then exploit you at will. Strangely enough, this new attitude helps me to do corporate better than I have ever done before. I can't say this is doing corporate well, but it is certainly a great defensive position.

I dealt with it much like Jabberwocky until the inevitable layoff. If you work in IT, the layoff is inevitable. Don't kid yourself otherwise. Assuming you live in the US, that is.

I work for a large corporate trucking company; which as said somewhere above, I also have the fortune (misfortune) to work for a large publically traded company who's greatest goal is shareholder value. (They are ruthless at getting rid of anyone who doesn't give 110% consistantly to the company).

I find they say one thing and do the opposite in secret. They recently laid off 10 people and said 'We're not doing this to cut costs- but to improve customer service'. I don't know if I believe them; it could be both or neither- I don't get innuendo. I don't understand tact or the need for secrecy?

I come to work, give 110% daily, and get a paycheque every two weeks. I have no expectations for anything 'better'. I don't think I'll make it to retirement age at the company, and I hope when the axe finally does come down on me -that it won't be too bad.

I have few other options; I had 42 job interviews to find this job, I have no longing to go back to that job search ordeal anytime soon. I'm someone who is ignored in the backroom as well. I don't get invited to meetings, and I'm informed of changes only after they've been implemented.

So long as they keep paying me...

At my work we have an open door policy where I can go over my Bosses head anytime I want.. Unfortunately the unwritten rule is that anyone who does so is blackballed.

I think that the most important lesson anyone can learn about corporate culture is that it is their job to adapt themselves to the corporate culture. The corporate culture is certainly not going to change for them.

Do what you have to do to fit in and be a team member with no excuses, valid or not. If you don't, you probably aren't going to have much, if any, upward mobility and you will likely going to be one of the first to go if they start laying people off.

True, but if you can't read the culture it makes it hard to just adapt. Some impairments cannot be covered up with attempts to fit in. I am too honest and I think it is helpful in some regards, but devastating in others. I always want my employers to know where I am coming from. No surprises. The good with the bad I guess.

Any organization's culture can be difficult to navigate. Corporations are the ones where gain the ability to provide for ourselves (paycheck), so they usually go right to the top of the list of "important cultures".

Unfortunately, unless you're on the "front-line" of your company's effforts to make money, the value of your services is hard to measure, and easy to ignore.

I'd suggest a reading of Robert Greene as a good introduction of some of the interplay of interests that make up an organization's culture.