Like the monkeys in the experiment, every culture 15 and
organization has its unwritten rules. These rules are probably the
single most influential factor on the work environment and employee
happiness. Though many work cultures embrace positive values, such as
loyalty, solidarity, efficiency, quality, personal development and 20
customer service, all too often they reinforce negative attitudes. In
many businesses, an unwritten rule states that working long hours is
more important than achieving results. In one medium-sized company, the
boss never 25 leaves the office until it is dark. Outside in the car
park, he checks to see who is still working and whose office windows are
dark. Staff who risk leaving earlier now leave their office lights on
all night. Other common unwritten rules state that the boss is 30 always
right, even when he's wrong; if you're not at your desk, you're not
working; nobody complains, because nothing ever changes; women, ethnic
minorities and the over 50s are not promoted; the customer is king, but
don't tell anyone, because management are more 35 interested in
profitability. Often nobody really knows where these unwritten rules
came from , but like the new monkeys, new recruits pick them up very
quickly, despite the best intentions of induction and orientation
programmes. The way staff speak to management, to customers and to
each other gives subtle but strategic clues to an organization's
culture, as do the differences between what is said, decided or
promised, and what actually gets done. New staff quickly learn when
their ideas 45 and opinions are listened to and valued, and when it's
better to keep them to themselves. They learn which assignments and
aspects of their performance will be checked and evaluated, and whose
objectives and instructions they can safely ignore. Monkeys may be 50
more direct, but work culture is every bit as effective at enforcing
unwritten rules as a good beating.