Invisible rules

Culture is everywhere. And yet, it is as invisible as the air we breathe. It dictates behavior, expectations, and decision-making.

If you want peace and quiet, go to a library. It is challenging to ask everyone to keep it down if you go to a bar downtown on a Friday night. Because the expectations are different depending on the establishment, that’s the culture at work.

Forces, often invisible, that tell us and signal how to behave—showing up in blue jeans to an interview may be appropriate for a groundskeeper position. But if you want to work on Wall Street, you must talk/walk/dress/eat/spend a certain way.

People like us do things like this.