I’ve noticed:

• The IT staff seem to know everything about office happenings (and secretly get annoyed with certain individuals).
• The HR director always wears a specific jacket when he’s about to fire someone (and needs time to decompress afterward).
• The CEO is fixated on his image (and struggles to relate to others).
• The new branch chief slips out early every other day (but manages to make it appear as though he’s still there).
• The super-motivated employee became rapidly demotivated after not being promoted (but fails to understand that there’s more to earning a promotion than just being motivated).
• The head of sales is aggressive on the phone (but seems much nicer in person).
• The remote employees are very engaged (and often more so than those who come into the office every day).

Navigating organizations is not for the faint of heart, and there are potential pitfalls at every turn.

Observing what people do, how they react, and what they say can reveal more about a company’s culture than anything published on a website.