Were I to find myself starting at a sufficiently large company, what are the unwritten "political" rules and rituals where my ignorance of expected behavior or failure to adhere to the norms could cause friction?
I'm pitching this question broadly: It could apply to situations between you and people at the same level, or between you and your reports, or between you and your boss, or any of the above when others are watching. Permute with valences like "when everything went well" vs. "when things went badly" etc.
Not looking for hard science, just the opinions you've formed.
And this is crucial: you must _NEVER_ let on that you are thinking this way -- you will be targeted as difficult, political, divisive, not a team player etc.
The hardest thing to come to terms with in a large org, esp for spectrum-y nerd dev types, is WYSINWYG. No one is allowed to admit that the place is toxic with politics -- until perhaps you are best friends and really trust each other, and then only when drunk, and even then half the time your "bestie" will use this off-the-record talk against you.
It's kind of like the first rule of Fight Club.
* Always be tolerant and respectful
* Don’t discuss politics at work. If you want to have a political discussion with coworkers do so outside the office at a social event, but even that is risky depending upon the subject matter and company culture. It’s best to play this one safe and not mix politics and work.
* Always be helpful and supportive to your teammates. Be an advocate that supports positive growth but not a team player that supports mutual defense. That is the difference between being a leader versus cronyism.
* Never make your boss look bad, which includes taking all initiative to stay off the various shit lists.
* Always be honest. An unwelcome truth is better than a lie. That goes to character, dependability, and trustworthiness.
* Be firm when you are an expert. I have had employers in the past that encouraged positive confrontations such that discussions arrive at an ideal compromise instead of tacit agreements from personality cults.
* Learn to enjoy writing documentation. If you want to be competitive against your peers without becoming a toxic asshole do so by contributing the most back to the team, which includes great writing.
* Always put the product first. This is likely to cause a fair amount of friction with your developer peers who put their code preferences first. Always do right by the business and keep the moral high ground. Your best defense is good writing.
As a 'newbie' respect the food chain.
In a large corporate environment there are power-games and power-struggles, empire building and a whole new world of "soft power" and back scratching. If you buck the food chain by going over someones head the sharks will gather. As a tadpole it is best to learn how to swim well enough to avoid the sharks.
With that said - DO go over somebody's head if something is really wrong/serious, just don't do it for the 'gee it is so obvious that we should be doing xyz but no-one will listen" type things.
If a project fails, there will always be a scape goat.
If a project succeeds, credit will always be stolen.
Your boss hired you to make his job easier, don't make it harder.
Your boss hired you because his project is failing, expect pain.
If your boss gets fired, this is your opportunity to get promoted.Taking this further, as an employee, you have more leverage than you think