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UGRs®—Unwritten Ground Rules—are people’s perceptions of “this is the way we do things around here”. They shape how people behave at work, including what they speak up about, which standards they protect and what they do when priorities compete.
Steve Simpson created the UGRs concept to make workplace culture understandable and practical. The starting point is the culture people experience in everyday work, rather than the culture described in a values statement.
What is an unwritten ground rule?
A UGR is a perception of how things work in a particular workplace. It may never be formally discussed, yet it influences what people believe is expected, acceptable or risky. People learn these expectations by observing colleagues and leaders, and by experiencing what happens when someone acts differently.
A policy might encourage challenge. If people repeatedly see those who raise concerns dismissed or labelled difficult, they can learn a different expectation: “Around here, it is safer to keep your concerns to yourself.” The policy and the UGR then pull behaviour in different directions.
Examples of positive and negative UGRs
UGRs can strengthen a workplace as well as undermine it. The following examples are illustrative, rather than findings about any named organisation.
| Aspect of work | Productive UGR | Counterproductive UGR |
|---|---|---|
| Speaking up | Around here, raising a concern early is appreciated. | Around here, bringing bad news creates trouble for you. |
| Accountability | Around here, we follow through on what we agree. | Around here, commitments matter until something more urgent appears. |
| Safety | Around here, we back people who stop unsafe work. | Around here, stopping a job makes you unpopular. |
| New ideas | Around here, we give new ideas a fair hearing. | Around here, suggesting a change just gets you extra work. |
| Cross-team cooperation | Around here, helping another team is part of the job. | Around here, our own targets come first, whatever happens elsewhere. |
How do UGRs develop?
People draw conclusions from repeated experience. They notice who is promoted, what gets praised, which problems receive attention and which behaviours are tolerated. They also learn from the stories colleagues tell and the advice given to new starters.
Leaders influence these perceptions through everyday decisions and reactions. Employees influence them too, through what they reinforce, challenge or quietly accept. This is why improving culture requires shared ownership as well as leadership commitment.
How are UGRs different from organisational values?
Values describe principles an organisation wishes to uphold. UGRs describe people’s perceptions of how the workplace actually operates. A value such as respect becomes credible when everyday experiences support it; repeated experiences of disrespect can teach a contradictory unwritten rule.
The practical question is therefore: what are people learning about how to behave here, and how does that compare with the culture our organisation needs?
How can leaders uncover their workplace’s UGRs?
Begin with specific aspects of work that matter to the organisation’s future. Ask people about their experience of those areas without assuming that leaders already know the answer. Listen for recurring expectations and differences between teams, roles or locations.
The UGRs Stock Take uses tailored lead-in sentences that people complete anonymously in their own words. For example, “Around here, when it comes to challenging conversations…” invites people to describe the expectations they have learned. The words people use provide context that a summary score alone cannot supply.
Read about the UGRs Stock Take and culture measurement, or explore examples of UGRs in organisational change.
How do you change unhelpful UGRs?
First clarify the culture required for future success. Then uncover the current expectations, discuss the evidence and agree what people will do differently. Leaders need to examine their own signals, including what they reward, ignore and tolerate. Employees need a meaningful role in shaping and sustaining the changes.
If the UGR is that speaking up is risky, another invitation to “be open” will have limited credibility while people continue to experience dismissive responses. Change becomes believable when the response to speaking up changes consistently. Follow-up measurement and honest discussion help establish whether people’s experience is changing.
What do engagement surveys tell us?
Engagement surveys can provide valuable information about employees’ attitudes and experiences. UGRs inquiry focuses attention on the unwritten expectations people perceive in specific areas of work. The approaches can complement one another: survey findings can identify an area requiring attention, while examining UGRs can help leaders explore the patterns behind it.
Why do UGRs matter for safety?
Written safety systems operate within a wider workplace culture. Expectations about challenging conversations, seeking help, sharing information and working across teams can affect how people respond to a concern. Looking at these areas can reveal useful questions that a discussion confined to formal safety rules may overlook.
This is a way to investigate workplace experience, not a claim that one particular UGR caused an incident. Safety decisions should draw on appropriate technical, operational and cultural evidence.
Origins and evidence
Informal norms and unwritten expectations have a long history in organisational research. Steve’s contribution is the UGRs concept and its practical application to understanding and improving workplace culture. In a 2006 peer-reviewed article, Alma Whiteley acknowledges Steve’s research contribution and credits him with coining the term “unwritten ground rules”.
Whiteley’s exploratory study involved 43 managers from five Australian organisations, using anonymous, technology-supported inputs and workplace scenarios. It examined how participants understood and acted on written and unwritten rules. It was not a controlled evaluation of the effectiveness of the current Stock Take or a demonstration that UGRs alone cause business results.
Reference: Whiteley, A. (2006). Rules as received practice: historical perspective and implications for managers. Journal of Management History, 12(1), 53–70. Read the publication details.
Explore common culture challenges
- Why don’t our values change workplace behaviour?
- Why do people stay silent about safety concerns?
- What can engagement surveys miss about workplace culture?
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By Steve Simpson, creator of UGRs®. Updated 31 October 2026.