21 ways to develop your Corporate Common Sense

I'm making a separate list for how to do well in your job and get promoted. But in the meanwhile, here's a list of the bare minimum you should do.

1. If your manager is asking you a question, anticipate all the follow up questions and answer them also. If your manager asks you "have you done this?" and your entire answer is "no", you'll annoy them. Whereas corporate common sense dictates that you should have anticipated the follow up questions such as "why hasn't it been done?" and "is there an estimate as to when you'll complete it", "its past the deadline, how come you havent completed it yet or informed me about it?" and answer these obvious follow up questions in a proactive manner. Don't just answer the question, first try to understand the intent behind the question and then answer the question in a deeper way.
2. As soon as you realize you aren't going to hit a deadline, inform all the stakeholders immediately and give an updated deadline
3. Maintain a todolist religiously. Make it a habit that everytime there is something you need to get back on, you add it to your todo list. Build a reputation as someone who never misses out on things.
4. Be on time for all meetings. If you know you are running late, inform before the start of the meeting with a simple apology and the ETA.
5. When something goes wrong, don't hide it and hope that no one will find out. Admit to it proactively and immediately. Show that you've dug into things to see what went wrong and also show what steps you will put in place to ensure such a screw up doesn't happen again. Helps build trust.
6. Always give the context behind why youre asking someone to do something. People around you, especially your subordinates will respect you more if you respect them enough to give them the "whys" behind a question you ask or a task you assign. The "why" could be a "why is this task important" or a "why have you in particular been picked to do this task" or "why is the deadline so tight". There could be many whys that you'd need to proactively answer.
7. When you want to criticize something, write out a well thought out, non-emotional message as to why you think the plan may not work and what you believe are better alternatives to the current plan. Don't engage mindless criticism such as "this is a dumb plan, what is X even thinking?".
8. If you're going to sign in late or log out late or be away from the office (if you are WFO) or be away from your keyboard (if you are WFH), inform your manager. It's a simple way to build trust to proactively inform of any deviations from expectations
9. If you notice someone getting uncomfortable on a public chat channel, don't continue the conversation until you pause and think what might be causing their apparent discomfort. And then tactfully handle the rest of the conversation. Being diplomatic goes a long way.
10. If you find yourself saying ‘sorry, this won’t happen again’ for the same mistakes too many times, it’s time to step back and reflect. Your sorries becoming meaningless and you come across as not caring enough to change. Instead of only a "sorry, wont happen again", outline what steps you are putting in place to reduce the mistake from happening.
11. Say "I don't know, but let me get back to you on this" when you don't know something. And then actually get back on it.
12. Talk in simple english. Don't add complicated GMAT level words into your emails and internal messages unnecessarily. It will make you look like a wannabe and your colleagues will find you annoying.
13. Don't gossip or rant about a colleague / your manager / the company. It's a short-sighted strategy to bond and find a tribe of other ranters, but encouraging negativity isn't going to get your far. If you are very unhappy with your manager, speak to your manager's manager or the founders or the ceo. Basically go upwards in the reporting chain rather than sideways or worse, downwards. And if you think the difference is irreconcilable, its likely a wiser decision to leave the company rather than stay and be negative. Cause you are bound to leave on bad terms once the fact that you are a culturally negative person becomes apparent to everyone else in the company.
14. Err on the side of being polite and courteous with colleagues until you share a very good rapport and you are confident that the person also believes the rapport is strong,  in the way you phrase your messages and emails. Or how you talk to them over a phone or in-person.
15. If you are new to the company, talk less and observe more. Get a mental picture of the dynamics and culture of the company before you start determining the level of casualness with which you conduct yourself in your workplace.
16. Follow even the simplest of instructions especially when you're new to the company. For example if the onboarding task in your company is to put up a display picture on Slack - then don't decide not to do it because you believe it's your "personal choice". Maybe the company believes a display picture is important for effective remote team collaboration. And if you have some very strong reason not to want to follow an instruction, ask first if it's okay to get an exception.
17. Request for leaves rather than announcing that you are taking it. It's basic courtesy.
18. Request for a leave well in advance if you are going to go on a long leave for let's say a wedding.
19. If you disagree with a company level strategy, discuss it with the CEO / Founders and not your junior or your peers.
20. If the company trusts you enough to make decisions about miscellaneous spending such as travel or hotels, don't treat it like free money where you aim to milk as much as possible because "its anyway the company that's paying". Treating the company's money like your money will be noticed and will be appreciated.
21. Don't accept bribes and kickbacks. You will be immediately terminated for cause.