What you describe is interesting. I've been speaking with my mother about workplace environments. I got her into this personality thing called the Enneagram (we've found it helpful for explaining why on earth we do the kooky things we do; we're both of the same type, a 9, the "mediator", though I have an 8, the "leader", wing as well). She was reading an interesting book about how corporations and businesses can take on a personality of their own. She noted that the place that she works at certainly is a 9 environment. That is, they stress harmony over ambition, and it is more important for everyone to be working together than for innovation to occur. As a side effect of this, people who don't look like they would fit in well (personality-wise) are never hired. They don't want people to rock their boat! Now, I never got a chance to read about other types of businesses, but I know there are some where being off the wall and having big ideas is far more important.

The point of this -- well, I guess it can help one understand why they are not getting along with others in their business. I do know that these personalities can be generated by colleagues very effectively -- creating the environment where the members of the prevailing personality or philosophy have power to remove others who are different.