A casual remark here or there, an innocuous comment from time to time, a joke or two to break the monotony, and gossip is created. It gathers strength from each repeating until it grows into the furious wind of a tornado tearing through the workplace. Like a tornado it leaves some workers some untouched and some shattered. Management cannot control workplace gossip. Efforts to do so typically drive it underground where it assumes an even darker hue.
Communication can diminish gossip s destructive force, but nothing can really prevent it.
Gossip is in its worst form when it directs its fury on a lone target. An interesting observation on how to deal with gossip was noted by one of America s Founding Fathers, John Adams, about the contrast between his style and that of his friend Thomas Jefferson. Ellis, Thomas J., American Sphinx, The Character of Thomas Jefferson , p. 73. Two classic, yet diametrically opposed choices, remain the predominant responses even two hundred years later. To a great extent personality will drive the way people respond to being a target of gossip.