Re: Gossip LO402

Dr. Ivan Blanco (BLANCO@BU4090.BARRY.EDU)
Mon, 13 Mar 1995 10:37:40 -0500 (EST)

> Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 13:33:17 EST -- LO381
> From: mdarling@warren.med.harvard.edu
>
> Replying to LO370 --
>
> On March 8, Jack Hirschfeld commented that, "the gossip mill is often the
> only venue in organizations for genuine dialogue, which is then
> contaminated by the gossip and the habits of gossip."
>
> Bill Weber's response talks rightly about the problem of gossip that it
> generally focusses on an absent third party, setting up a Drama Triangle.
> I would add that the 'ground rules' of gossip encourage participants to
> create and reinforce generalizations, to form negative attributions about
> those generalizations, and to position absent third parties within them.
> They also discourage participants from testing the generalizations and
> assumptions of the speaker.
>
> I pose this question to the list: Which is more similar -- gossip and
> dialogue or team meetings and dialogue? Why?
>
> Marilyn Darling
> mdarling@warren.med.harvard.edu
>

It is true that there are many problems with gossip, but I believe
that this kind of thinking stops short of what gossip really means. We
have been examining what is, and what it tells us about the organization.
The fact that there is gossip is an indication of a climate or internal
environment problem in the organization. And the more the gossip the more
serious the porblem is. When there is no open communications does really
mean that there is no communication at all. When management does not
listen to employees and interact with them doesn't mean that employees are
not talking and interacting among themselves. The more generalizations
and attributions to third parties the worse the internal environment in
the organization. These notions have not been scientifically tested by
me, and I am not planning on testing them either. But I have experienced
these things enough to feel comfortable making these statements. There
are way too many organizational situations that lead to (provoque?)
gossip. And I believe each one of us has lived at least one of these
experiences! Am I wrong?

Ivan,

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