You can just about measure the level of anxiety in a work system or family system by the amount of gossip. By “gossip,” I mean talk about another person, with a focus on that person’s incompetence or “pathology.” We consolidate our relationship with one party at the expense of a third—or we attempt to dilute our anxiety by getting others in our camp. Gossip has nothing to do with intentions. Our conscious intentions may be only the best.
