The sheer number of social media posts about the Will Smith-Chris Rock incident at the Oscars is proof that it’s hard to resist the attraction to drama—especially when it’s not happening to you. As companies start to return to the office and watercooler talk is easier to engage in, office drama might start to pick up, especially after going through the pandemic for the past two years.
“People need a break,” says corporate relationship strategist Gilda Carle. “Office drama is an attraction that fills the need to lighten up. It’s especially titillating when the gossip includes people you know so well. You’ve been in each other’s living rooms for two years.”
Jennifer Edwards, coauthor of Bridge the Gap: Breakthrough Communication Tools to Transform Work Relationships From Challenging to Collaborative, says we are social creatures who learn by comparing and contrasting ourselves with others. “So when gossip and drama enter the scene and we are ‘invited’ to participate, our natural, biological inclination is to jump right into the toxicity because it affirms that we belong, and our perspective is valued,” she says…
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