Tilting at Gossip

Recently it was suggested to me that discussing the topic of gossip had a Don Quixote element. From this perspective, working to control gossip is futile given the propensity of the human race to talk about each other.

I would find this argument persuasive if my purpose was to eliminate or control every day chit-chat. But, I am not concerned about normal, benign interaction. My focus is on the destructive impact of communication when it turns ugly and I am not convinced that it is a futile effort to work on controlling or eliminating this type of communication from the workplace. I would further emphasize that my primary focus is not directly on eliminating malicious interaction but rather on building a civil workplace that is strong enough to choke out the dark side of gossip.