What Norman Rockwell's "The Gossips" Can Teach Us
Over my career, I’ve navigated seven mergers and acquisitions from both sides of the table, including as a communications executive on a Fortune 100 deal team. Despite good intentions, even the strongest leaders can be tested. This series focuses on the behaviors and human dynamics that matter most in these moments.
Earlier this year, I went to a Norman Rockwell exhibit at the New Britain Museum of American Art. The Gossips is one of my all-time favorite paintings.
You've likely seen it, The painting shows a story getting passed from person to person. By the time it makes its way back to the first person who started it, the story changed completely.
Despite best intentions, organizational news travels a lot like that. Stories have a funny way of taking on a life of their own. Whether it’s a result of a merger, a reorg, or the adoption of new technologies like AI, all the updates move through layers of management down to the rank-and-file. Everyone explains and/or hears it through their own lens and based on experiences.
Along the way, the context or rationale gets lost (assuming it’s provided to begin with). That’s human nature.
But what feels different now is the pace. Is change coming faster than people can absorb?
Competence and Capacity Aren’t the Same Thing
Much of the traditional leadership development centers on competence - all those skills and behaviors we expect the best leaders to have. It’s the right focus, but the more I read, I don't know that it's the complete picture anymore.
Competence matters ... of course. There’s no shortage of highly competent leaders doing excellent work out there.
Capacity is something different though. It’s having the time - and the mental bandwidth - to take in all that is new, figure out what it means, and make it part of how we lead or even communicate.
The pace of change is tough but, in many cases, it’s required. The side effect is many leaders are being asked to explain a lot of change, in pieces, before they’ve worked through what it means for their own roles and teams.
Making Sense of It All
Organizational psychologist Karl Weick had a possible name for this that might fit what I'm seeing: sensemaking. Basically, it's how we take in what’s happening, figure out how to share it, and decide what to do about it. I heard the term recently and I like it because, well, it just makes sense.
It explains, too, what I’ve noticed in many coaching conversations - at every level.
Sensemaking takes time, and time is usually the first thing to go when things are moving along at a rapid clip. When leaders haven’t had the chance to make sense of a change themselves, it's highly likely the story they pass along tends to have gaps.
And when there’s gaps, we love to step in and imagine all the reasons why.
People fill in those blanks on their own. Inevitably, that time “saved” up front often gets spent clarifying, re-explaining, and fixing down the road.
Most leadership development is designed to build competence, and that work has value.
But a leader can have every skill they need and still not have the room or space to use them well. Another team or leadership training program won’t solve that.
The pace isn’t likely to slow down so the support has to fit inside the work leaders are already doing.
Give your teams the reason, not just the message. We all love our scripts, FAQs, and positioning. But it’s the context that helps people explain a decision in their own words and answer the questions that follow. When they understand why it was made, the story is far less likely to change as it moves along.
Then, notice if the same questions keep coming up. That's usually a sign there’s a clarity, capacity, or connection issue.
Sometimes the message needs to be simpler. Sometimes people need more time to understand it. And unfortunately, others simply have no idea how the change connects to their work. The good news is those repeat questions help you identify the gap(s) to address.
In The Gossips, no one typically tries to change the story.
They just pass along what they understood, or what they think they understood, usually through their own filters.
A story can only travel as clearly as it was understood by the many competent leaders out there. For most of them, the gap isn’t competence. It’s having the capacity to make sense of the change.
Onwards!
About The Author
Chris Chaia is the founder of Onwards Consulting, an executive coaching and strategic marketing consulting firm, serving leaders and organizations navigating growth and change. She is also the architect and publisher of The Business of Coaching 2025, a global research study on the practices, habits and behaviors of coaching entrepreneurs.
