This is what we call triangulation: Person A (Will) has a problem with Person B (Jada), so they talk about that problem with Person C (Jaden). It happens in families and in organizations alike, and if these behaviors are common in your workplace, beware.

Triangulation can be so common in the workplace that we can fail to recognize it. During our 25 years of working with organizations, we’ve seen organizational cultures truly damaged by workplace negativity, and often the leaders in these companies have no idea of the source or even the nature of the problem.