(Stay in Your Lane is an annoying business term and is just one of the 212 Most Annoying Business Phrases Managers Effuse, Confuse, and Overuse detailed in the hilarious must-have guide for every workplace: The 30,000-Pound Gorilla in the Room. Available right now on Amazon.)

Stay in Your Lane

Stay in your lane is unique among the annoying phrases in this book because – like nothing burger –  it’s relatively brand new to the lexicon of the douchey managers.

When used to humorously throw shade on a coworker by telling him, “Stay in your lane, Richardson;” this one is fine – even in its overuse. However, when uttered to keep someone in their place – or, at least the place your annoying manager believes someone belongs – it’s not only irritating to the ears, it’s genuinely cruel.

There’s no excuse for a manager who slams an employee for trying to do more. While it’s necessary in some jobs to keep everyone on track and focused on only their own role (for example, at SpaceX during a launch or at a hospital during a brain surgery), telling someone, “stay in your lane” should never be the way to accomplish this.

Of course, since most of us don’t work at SpaceX or assist in delicate operations, there’s almost never a good business reason for containing an employee’s desires to do more. It breaks their spirit; and it leaves the company with either an underproductive, unmotivated worker-bee or an empty seat.

You see, great people won’t stand for being told to do less – and, they won’t work for assholes.

If you’re among the annoying managers trying to keep others in their place, how about you stay in your lane and stick to playing online poker or surfing for porn on your laptop? This way, you can leave the real work to the rest of us.

Replacement phrases: No replacement needed; just stop trying to be so cool, hip, now, and wow with your innate cruelty.

See also: Heavy Lifting; Nothing Burger

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The 30,000-Pound Gorilla in the Room is available on Amazon