Quote:
Originally Posted by BetterRed
The other day I come across a phrase I've not heard used in the way it was: 'stay in your lane'.
It's what a bureaucrat is told to do should they show any signs of curiosity in what other bureaucrats are doing/not doing. Whistleblower prevention. In this instance the consequences were tragic.
BR
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I didn't bother responding to this at the time, but since I ran into a person at work recently who REFUSES TO STAY IN HIS LANE, I figured I'd go back and address it.
Before BR mentioned it, I had never heard "Stay in your lane" interpreted to mean "avoid curiosity" or responsibility or ownership, or "don't make waves" or anything like that. In fact, as a metaphor, when a driver refuses to stay in their lane, they cause disruptions and accidents and are a problem to those around them. And that's always how I heard and interpreted the expression.
We have a dude at work who apparently is trying to get management attention, so he's interfering in tasks that are not his responsibility, inserting himself into other team's projects, and trying to manage things that are NOT his job to manage, and, by all other accounts, were getting along fine without him, and were not in need of anyone stepping in to rescue. He's not a whistleblower, or a white knight stepping in to save the day by doing what needs to be done. He's just an ambitious jerk who unilaterally decided he can do other people's jobs better than they can, and so he should just step in and do them. He needs to stay in his lane.