Rock the boat

How it is used

Informal, often explaining reluctance to raise concerns. It does not establish whether the challenged practice is good or bad.

Example sentences

1. Nobody wanted to rock the boat by questioning how overtime was assigned.

   Fear of disturbing the arrangement suppresses questions about fairness.

2. I may rock the boat, but the customer complaints deserve a proper discussion.

   The speaker accepts possible disruption to raise a substantive concern.

Common collocations

• be afraid to rock the boat
• avoid rocking the boat

Related terms

• raise an issueTo mention a problem, concern, or matter so others can discuss it and possibly deal with it.
• workplace cultureThe shared values, habits, and behavior that shape how people work, communicate, and treat each other in an organization.

More terms: Office Idioms and Phrases

• touch base
• heads-up
• on the same page
• keep me posted
• ballpark figure
• bandwidth
• circle back
• low-hanging fruit
• get the ball rolling
• back to the drawing board
• drop the ball
• on my radar