Got a new term/phrase for most of you - Ball Don't Lie. I like it, and if you like sports even a little bit - I think you should use it.  Here's the meaning from Urban Dictionary:

BALL DON'T LIE - A phrase commonly used by professional basketball player Rasheed Wallace; once famously yelled by coach Flip Saunders. 

How can you use that in the workplace? Let's say you give a manager some prime HR advice, only to have them go against your counsel. You know they're wrong, and things go horrible for them as a result. People around you know that you gave them advice on how to handle the situation, and ask you what you think.

You could tell them you gave them good advice. You could say, "I don't want to say I told them so, but...".  BORING.

Just respond as follows: BALL DON'T LIE. Tell them to look it up.

Backstory on why this is on my mind. Some of you know that I coach a lot of youth basketball in the winter.  After hundreds of games in my coaching career, I picked up my first career technical in December. The circumstances we're pretty grim.  Last game of the day, the officials had done 3-4 games before ours.  They're not calling a lot a result.  One of my players gets savagely hacked on the other end going up for a shot - for like the fourth time in a row.

Me: Can I get a foul call when someone hacks across both arms on a layup?

Ref: I'll do the calling coach, you coach.

Me: All I need to you to do is call the obvious fouls, blue (blue is an accepted nickname for refs, same as calling them a ref).

Ref: I need you to sit down and be quiet.

Me: There's no need to waste energy trying to put me in my place.  Just call obvious fouls.

Ref: Sit down coach, or I'm going to give you a technical.

Me: Again, there's no need to try and show me up.  Just call the fouls.  Maybe actually run to the half of the court where the play is happening.

Ref: Sit down coach, or I'm going to give you a technical.

Repeat the last two sentences of the exchange 3 more times before the ref finally T's me up.  As a result, the other ref comes and tells me I have to sit down, not stand, for the rest of the game.

One of my finer moments. My kids were coming to the bench to give me high/low fives. I waived them off. Stay classy San Diego. I sat down.

The team picked their shooter for the techincals to be shot in front of me.  He shot and missed both, at which time I stated the following, with the villian official in front of me:

"Ball don't lie!" (somewhere between loudly spoken and a soft yell).

Use it on the next hiring decision gone wrong when you told them so.

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