Russian Mayor, Alexander Kuzmin, has banned the staff of his administration in Megion from using phrases such as 'I don't know' and 'I can't' along with 25 other expression. He claims that this will make things more efficient:

"It's a suggestion to the staff that they should think before saying something," Oksana Shestakova, a spokeswoman, said by telephone. "To say `I don't know' is the same as admitting your helplessness."

(Source: Yahoo News)

A list of the banned phrases, which also include 'I'm on my lunch' and the classic 'It's not my job', hangs outside Kuzmin's office. Anybody who breaks the ban can expect to 'near the moment of their departure' according to an official statement.

According to the mayors chief of staff the new measures have radically improved discipline:

"Before, it was so easy to say `I don't know.' Now before reporting to the mayor we prepare several proposals on how one or another problem can be solved,"

(Source: Yahoo News)

although she admitted that it hard to adjust at first with some of the outlawed phrases 'slipping in sometimes'.