Project Failure Files: Knowing When to Call It Quits
In Episode 80 of the Project Failure Files weekly webcast, our focus was “Abandoning Ship Too Late,” in which Sharon and I tackle a project leadership trap that’s equal parts emotional and expensive: keeping a failing initiative alive long past its sell-by date. We frame it as the tendency to confuse persistence with progress—where leaders keep tweaking timelines, expanding budgets, and hoping momentum will solve structural problems. The real issue isn’t that projects struggle (they all do); it’s that teams and leaders ignore the signals that the original plan no longer fits reality.
Shasron and I dig into why this happens: sunk cost bias, ego, fear of accountability, and the absence of healthy feedback loops. When dashboards aren’t trusted, escalation paths aren’t clear, and leaders punish “bad news,” projects drift into denial mode. The downstream effects get ugly: morale drops, trust erodes, stress becomes the team’s default state, and other healthy initiatives start suffering from “strategic drift” because resources keep getting pulled into the black hole of the doomed project.
The solution theme is clinical decision-making with pre-defined checkpoints. Leaders should set objective red flags early (before emotions kick in), distinguish between temporary setbacks and structural failure, and use data-driven scoring models to remove bias. If a salvage attempt is viable, reset scope and expectations transparently. If not, shut it down decisively—capture lessons learned, thank the team, and own the call. The brave move isn’t “push harder”; it’s recognizing the wrong jungle, changing course early, and protecting the organization’s future credibility.
Enjoy the episode!
Be sure to tune in next Monday, March 9th at 9am Pacific for the latest episode in our weekly series as we examine the risks of not centralizing project artifacts and highlight how proper organization can save time and reduce costly errors. Hope you can join us on our NEW YouTube channel (please subscribe!) or find us on LinkedIn.
