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Mark Williams's avatar

I remember a question from a “project rescue” webinar I gave a while back - “we’ve been doing this project for 8 years & we’ve not gone live yet”. Well I did laugh. 😆

One day I’ll dig out the recording as proof.

Once I’d stopped laughing I believe I said - “stop”. Check your business case. If it’s “still on” (& it could be, that a case isn’t that sensitive to time, not usually but possible) then ok. Get it over the line. But if not, stop.

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Keith-Williams's avatar

Okay, Mark, that's a brilliant (and horrifying!) anecdote.

Your advice – "Stop. Check your business case. If still valid (rarely), finish. If not, stop" – is precisely the brutal honesty needed. After 8 years, the original "why" is almost certainly obsolete. Classic sunk cost fallacy at play!

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Mark Williams's avatar

Indeed. Classic “we’ve got so far we might as well…” too. as per your note

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Yvonne Alison Junor's avatar

Very interesting and accurate article 🌈👍

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