Stop or Continue a Project
Decide whether to continue from future cost, future value, remaining uncertainty, strategic fit, and the best alternative use of the same resources.
Stopping has real costs
Transition, morale, customer promises, and knowledge preservation belong in the forward-looking comparison. They are not reasons to pretend the original plan remains best.
Past effort does not create future return
Completed work may produce reusable assets or reduce remaining cost, but spending alone is not a reason to continue. Rebuild the case at each major commitment point using current evidence and remaining investment.
Run a continuation review
- Ignore unrecoverable spending.
- Estimate remaining cost and value ranges.
- Name the next-best use of the team.
- Set the next stop or review trigger.
Example: unfinished internal tool
Nine months have been spent, but a supported product now meets the need for less than the remaining build cost. Reusable data work is kept while the custom interface is stopped.
The decision rule
What to record before acting
Continue only when the remaining investment beats the best available alternative from today.
Apply the rule in context with run a forward-looking continuation test. Keep the evidence and assumptions with the decision so an outcome review can distinguish reasoning from luck.
Continue within work and business decisions
Build vs Buy Decision Framework
Compare building and buying through capability fit, total effort, control, time to value, switching cost, and the evidence behind future demand.
Build vs Buy Decision FrameworkHow to Build a Vendor Selection Scorecard
Build a vendor scorecard from verified requirements, anchored criteria, comparable demonstrations, and contract evidence instead of sales polish.
How to Build a Vendor Selection Scorecard