Innovation Advisory · Framework 05
The Kill Criteria
Eight questions about how to know when it is time to stop. For programme managers, venture builders, and anyone who suspects the honest answer is "we should have stopped six months ago."
The Criteria
What did you say would count as failure — before the results arrived?
If you did not write it down at the start, write it down now. Criteria set after the results arrive are not criteria — they are justifications.
The Beneficiary
Who benefits from this continuing? The users, or the team?
If the answer is "the team" and not "the users," the project is alive for the wrong reasons.
The Opportunity
What would you build if you stopped this?
The cost of continuing is not just money. It is the thing you are not building instead. Name it.
The Drift
Has the problem changed since you started?
Problems move. If the problem you set out to solve has shifted, the solution may have become irrelevant while you were perfecting it.
The Metric
Are you measuring progress or activity?
Meetings held, reports filed, workshops conducted — these are activity. Change in the lives of the people you set out to help — that is progress.
The Fresh Start
Knowing what you know now, would you start this project from scratch today?
If the answer is no, the only reason to continue is sunk cost. Sunk cost is not a strategy.
The Real Cost
What is the cost of one more year — not the budget, but the full cost?
The cost to the team, the users, and the opportunity. Write the number that includes all three.
The Room
Can you say "this is not working" in a room full of the people who funded it?
If you cannot, the project will continue until the money runs out. That is not a strategy. That is a default.
If more than three answers made you uncomfortable, the project deserves an honest conversation this week — not next quarter.