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Project Kill-Criteria
Define exactly when you'll kill the project before it even starts — don't wait until failure is discovered too late.
Goal
Counter the sunk-cost fallacy by defining objective kill criteria in advance, before judgment becomes entangled with emotional investment in the project.
Steps
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1
Before the project starts, write 3 specific quantitative signals meaning "this project is clearly failing" (e.g., budget over 150%, 3-month schedule slip).
Expected Outcome
Immediate
Having written kill criteria removes half the future emotional debate over "should we continue?".
Evidence base
School: Behavioral Economics / Sunk Cost Fallacy
Founders: Hal Arkes · Catherine Blumer (1985)
Hal Arkes and Catherine Blumer empirically documented the sunk-cost fallacy in 1985; modern project management applies pre-set kill criteria as a structural defense against this bias.
Keywords
#kill-criteria#sunk-cost-fallacy#arkes#blumer#معايير-إيقاف#project-management#failing-project#decision-bias#checkpoint-review#resource-reallocation#royer#pre-set-thresholds#project-termination#behavioral-economics#early-exit#bad-projects-hard-to-kill#objective-criteria#budget-overrun-signal#sponsor-signature#emotional-investment-bias#quantitative-signals#what-changed-justification#periodic-checkpoint#vague-criteria-risk#hbr-research#resource-liberation
Frequently asked questions
How long does "Project Kill-Criteria" take?
This exercise takes about 40 minutes, practiced with another person in a Written reflection format.
When will I notice the effect of "Project Kill-Criteria"?
Having written kill criteria removes half the future emotional debate over "should we continue?". In the short term: The first project hitting its written criterion gets killed much faster than prior projects lacking pre-set criteria.
Is "Project Kill-Criteria" evidence-based?
Yes — it draws on Behavioral Economics / Sunk Cost Fallacy (Hal Arkes, Catherine Blumer (1985)). Hal Arkes and Catherine Blumer empirically documented the sunk-cost fallacy in 1985; modern project management applies pre-set kill criteria as a structural defense against this bias.
Is "Project Kill-Criteria" suitable for beginners?
Its difficulty level is: Advanced. No external tools required — it can be practiced directly inside the app.
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