February 3, 2026
Hi Everyone,
You probably have 2-3 projects right now that should be killed. And you probably know which ones. Making the call without the politics? That's the hard part.
Here are five simple filters that shift the conversation from opinion to evidence, making room for work that actually drives results.
Five filters to test any initiative
1. Strategic fit: Does it support one of your top three priorities? If not, it’s a candidate to cut.
If you can’t explain in one sentence how this project helps your main goals, it probably doesn’t.
Even great-sounding projects take time and energy away from your most important work. And every initiative still needs meetings, status updates, and team attention – that all comes from somewhere.
2. Set milestones: Agree on a simple rule when you start: "If we haven't hit X by Y, we stop."
For example, that might be 500 beta users by the end of Q2, or two signed clients within 6 months.
Projects without deadlines drag on forever, so decide up front what “success” looks like and when you’ll measure it.
3. ROI above a threshold: Define a minimum return, and if the project falls below the line, it fails the test.
Ask what this could realistically bring in over the next year or two. Low impact plus high cost is a clear-cut, even if no one wants to make it.
Be honest about impact. If you have an old product that only a few customers use but keeps needing more support, it’s costing you more than it’s worth – even if no one wants to say it.
4. Resource intensity: Is this project starving progress elsewhere? Would cutting it speed up something more important?
One way to get clarity is to ask if you could only do half of your current projects, would this one make the cut? If it doesn't, that simplifies your decision.
Some organizations set a hard rule: nothing new starts unless something else stops.
Just think about what you’d do with the freed-up time and people.
5. Owner and enthusiasm: Is there a clear owner who believes in it? If the person who started it left and no one stepped up, that tells you something.
Watch for updates that sound positive but show no real progress – when no one can point to concrete wins, the project is most likely drifting.
Also, pay attention to whether a project keeps getting bumped to ‘next quarter’. No one’s saying it out loud, but the delay is the decision.
Try this today
Pick one project you suspect should be cut. Score it against these five. If it fails three or more, bring it to your next leadership meeting with the scores. Let the criteria make the case.
Go deeper
👉 Richard Daly: Don't Play with Dead Snakes – Kill Projects Before They Kill You (Their revenue grew 300% in 24 months – largely because of this strategy)
👉 Harvard Business Review: Your Company Needs to Focus on Fewer Projects. Here’s How.
👉 McKinsey: Bias Busters: Knowing when to kill a project
👉 Henrico Dolfing: Why Killing Projects Is so Hard (And How to Do It Anyway)
Coming up tomorrow
Tomorrow, we’ll break down unit economics broken into five levers. The clearest way to see if your growth is profitable.
Have a good one!
P.S. Thanks for being here from the start. We’re building this around what leaders actually need. What’s on your plate right now? What would make it useful for you? We’re all ears – just reply to this email.