We often think of persistence and determination as personal qualities. With great determination, we persist in the face of obstacles and often can work our way through the tough times and ultimately achieve success. But for terminal projects—those that are destined to fail—this attribute of determination and persistence can become a financial liability. By persistence we delay the inevitable, and this delay is costly. Delaying project failure is costly because we still invest time, money, and energy into a project that will not create a sufficient financial return on that investment. It is also costly because while we are investing our resources, including attention, into this project, we are investing less in other existing projects and perhaps ...

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