Innovation · Scaling or stopping · Component
Stop record
The decision to end an innovation project, the people and budget released by it, and the lessons kept for the next attempt.
The deliverable
What it is
Stopping is a normal outcome of innovation, and many projects should end this way. The stop record makes the ending definite, so that work does not continue informally after the decision.
It also counters escalation of commitment. Writing down that a project ended, and what it taught, separates the value of the learning from the money already spent.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
Stop decision
When the project was stopped, why, and by which role — tied where possible to the kill criteria set in advance.
3 attributes: Stopped on · Reason · Decided by
LearnReleased resources
The budget and people freed by the stop, and the date by which they are actually released to other work.
3 attributes: Budget released · People reassigned · Released by
LearnLessons kept
What the project established that remains useful — about customers, technology or the organisation — with links to the evidence.
2 attributes: Lesson · Learning record
Learn
Announce stops as plainly as launches. An organisation that hides its stopped projects teaches people not to stop them.
The other components in scaling or stopping
Scale-up readiness check
Whether the pilot’s result will survive ordinary conditions, and whether the economics hold once volume and normal costs apply.
LearnOperational handover
The transfer of a proven innovation from its founding team to the people who will run it, with what moves, when, and who supports it.
Learn