I think you’ll find that most projects are in the middle. They don’t finish well and they don’t stop well. With the latter, it means that the project may be stopped for various reasons and no one had to formally request to stop it.

The article above addresses the case, in my opinion, where some had to formally “pull the plug”, which is different to what I claim is what usually happens. Is that correct?

Sameer Mihyawi, thank you so much for your comment. Such scenarios do happen. Also, many companies have a culture where project managers are in fear of such scenarios. This prompts them to either avoid projects that are difficult to manage. Or, if stuck in a failing project, they will try to keep quiet and see it through regardless of the cost.

What we are saying is that a project abort should not mean project managers lose respect. It should be a feasible alternative to avoid wasting money and valuable resources. But we are aware that this will not be the case with a company culture dominated by fear.

That is why Thomas Brustbauer advocates a change in company culture. And such a culture openly acknowledging mistakes needs to be embraced by top management. If we do not work on changing company culture, your scenario will remain the rule rather than an exception to the rule.