kill-criteria-exit-ramps_skill

Overview

This skill helps teams define objective stopping rules and exit ramps so projects are evaluated and terminated without emotional bias. It provides patterns, a step-by-step workflow, and guardrails to avoid sunk-cost traps and make disciplined go/pivot/kill decisions. Use it to set measurable thresholds, decision rights, and milestone gates before significant investment.

How this skill works

The skill codifies common patterns: upfront kill criteria, go/no-go gates, trigger-based exits, pivot vs. kill frameworks, and portfolio-level rules. It guides teams to define success metrics, set numeric kill thresholds, assign a single decision owner, document criteria formally, monitor metrics, and execute wind-downs when triggers are met. It emphasizes objective data, pre-mortem inversion, and quick execution to avoid zombie projects.

When to use it

• Defining stopping rules before launching a new project or experiment
• Evaluating an ongoing initiative at a milestone or when metrics lag
• Avoiding the sunk cost fallacy when stakeholders resist killing a project
• Managing a portfolio to reallocate resources to higher-value projects
• Setting go/no-go gates for multi-stage investments
• Deciding whether to continue, pivot, or kill after new insights emerge

Best practices

• Set quantifiable success metrics and a clear time horizon before work begins
• Make kill criteria numeric and objective (percentages, dates, revenue thresholds)
• Assign a named decision maker and an escalation path—avoid consensus-only decisions
• Document criteria in a project charter and require formal approval to change them
• Monitor metrics regularly and automate alerts for approaching thresholds
• Execute kill decisions quickly: wind down, communicate, reallocate, and run a learning-focused postmortem

Example use cases

• New feature experiment: kill if adoption <10% after 3 months; product VP decides
• Stage-gated product development: cheap concept → MVP → launch with go/no-go at each gate
• Ongoing SaaS product: trigger-based checks (MRR growth, churn, CAC payback) prompt evaluation
• Portfolio pruning: rank projects by expected value per cost and kill bottom percentile
• Pre-mortem inversion: ask if you would start this today with $0 invested to overcome sunk-cost bias