Zombie Projects

Zombie Projects are initiatives that refuse to die - consuming resources long after their value has evaporated. These efforts persist through habit, fear, or organizational inertia, quietly draining momentum while delivering minimal or no return.

Background and Context

Zombie projects often linger because no one is willing to cancel them. They may be a founder’s favorite idea, a politically sensitive bet, or a past success that’s now outlived its relevance. Without defined stop criteria or regular reviews, they remain on the roadmap, undead and unchallenged.

Organizations that pride themselves on shipping can be surprisingly reluctant to stop. But ending something unproductive is often the most valuable action a team can take.

Root Causes of Zombie Projects

Projects that should have ended often continue due to a lack of structure and psychological safety. Common causes include:

• Absence of kill criteria or regular viability reviews
• Sunk-cost bias leading to continued investment
• Fear of stakeholder backlash or reputational risk
• Political protection of legacy initiatives

Recognizing these patterns early helps prevent value erosion across the portfolio.

Impact of Letting Projects Linger

The cost of keeping zombie projects alive extends far beyond a single team. Typical consequences include:

• Consistent underdelivery due to divided focus
• Missed opportunities from blocked capacity
• Low morale among engineers working on low-impact work
• Erosion of trust in product and leadership decisions

If the only reason a project still exists is because no one stopped it, that’s a red flag.

Warning Signs of a Zombie in the Roadmap

Zombie projects are usually easy to spot once someone takes a step back. Look for:

• Workstreams with no active users or feedback loops
• Projects that haven't shipped anything recently but remain in progress
• Items that always get pushed into “next quarter” without discussion
• Vague or unmeasurable success criteria

These projects may not be dead, but they certainly aren’t alive.

Metrics to Detect Zombie Projects

Use these minware metrics to uncover signs that an initiative has outlived its purpose:

Metric	Signal
Cycle Time	Extremely long cycles for simple tasks suggest stagnation and lack of clarity.
Deployment Frequency	Low or stalled delivery velocity signals that little is moving forward.
Story Points Completed	Minimal output in consecutive sprints shows limited investment or disengagement.

These indicators reveal when projects are just surviving without contributing.

How to Prevent Zombie Projects

To keep projects from living beyond their value, organizations should:

• Define success metrics and kill criteria from the start
• Require checkpoint reviews at major delivery milestones
• Encourage teams to flag low-impact efforts without fear
• Build a culture that celebrates stopping ineffective work

The willingness to say “enough” is often what unlocks the next big win.

How to Retire the Undead

If zombie projects are already alive in your roadmap:

• Run a focused review of long-running, low-output initiatives
• Use objective metrics to evaluate relevance and performance
• Retire projects with clear documentation of why and what was learned
• Reinvest the saved capacity in validated, high-leverage areas

Sunsetting isn’t failure, it's strategy in action.