• Question: Have you ever thought about giving up on a project because you aren't making progress?

    Asked by un1corn5 to Anna, Chris, Jane, Iain, Nick on 11 Mar 2014.
    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 11 Mar 2014:

      Not only have I thought about giving up on a project because of no progress, but I have actually given up many projects, either because they were too hard or because they didn’t turn out well. Failures are a part of life and learning when to give up is as important as knowing when to give something all your effort. It is only by trying many things, some of which work and some of which don’t, that you can get a feel for what works and what doesn’t before you try it.

    • Photo: Anna Middleton

      Anna Middleton answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      Hi @un1corn5
      I’ve learnt that even projects that don’t work as well as you thought or even go wrong are still important. Negative results should always be written up so in effect there is never a wrong answer.

    • Photo: Jane Charlesworth

      Jane Charlesworth answered on 12 Mar 2014:

      Yes. Sometimes something sounds like a good idea, but when you start working on it it turns out to be too hard or not possible. In that case, it’s definitely better to give up rather than keep going forever without getting anywhere.

    • Photo: Chris Cole

      Chris Cole answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      Knowing when to give up is important. Give up too easily and you won’t find anything new. If you slave away on a dead-end project you’re wasting your time.

      Problem is, you don’t know something is dead-end until you have spent too long on it…

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