This can be incredibly annoying if you're on the other side, though. One of the most effective ways of killing a project can be to support it publicly but then do nothing at all to move it forward. Anything at all to avoid having a difficult conversation.
It all depends on the situation, I s'pose.
Yes, that seems to be the case more often than not… As a consultant I see it almost as a guarantee for success in projects that come after/are replacing failed ones. I think it’s all about ego at the end of the day… people have to have their say and pursue it even if they’re not experts in the field (while they certainly think they are experts - hence the ego thing). I wonder - how can this thinking be undone?
Sometimes when you take risks, you will lose.
Yup.
I (think I) have four buckets:
1) Awesome! I'm stealing it!
2) Worse than wrong (h/t Murray Gell-Mann) aka not good enough to criticize.
3) Hmmm, worth chewing over.
4) I have absolutely no idea (please talk more).
I'm more like Jason F, where I felt I had a moral obligation to fix things, and have had to learn to keep my mouth shut.
The most insightful advice I ever got was "Sometimes you just have to let people fail. It's quicker than opposing them."
Now I try to save my breathe for people who are worth my time and effort (investment).