What are your red flags for a project about to fail?

Question

Premise: Not every software development crisis has an early warning system, but plenty of them do. If you learn to recognize the signs early enough, you may be able to prevent the project from failing.I'm collecting red flags for a listicle. What should I include?

AnimalMuppet · Accepted Answer

I think your premise is wrong. You may be able to save yourself, but you are much less likely to be able to save the project.
Red flags:
- Lack of a clear goal. If nobody knows what you're trying to do, the odds are high that you won't do anything. And eventually some upper-level manager will realize that you're not doing anything, and will kill the project.
- Lack of reality in management. Reality has been defined as "that which, when you stop believing in it, does not go away". That's true of management too. They may not believe that changing the scope requires changing the schedule... but it does. They may believe that the team can work double hours for months... but they can't. They may believe that they can dictate both scope and schedule... but they can't. When you see management acting without regard to reality - worse, with no awareness of reality - the project is doomed, because reality is going to win.