Cancel? Maybe. Sit down. Let’s talk!

Okay, so if you are absolutely horrified by what you have in front of you, like you were struggling with depression for many long years, or you just met the love of your life and you were creating this IP in the middle of a bitter divorce with your former spouse, then please. Cancel immediately!

You do not want anything that does not match you anymore, especially if you have some sort of epiphany or “aha!” moment. Cancel. Cancel now!

If you are finding that you just can’t finish in the deadline, and you have been postponing an official cancellation announcement, sit down with your team or teams and talk about it. Have you run out of money? No more funds? Have you run out of fan love? No more fan love? Then cancel. Officially announce that you are cancelling, and be done with it.

That does not mean you have to cancel it internally. You can put it on hiatus for a year or even 3 years. If someone later comes in at year 5 and says, “hey, I loved this IP when you were releasing it! Yes, we are going to finish this with style! We have more funding, we have changed our fanbase over the last 5 years, and I think we can do it. We’re ready. Let’s go!” … Then you can continue without guilt, and you didn’t let anyone down, because it makes sense if companies try to bring back former IPs again.

If you have just lost a major leading role, like a director, try not to cancel — do everything in your power to just finish with the remaining team, as if your director went on leave. No need to try to find another director to finish the gargantuan task of creative direction if it has already been set, and it’s only 8 months to go before launch date.”

It if it a technology issue? Hire more tech people at the dire time of need so you don’t lose your amazing tech team that you already have. Show them that they matter by paying a little extra for some temporary help. Next time you are in a crunch, you can always check on those tech temps first to see if you can bring them on board again. Don’t cancel! Spend a little and finish with success!

If it is internal turmoil, and you literally think it is an HR issue that’s gone very badly, and PR is doing all it can to make sure that bad publicity isn’t going anywhere, then cancel. Wait until you have a united front again for this IP, unless you have entire sections of your company that can literally switch at the drop of a dime and carry it to completion.

If you can make changes to something to fix the IP in a timely manner, then propose it. Especially if you know that restarting this IP is going to be a massive challenge. Be ready to pull all-nighters for a bit or bring on temp help.

Sometimes, it is worth cancelling.

On a personal level, think like a company. Are you strapped for time? Newly married? Just moved? Just got a promotion? Please pause. That doesn’t mean you have to cancel. Come back later to your IP.

If you feel like you have changed on a personal level, and you know you won’t go back to who you used to be, then you can stop and cancel your IP. No need to go on with that one. If you want to start up a new one, you can, but if you need a break or you want to step away for a time, that’s okay too. Whatever you need.