When was the the last time you realized a project was doomed? That time you knew the plug should have been pulled, but you kept things quiet and watched the work painfully fizzle out.
If you care enough about the work, you probably have these feelings often.
Maybe there’s context you’re missing and you’re being too sensitive. Maybe the implementation is fine and you’re being too pessimistic. But—maybe you’re right and you have the opportunity to save the company years of toil and unmeasurable amounts of opportunity loss.
Realistically, you probably can’t affect the situation. Who are you to call off an important project? Who is another person to question your work? Everyone, from managers to executives, has a hard time with this. Nevertheless, your opinion matters; you might be able to nudge the ship and prevent a terrible outcome. At the very least you can try.
Why bother? When is this appropriate? How do you even communicate this?