How often do you call it quits on a great idea before you’ve made it happen?

My two young sons set up a lime-selling stand at the end of our driveway this past weekend. They did quite well out of it, but not without initial sibling drama.

You see, they almost gave up before making the first sale because neither of the boys wanted to be the one who held up the sign to alert passing cars. Too embarrassing, apparently.

And then I witnessed my older son, Ben, take the lead in a way that belied his 11 years. He said to his little brother, “Whoever is holding up the sign when someone stops gets three quarters of that sale, and the other person only gets one quarter.”

Argument over.

My younger son worked the sign like a pro.

Here are three questions that leaders ask themselves before giving up on a project or an idea, thus allowing themselves to get more completed than a significant number of their give-up-too-soon counterparts.