Most marketing careers aren't weighed down by the projects that failed — they're weighed down by the projects that never launched. In this episode, Rob Henley examines what "zombie projects" are: the pitch decks, campaign concepts, and side ventures that sit at 80% completion for months or years, consuming mental resources without ever seeing daylight. Drawing on personal experience, conversations with senior marketers, and Zilk's own writing on open loops and creative debt, this episode reframes the cost of unfinished work, not as a productivity problem, but as a quiet erosion of creative confidence. If you've ever kept a folder alive long past the point you knew it was dead, this one's for you.