It works if simonw means the refactoring/rearchitecting/redesign project and not the broader encompassing project. In the former case, it means making sure your changes are mergeable (ideally merged) all along the way so that if that effort is canceled the broader project can still benefit from it. In the latter case, then you're correct it doesn't matter. If the encompassing project is canceled who cares what state the change effort is in since everything is getting tossed.