Escalation of commitment
Also known as Commitment bias
A pattern where people or organizations keep backing a failing course of action because they've already committed to it, often to avoid admitting a mistake. It is also called irrational escalation, and it is closely related to the sunk cost fallacy.
In everyday life
A government keeps funding a delayed, over-budget building project because stopping would mean admitting the earlier spending was a mistake.
Your company's software rollout has missed three deadlines and users hate it, yet you, the manager who proposed it, ask for another year of funding instead of pulling the plug.
Why your mind does this
Finishing what we start is usually a good strategy, since a brain that quit at every bump would never complete anything. Valuing what we already have, what we built and what we worked for keeps us committed and protects our resources. Losing what we have can hurt more than an equal gain helps, so caution around losses often makes sense.
Its family, in 30 seconds: Finishing what we started
How to spot it
Ask whether your reluctance to stop is about the project's future or about protecting your earlier decision.
How to counter it
Have someone who wasn't part of the original decision review whether the effort should continue.
Habits that catch it
- Run a pre-mortem
Imagine it is a year from now and the plan failed. List the likeliest reasons, then fix what you can today.
Same family: Finishing what we started
SourcesStaw (1976)·Wikipedia