The sunk cost bias

- Imagine you and your colleagues…are working on a big initiative at work.…It's expensive.…It's time-consuming, and there's a lot at stake.…You've already spent a couple hundred thousand dollars…on the initiative, and there's a lot more to be done,…but then, things start getting more difficult.…The project is not going well.…You're behind schedule, you've hit…some surprises along the way, and, in fact,…you're not even sure the project will be successful.…Your boss says, "Do you think we ought…"to cancel the project?" and you respond,…"Well, we've already sunk a couple hundred thousand into it.…

"Let's keep going."…What happened here?…You've just committed the Sunk Cost Fallacy.…A Sunk Cost is a resource, such as money or time…or even manpower, already expended…in an effort that cannot be recovered.…It's gone.…It's truly sunk, and you can't get it back.…The Sunk Cost Fallacy occurs when people make decisions…about a current situation based on what…they've already put into the situation.…

You continue to pump resources into a failed project…