Sunk cost fallacy is a powerful manipulator

Have you been in a situation where your work has not delivered the desired results, and you were were left in the woods to take the dreadful decision of whether to keep investing or axe it?

In my case, I’ve continued with it more often than not, in the hopes of salvaging the original investment.

TL;DR: it doesn’t always endwell.

I have been going through a rough patch at work, over the last couple of years. I have been passed up on promotions, even when I was told that they were slam-dunk(mandatory sports reference-✅), for reasons beyond my control. Everytime, I was told that you’re doing great, and continue deliver more value, and promotion will happen soon enough.

It took my stupid brain about 2 years to understand that I was working 12–18 hour shifts, and being offloaded uninteresting bits that no one else wanted touch over a vague commitment(!) of ‘we’ll get in the next cycle’.

Everytime I wanted to step back there was a nudge reminding me that I shouldn’t stop now and double down to realise the benefits. The writing on the wall was clear- keep digging the hole or be buried in it.

Introspecting on this, I felt that I let people manipulate me into throwing my effort into things with the notional promise of next cycle. I had(still do) troubles in cutting my losses and move on. There is a feeling an unfinished business that I need to see through, even though subconsciously I know that I’m being used here. This played in my head even when I’ was exploring other options, and severely affected my outlook.

I’ve taken my personal example to showcase how this can be used to manipulate people. I’ve seen several similar episodes in the recent past. The next time I see this behaviour I’d run far far away.

Obviously there’s no right or wrong approach here, and this by no means applies to all scenarios. Your situation is unique, and doubling down might help you achieve what you’re looking for. However watch out for the warning signals, and do time bound your approach. If it doesn’t work out by then cut down the losses and move on.

Life is too short to cry over spilled milk.