RESEARCH_FILE
Escalation of Commitment
Escalation of commitment is the pattern of increasing investment in a chosen course of action despite accumulating evidence that it is not working. Staw's foundational experiments and Sleesman et al.'s meta-analysis of 166 studies established that personal responsibility for the original decision — not the project's expected future value — is the primary driver. The mechanism is self-justification: the need to appear consistent with past choices makes it hard to read negative feedback as decision-relevant information rather than a threat to defend against.
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“Pivoting means admitting I wasted two years”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“The two years are spent either way. What matters is where the next quarter goes.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Privately open a notes app or blank sheet, write the exact thought at the top, and list three facts that belong to the last two years and three choices that belong only to the next three weeks. Do not revise the list for polish.
How it sounds in your head
The inner script: 'Every negative signal just means I need to push harder — I chose this direction and I'm not going to let it fail.' The research reads the push as potentially diagnostic: feeling that stopping would mean the original choice was wrong is exactly what drives escalation, not strategic clarity about the direction itself.