A great technique to fight against a Sunk Cost problem is to take it back to a blank slate. It’s all too easy to get stuck when we’ve invested a lot of time or money in a course of action, going back to basics is a way around it.
Consider a project that’s difficult, maybe not going how you’d expected and it’s overrunning. Rather than just continuing to bash away, stop. Get honest with yourself and the team. What’s left to do to achieve a valuable outcome? How long is it really going to take? What else could you be doing instead of this work.
To be successful with this review, you need to clear away the history of what’s gone before. You need to understand where you are, not the effort you’ve put in to get there so far.
It’s not an easy technique. It’s really easy to get attached to the work that you’ve done, or the investment made so far. You might not be successful the first times you try.
Watch out for statements that look back to what’s gone before. “It’s cost so much already”, “We’ve put in so much effort”, “We have to finish this”.
If you can’t break free from this, you might need to call in someone with fresh eyes. The quickest way to the blank slate is sometimes through a person who hasn’t been close to the efforts so far.
If it feels like a slog, that you aren’t getting there and you never will, then try starting from a blank slate to make a good decision with your future efforts.
James Osborn 