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We’ve all been there.

You’ve sunk hours into a project. Burned budget. Had those late-night “this will all be worth it” pep talks with yourself. And then… you hit that uncomfortable moment:

“This isn’t working. But I’ve already come this far. I can’t quit now… right?”

Cue the Sunk Cost Trap. One of the most common and credibility-sabotaging mind games smart leaders fall into.

The Psychology That Sneaks Up on Strategic People

Here’s the twist. It doesn’t feel like a trap. It feels like being committed. Like being responsible. Like doing the adult, follow-through thing.

But that’s exactly why it’s dangerous. What feels like loyalty to your plan is often just loyalty to your past effort. Not to the outcome that actually matters now.

What’s Really at Stake When You Can’t Let Go

The Sunk Cost Trap doesn’t just waste time or money. It burns something much more valuable: your leadership credibility.

Every time you double down on a bad decision:

• Your team loses a little more trust.

• Your boss starts questioning your judgment.

• Your bandwidth shrinks while better opportunities pass by.

It’s like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic… while still sending out progress reports pretending everything’s fine.

How to Spot the Trap Before It Eats Your Quarter

Here’s a quick gut-check you can use:

If you weren’t already invested… would you choose this again today?

If the answer is no, you’re not deciding based on strategy. You’re deciding based on sunk effort. And that’s a fast path to being seen as defensive, rigid, or unaware.

So What Do You Do About It?

In our short video on the Sunk Cost Trap, I walk through five clear, practical ways to escape this trap before it costs you another month, meeting, or opportunity.

Watch the video below for the full breakdown.

TL;DR? Leaders Who Learn to Pivot Win

If you’re aiming to build influence, lead confidently, or finally get that big idea greenlit, your decision-making patterns matter more than you think.

The Sunk Cost Trap is just one of more than 25 traps I cover in the Decision Traps playlist on YouTube. Each one is short, actionable, and built to help you upgrade your thinking in minutes.

Subscribe to the channel if you’re ready to make sharper decisions that get noticed for the right reasons.

Quick Tip for Leaders committed to the Continuous Learning of their Teams: Consider emailing one video a week to your team and then discussing how the decision trap applies to your business at your weekly team meeting.

Chris Seifert is the author of Enabling Empowerment: A Leadership Playbook for Ending Micromanagement and Empowering Decision-Makers. With over two decades of experience in transforming organizations through strategic leadership and decision-making frameworks, Chris has helped teams cut through bottlenecks, optimize capital project budgets, and build cultures of accountability. He is passionate about teaching leaders how to empower their teams to make smarter, faster decisions without sacrificing business value.