I first heard of Sunk Cost Fallacy whilst doing a foundational course on user experience app design. The premise of Sunk cost fallacy, in design terms, is the further a UX designer invests their time into a project, the harder it is to change course without feeling like the project failed.

For example, if you were creating an app for saving, organising and streaming your library of podcasts, you may have spent a lot of time creating a feature which allows custom podcast tags. However, the customer research reveals that there’s a lack of interest in this particular feature. But because the designer has invested days and weeks in this feature’s design, they continue to plough in the hours refining the custom tags, even though there’s no problem statement to resolve, if you like.

The Sunk Cost Fallacy can be applied to many parts of our lives, but particularly when making life-career decisions. It is a cognitive bias and, more specifically, a commitment bias. An easy example we’ve all done: watching a film that you don't enjoy but continue to watch anyway. This is the Sunk Cost Fallacy. We continue wasting our time on a rubbish movie since we’ve already invested 30 minutes into it. Think about it: so many of us have experienced a sense of failure if we dare to change course. What we’re actually doing is prioritising past investment (time, money or effort) even over future opportunities when making decisions. At worst, it may even lead us to make bad decisions based on the amount we’re weighting (and relying) on the past. Long-term friendships which no longer serve us are one prime example of this (I refer to Natasha Lunn’s ‘Conversations on Love’ as highlighted in Season 2).

One brilliant example I came across is from the UK’s Liverpool University and a brilliant blog post by James Reynolds. Reynolds applied the Sunk Cost Fallacy to the experience of post-doc graduates, often because post-doc grads have invested so much time and effort in the academic field. The fear of failure, or rather, the perception of it is real. The thought of leaving academia feels like admitting defeat, a waste of all that effort in graduate school and postdoctoral work:

‘Don’t we owe it to ourselves to keep fighting to stay on the set path after we invested all that time, money, and energy? After others invested in us? If we don’t stay, will all those years be wasted?’

Does this resonate with you and how you’re thinking about your career in your current field? In this super-useful blog post, Reynolds talks, through the post-doc lens, how to base career decisions on your present, not your past, and how changing direction can truly be the rational choice. It’s a clear, short read and regardless of what sector you’re in, this lens allows you to reflect on your life-career choices more objectively. It’s a great ‘how to’ approach in real simple terms:

Oh Yeah quick tip: I’ve often done this at crossroads in my career by re-writing my Linkedin bio. Don’t write a list of what you’ve done in the past or outline your current role. Instead, write your bio as if you are your future self, highlighting the areas you are passionate about which will draw in your experiences in this area. I call this ‘structural’ manifesting, where you’re sharing where you want to be with your network and future connections.

Remember your transferable skills

You know from your career and multiple performance reviews what your transferable skills are. Your role is to remind yourself that your career to date has not been a waste of time. I switched my career after spending 25 years in radio. It was time, I was ready, and I did not doubt I could take the skills and strengths I wanted, in my new role at Creative Studios and Today at Apple. Transferable skills can include verbal communication, clearly and effectively conveying information; Leadership and teamwork skills, involving great partnership etiquette, collaboration and inclusivity.

Things change. I used to LOVE radio editing and won a few awards through my craft, but it was not what I wanted to spend time on. Ask yourself what’s your equivalent? What don’t you want to spend any more time on? Start jotting down a list of strengths as transferable skills. How can you use this articulated list and apply it in a year or two year’s time instead of past you? And in Season 4 of Oh Yeah we’ll give you some creative ways to really hone down ‘your future self.’

The Oh Yeah Juice