In a recent episode of the television show “Better Call Saul,” the titular lawyer who has scrambled and struggled to earn a living decides to call it quits with the law right after being offered the best opportunity of his life with a prestigious firm. He thought that was his dream, until it came true. His friend reminded him of how hard he worked to pass the bar exam and then asked a pivotal question: Why abandon practicing law after working so hard to get established? He responds by explaining the fallacy of the sunk cost. “It’s what gamblers do,” he says. “They throw good money after bad, thinking they can turn their luck around.” Recognizing, perhaps for the first time, that he doesn’t fit in as a lawyer, he tells her that his talents “are better suited elsewhere.”
Hearing those words uttered by a fictional attorney on a TV show was like a thunderbolt, because, in my practice as a coach, I have seen many clients utterly derailed by considerations of what they have already invested, and can never recover, when making decisions about the future. Simply being aware of this fallacy and its applications is helpful in making good decisions based on future opportunities and preferences rather than past costs.
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