Stop doubling down on your failing strategy: how to spot (and escape) one before it's too late

Firms often adhere too long to strategies that were once successful but have begun to fail. Several biases have been identified that can explain why leaders hold firm to these commitments, including loss aversion, personal identification, sunk cost fallacy, and preference for completion. Organizations can lower their exposure to escalation of commitment by implementing six practices: separate decision making and advocacy; establish decision rules; focus on voting rules; consider alternatives; protect dissenters; and emphasize the anticipation of regret by adopting both a temporal perspective and an interpersonal perspective.