Imagine you have been hiking up a mountain for several days.
At first, it was fun and exciting. But now, it's getting exhausting and a bit scary. On top of it, there are storm clouds coming. You know deep inside something is wrong with this.
You have to finish what you start.
Persistence is key.
You must see it through.
This is what most of us were taught. And so you continue, despite your intuition. And as a result, you are never seen again.
Welcome to the Sunk-Cost Fallacy.
(Sorry to go all dark there for a moment...Once you've recovered, please read on!)
The Sunk-Cost Fallacy is the idea that, because you have spent so much time on a project, you have to keep going even though all signs are pointing to disaster.
You believe that if you abandon it, that time or money will have ultimately been wasted.
But, it's called a fallacy because it's not true. That time is spent and gone, never coming back whether you continue or not. It will not change the outcome of what is ahead.
When something hasn't worked for the past three years, it's doubtful it will suddenly work next month.
We have all seen this in students from time to time. For whatever reason, we end up with music that is just a bit too challenging right now.
Maybe we were overambitious. Maybe the music was harder than we initially thought. Maybe we felt like we had to go to the next RCM level to "stay on track." Maybe the student really wanted to learn this really hard piece of music and we decided to try it.
Week after week, month after month, stuck on the same problems.
It stops being fun.
But the student doesn't want to step back from it, because that means "failure."
And then, comes the conversation. Let's take a break, play some less-demanding music, and build up the skill set so we can tackle this piece with confidence down the road.
But...the notion of taking a few steps back to build some foundations is met with fierce opposition from parents about 80% of the time. Once again, welcome to the Sunk-Cost Fallacy.
But we spent so much time on this already.
We don't want him to feel like he's going backwards.
He just needs to apply himself.
And so we press on. And like the mountain climber who is never seen again, eventually the frustration becomes too much, and the students disappear.
Please don't misunderstand; we believe students need to apply at all times. Appropriate challenges are important.
But, when a student has a piece of music for six months that isn't going anywhere, it's time to change strategies.
This applies to many areas. Not just music.
Jobs, relationships, investments, projects, and more.
Anything you have been sinking time or money into that you feel is going nowhere, but you press on anyway.
But...there is another way.
Instead of challenging yourself to press on, challenge yourself to change your mindset.
Head back down the mountain for a little while.
Or change direction altogether.
Sometimes, you need to take a few steps back in order to move forward.
Simply knowing the existence of the Sunk-Cost Fallacy helps.
It's hard, though...society (school especially) generally doesn't look kindly on ever going back or giving up, even if that's the best decision.
But sometimes, that can be the most effective way to find the way forward.