Escalation of Commitment
Escalation of commitment is a cognitive bias where the more time and energy you invest in an idea, the more committed you become to it—making it harder to objectively evaluate feedback or change course.
Why is escalation of commitment dangerous for product teams?
This bias is particularly dangerous for product teams because it happens automatically and compounds over time. As you invest in designing, building, or researching solutions, you become increasingly attached to your ideas. Even teams with every intent to hear and integrate customer feedback struggle to act on it objectively.
The more work you put into an idea—whether that's creating detailed designs, building prototypes, or conducting extensive research—the more difficult it becomes to accept that the idea might be flawed. You become blind to disconfirming evidence, not because you're trying to ignore it, but because your brain naturally protects your investment.
How does escalation of commitment affect product teams?
Escalation of commitment shows up throughout the product development process:
When you design just ahead of your engineers' delivery cycle, the work you're validating needs to go into next week's sprint. Even if customer feedback reveals problems, you've already invested so much time that it feels too late to change direction.
When you start with a single idea and ask "Is this good?" instead of exploring multiple options, you become more susceptible to fixation. The longer you work on that one idea, the more invested you become, making it nearly impossible to hear feedback that contradicts your beliefs.
When you prototype one idea at a time, you tend to barrel ahead with it regardless of feedback. Teams that parallel prototype—working on multiple ideas simultaneously—consistently outperform those who prototype sequentially because they avoid the fixation trap.
How can product teams combat escalation of commitment?
To guard against escalation of commitment:
- Set up compare and contrast decisions rather than whether or not decisions. When you're evaluating multiple options, you're less likely to become fixated on any single idea.
- Get feedback earlier in the process. It's much easier to iterate on sketches and wireframes than on production-ready designs. The less you've invested, the more open you'll be to feedback.
- Prototype multiple ideas at once. Parallel prototyping prevents you from becoming overly attached to a single solution.
- Surface objections before running experiments. Getting concerns on the table early helps you design better experiments and makes it easier to accept negative results.
Escalation of commitment works in tandem with confirmation bias—together, these biases mean you become more committed to your ideas over time while simultaneously becoming less able to see evidence that contradicts them. Recognizing this pattern is the first step toward intellectual honesty in product discovery.
Learn more:
- Compare and Contrast Decisions: Why They Work and How to Use Them
- Stop Asking 'Whether or Not' Questions
Related terms:
- Confirmation Bias
- Compare and Contrast Decisions
- Whether or Not Decisions
Last Updated: October 25, 2025