Lunch & Learn - The Sunk Cost Problem: Why Smart People Stay Too Long

The most expensive sentence in business is "I've invested too much to change now." Finance teaches the rule in week one: sunk costs are irrelevant to the decision in front of you. We nod, we pass the exam... and then we run our careers and companies in direct violation of it.

This is a working session, not a lecture. In one hour you'll run two tools on your own career or business:

The Sunk Cost Audit. A three-question diagnostic that separates what you've already paid from what your work is still paying you. Zero-based budgeting, aimed at a career.

The Focus Group. A look at the panel of voices in the room when you imagine a real change... who's actually on it, and who's been chairing the meeting far longer than you think.

To be clear: this is not a talk about quitting. Most people shouldn't. It's about choosing what you already have on purpose, or changing it on purpose... instead of letting a bill you already paid make the decision for you.

Bring a pen. The worksheet does the rest.

Your host: Ryan Coburn spent thirty years in strategy consulting, Fortune 10 finance, and marketing analytics, and is the owner of Office Evolution Aurora. He writes on Substack The Inner Work Studio, where he's doing this same accounting on his own career and life, in public.