To lose the root for the tree

Your original motivation for something can be forgotten as you focus on a solution that grows ever more complex – and you act as if the solution is what you fundamentally want, because you forgot how you ended up working so hard on it.

The refrain "don't lose the root for the tree" reminds you to think of what you originally wanted and ask if there are different paths towards achieving it.

I guess the idea overlaps with the sunk cost fallacy, but it uses an active phrase (easier to apply) and is more general, covering sunk costs you forgot about. Also may remind you to do a "breadth-first search" of the solution space.

What links here

• Rationality techniques