Sunk-cost fallacy describes a tendency continue with some plan, project, or idea even when it has become clear that it'll fail or have a negative outcome if it's not abandoned.
I've seen this is in work projects plenty of times. After sinking time and money into an idea the incentive shifts to getting something, anything, delivered. Even if what is delivered is not up to standard you can come without having technically failed.
It can flipped around, too. If you're trying to eat better and you take a donut from a box someone left in the office, that doesn't mean you should write off the day and get McDonalds for dinner. Not everything has to affect what happens later. They're not intrinsically linked.