# Decision drift
- Updated: 2026-04-28
- Tags: decision, drift
- Canonical: https://archive.citrusgate.com/themes/decision-drift
A deal can stay active while the next owner, scope, or exit condition never becomes crisp enough to move.
## Angle
For this cohort, the useful public angle is to sell against the buyer's practical fallback before selling against a feature rival.
## Diagnostic Questions
- What no-action plan could the buyer defend to finance, security, or an executive sponsor?
- Which workload, workflow, or team can prove value without forcing a broad re-platforming decision?
- What evidence would make waiting look riskier than a narrow start?
## Patterns
### In selected cases, the status quo behaved like the named competitor.
Several selected cases showed buyers comparing a new platform against renewal, tuning, or internal optimization rather than against another vendor.
### In selected cases, uncertainty raised the threshold for centralizing workflows.
When roadmap, support, or contracting continuity was unclear, buyers needed stronger written commitments before moving important workflows.
### In selected cases, easy trial motion hid a harder production purchase.
Low-friction entry created interest, but production use still pulled in finance, security, platform, or executive stakeholders.
## Featured Weekly Memos
- In this selected cohort, buyers often had a defensible reason not to move. (https://archive.citrusgate.com/weekly/2026-04-28-20260428-additive-decision-drift)
- Decision drift stayed centered on evaluation, with 131 of 290 companies putting it first (https://archive.citrusgate.com/weekly/2026-04-16-20260417-additive-decision-drift)
- Decision drift stayed centered on evaluation, with 107 of 240 companies putting it first (https://archive.citrusgate.com/weekly/2026-04-11-manual-active-240r-20260411-decision-drift)
- Decision drift stayed centered on evaluation, with 95 of 215 companies putting it first (https://archive.citrusgate.com/weekly/2026-04-04-decision-drift)
- Decision drift stayed centered on evaluation, with 74 of 150 companies putting it first (https://archive.citrusgate.com/weekly/2026-03-30-decision-drift)
- Decision drift centered on evaluation, with 23 of 50 companies putting it first (https://archive.citrusgate.com/weekly/2026-03-26-decision-drift)
## Featured Notes
- Decision drift stays broad until one stalled decision becomes primary (https://archive.citrusgate.com/notes/decision-drift-looks-like-noise-until-it-stalls-the-deal)