Definition #
The accumulation of vendors in the operator’s stack without an audit process. The stack grows by addition and inertia, not by design, until it no longer reflects the operation’s actual needs.
Family #
Performance / Perspective condition. Antagonist of [Stack Lock]. Related to [Vendor Capture] (the condition where the vendor relationship has captured the operator’s decision-making). Child condition of [Static Decline] — Stack Drift is often the mechanism that produces Static Decline before it becomes visible.
Why Behind the Thinking #
Vendors do not leave on their own. They accumulate. Each addition made sense at the time — but without a standing audit discipline, the stack becomes a sediment record of past decisions rather than a live architecture serving current operational needs. The operator who has not audited their stack is not running the operation they built — they are running the operation that accumulated while they were busy running shifts. Stack Drift is not a vendor problem. It is an audit discipline problem.
Pairs With #
[Stack Lock], [Vendor Capture], [Orphaned Act Test], [Operator’s Filter], [Static Decline], [Informal Instrumentation], [Conscious Investment]
Placement #
Performance / Perspective. Candidate status — workshop pending for full development.
