← all 24 equations
Equation #4 · Chapter 2
Vendor Gravity Force F_g
Vendor Gravity Force
F_g · Ch 2Sunk cost × political capital ÷ migration effort². You can't fight the well; orbit it.
Worked example — A 2009 core policy ledger
About $40M sunk. The COO's entire tenure is attached to it. And — this is the part everyone forgets to score — there is a costed, staffed migration plan sitting on a shelf from last year.
It came out at 2.0. Yellow — heavy, but not immovable.
The migration plan is the only thing holding that number down. Take it away — score the migration path a 3, because nobody can describe it — and the identical system reads 8.0: red, do not pitch replacement. Whether you sell a migration or sell a sidecar depends almost entirely on whether someone has already costed the move.
Your turn — change one number
Result2.00
Yellow. Heavy. Position as a sidecar first; earn escape velocity.