Committee Archaeology

The buying committee you see in meetings is the visible committee. The buying committee that decides is often a different group entirely — one that assembles informally, consults privately, and reaches consensus before the formal evaluation process concludes. Committee archaeology is the practice of excavating the actual decision structure from the signals left by previous purchase decisions. How did this organization buy their last major technology platform? Who was involved? Who was not in the meetings but shaped the outcome? The archaeological record of past decisions reveals the decision architecture that current decisions will follow.

The excavation follows three evidence trails. Procurement records reveal who signed, who approved, and what review stages the purchase passed through. Internal references from your coach reveal who "weighed in" on the last major decision — and the phrasing matters. "Weighed in" means informal influence. "Approved" means formal authority. "Killed it" means veto power. The third trail is organizational memory: ask three different people in the organization how the last major purchase decision was made and compare the answers. The overlapping names across all three accounts are the permanent committee. The names that appear in only one account are the situational members who rotate based on the purchase domain.