The Power of a Blueprint: Why Success Starts with a Plan

This week, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel and speak with entrepreneurs serving the senior living and elderly care community. At the end of the session, our panel host asked me: "What one piece of advice would you give these entrepreneurs on managing their own back-office IT footprint?" As I pondered the question in real-time, I found myself returning to an answer I first gave 30 years ago: Never build or buy any software without a clearly defined blueprint of what you want the outcome to be.

A few hours later, on a call with a C-suite team member from one of our partners, I found myself once again referring to the importance of a blueprint as we discussed strengthening our partnership. This reaffirmed my belief—blueprints are essential. But why am I obsessed with them? Why are they so important? That’s the topic for this week’s #ReflectionFriday.

Would You Build a House Without a Blueprint?

The question seems rhetorical, right? In nearly 30 years of asking it, I can count on one hand the number of times someone has answered "yes." No one would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) on a custom home or addition without first ensuring they understood what the finished product should look like—where the electrical, plumbing, and other essential systems should go. In this scenario, we all clearly understand the value of a blueprint.

Yet, in the world of business, I often meet with clients who either need new software or have suffered through a failed deployment. My first question is always: Do you have a blueprint for what success looks like? Have you mapped out how this piece of software will integrate into your IT ecosystem? Is it compatible with the rest of your infrastructure? Unfortunately, in nearly every failed deployment, the answer is: “No, but we had a plan.”

When I ask why they don’t have a blueprint, the responses are predictable:

• "We didn’t have time."
• "We couldn’t afford it."
• "Our IT leader or partner said we didn’t need one."

My response is always the same: Would you build your house without a blueprint? The answer is inevitably "no." That’s when I explain why IT projects are just like building a house—without investing in a blueprint, your odds of success are low. Here’s why:

The Risks of No Blueprint

1. No Blueprint = Cost Overruns Think about any home construction project—you’re told to budget at least 20% more than the estimate, even with a blueprint. Now apply that logic to an IT project. According to McKinsey, the average IT project experiences a 45% cost overrun, and that includes projects that come in on time and within budget.
2. No Blueprint = No Definition of Success Companies often buy software with a vision of success in mind. However, if that vision isn’t documented and shared with your implementation partner—whether internal or external—achieving satisfaction will be difficult.
3. No Blueprint = No Flexibility IT vendors change, and new team members are hired. Without a blueprint, onboarding and troubleshooting require costly assessments to figure out how to fix or enhance applications. A well-documented blueprint accelerates problem-solving and allows businesses to seek competitive bids more efficiently.
4. No Blueprint = No Common Language Most people don’t speak IT fluently. A blueprint serves as a communication tool to ensure all stakeholders—technical and non-technical—understand the desired outcome.

Conclusion

Today’s world is filled with SaaS applications, AI solutions, and an endless stream of point solutions designed to solve specific problems. Without an overarching blueprint that shows how everything connects to your central system—your ERP, for example—you are flying blind in a dynamic, ever-changing landscape.

As Little Richard once said, “I never accepted the idea that I had to be guided by some pattern or blueprint.” But in business, having a blueprint isn’t about restriction—it’s about setting the foundation for success.