--- title: A goal without a plan is just a wish description: A goal without a plan is just a wish image: https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675950-jpg/blog-files/5.catalyst3-1024x992.jpg --- # A goal without a plan is just a wish Posted by Frederic Persoon - November 13, 2012 - [**](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/2012/11/a-goal-without-a-plan-is-just-a-wish/) - [**](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/2012/11/a-goal-without-a-plan-is-just-a-wish/&title=&summary=&source=) - [**](https://twitter.com/home?status=) - [**](mailto:?&subject=https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/2012/11/a-goal-without-a-plan-is-just-a-wish/&body=https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/2012/11/a-goal-without-a-plan-is-just-a-wish/) ** ![header-picture](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/685080/IMG-TurboSodium/Sodium%20v2/blog/woman-notebook-working-girl.png "header-picture") (*Antoine de Saint-Exupery)* Do you want to improve your software development organization? Great! What are your goals? Improve quality? Speed up development cycles? Deliver better business solutions? Reduce the cost of development and operations? All of the above? Our customers would typically answer “yes” to all those questions. However, as we all have limited resources, and sometimes conflicting priorities, we need to make sure we focus on the right things at the right time, and we need to turn those goals into tangible objectives. A potential path to success (in addition of the typical change management steps from Part I of the post): 1- Assess the current state of your software development organization with the [ALM Catalyst](http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/almcatalyst/Pages/Home.aspx) Assessment from Microsoft. Through a series of targeted interviews and supported by the ALM Catalyst tool, an ALM partner, like InCycle, can help you define those practices that will have a bigger impact on your organization, and develop the plan to improve them, in the right sequence. (*)   [![](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675950-jpg/blog-files/5.catalyst3-1024x992.jpg?width=1024&height=992&name=5.catalyst3-1024x992.jpg)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675950-jpg/blog-files/5.catalyst3-1024x992.jpg) [![](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675960-jpg/blog-files/5.catalyst-iterations1.jpg?width=613&height=510&name=5.catalyst-iterations1.jpg)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675960-jpg/blog-files/5.catalyst-iterations1.jpg) 2- Leverage the InCycle [Blueprint](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/?page_id=41) template to manage the project and measure the improvements. [![](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675970-jpg/blog-files/5.blueprint-report2.jpg?width=1008&height=392&name=5.blueprint-report2.jpg)](http://incycle-corpweb.azurewebsites.net/2012/11/a-goal-without-a-plan-is-just-a-wish/5-blueprint-report-3/) 3- Establish and foster a culture of continuous improvement to ensure you revisit the plan regularly. Agile practices will help. In summary: [![](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675980-jpg/blog-files/5.workflow1.jpg?width=670&height=586&name=5.workflow1.jpg)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675980-jpg/blog-files/5.workflow1.jpg) And remember that automation is your friend, getting near real-time information automatically allows you to make better decisions faster. Do you recall the generic implementation model from the previous post? [![](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675990-jpg/blog-files/4.shift_1-1024x765.jpg?width=1024&height=765&name=4.shift_1-1024x765.jpg)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675990-jpg/blog-files/4.shift_1-1024x765.jpg) Using Microsoft Visual Studio, Team Foundation Server and InCycle Blueprint you will be able to automate, part or all of the following (for Software Development Organizations): [![](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472676000-jpg/blog-files/5.process1-1024x369.jpg?width=1024&height=369&name=5.process1-1024x369.jpg)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472676000-jpg/blog-files/5.process1-1024x369.jpg)   Other Microsoft tools can be used to automate things like objectives mapping, scorecards and what-if scenarios (Microsoft Project Server and SharePoint for example). The other good news is that as they are Microsoft products, Team Foundation Server and Project and Project Server and SharePoint communicate well together and some connectors exist to exchange data between them (TFS with Project and Project Server for example). (*) Check out this [too](http://vsaralmassessment.codeplex.com/) Stay tuned for part III of the post if you are interested in technics and tools you can use to facilitate some of the discussions around change (won’t be about VS-TFS though). Topics: [Blog](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/blog) --- ### Recent Posts By InCycle - 13 November, 2012 #### InCycle Wins Prestigious Microsoft Global Partner of the Year Award [![read more](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/685080/IMG-TurboSodium/Sodium%20v2/blog/arrow-recent-blog-post.png "read more")](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/incycle-wins-prestigious-microsoft-global-partner-of-the-year-award) By InCycle - 13 November, 2012 #### Top 5 Questions On Elevate for App Modernization [![read more](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/685080/IMG-TurboSodium/Sodium%20v2/blog/arrow-recent-blog-post.png "read more")](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/top-five-questions-on-elevate-for-app-modernization) By InCycle - 13 November, 2012 #### GitHub Universe 2025 Top Announcements [![read more](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/685080/IMG-TurboSodium/Sodium%20v2/blog/arrow-recent-blog-post.png "read more")](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/github-universe-2025-top-announcements) --- ### Subscribe to Blog ### ![2025 Microsoft Partner of the Year Winner: InCycle Software](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/hubfs/InCycle%202025%20Microsoft%20PoY%20Badge.png?width=377&height=223&name=InCycle%202025%20Microsoft%20PoY%20Badge.png) ### About this blog Since 2002, InCycle has been providing challenging thought leadership to help customers successfully combine modern application designs, IT platforms and DevOps practices to achieve new levels of success. As a leader in app modernization, these blogs are written by our expert consultants and provide useful information to help on your journey to the cloud and better software. Happy reading! ### Platform Engineering Webinar on Demand PE deep dive and demo! [![Learn More!](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/707613/aae0556f-2d26-4ce4-9b32-e7bebd443c9a.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/707613/aae0556f-2d26-4ce4-9b32-e7bebd443c9a) ### Recent Posts ### Migrating to GitHub? Start with a GitHub Migration Strategy and Roadmap (at no cost!) [![Learn More!](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/707613/312dc03f-1f78-4907-aaaf-3c0aa3cccd8f.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/707613/312dc03f-1f78-4907-aaaf-3c0aa3cccd8f) ### Posts by Topic - [Blog (194)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/blog) - [Video (32)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/video) - [Azure (25)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/azure) - [DevOps (20)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/devops) - [GitHub (13)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/github) - [InRelease (12)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/inrelease) - [Containers (11)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/containers) - [release management (11)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/release-management) - [AKS (10)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/aks) - [CI/CD (10)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/ci-cd) - [Kubernetes (10)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/kubernetes) - [Azure DevOps (9)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/azure-devops) - [Migration (9)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/migration) - [Platform Engineering (PE) (9)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/platform-engineering-pe) - [GenAI (8)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/genai) - [Microsoft Azure (8)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/microsoft-azure) - [Visual Studio (8)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/visual-studio) - [tfs (8)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/tfs) - [Awards (7)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/awards) - [Big Data (6)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/big-data) - [Innovation (6)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/innovation) - [Microsoft (6)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/microsoft) - [agile (6)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/agile) - [vsts (6)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/vsts) - [Data (5)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/data) - [Modernization (5)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/modernization) - [App Modernization (4)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/app-modernization) - [Automated Testing (4)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/automated-testing) - [Data & AI (4)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/data-ai) - [Event (4)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/event) - [MLOps (4)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/mlops) - [Modern Apps (4)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/modern-apps) - [Visual Studio 2017 (4)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/visual-studio-2017) - [DevTest (3)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/devtest) - [Events (3)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/events) - [Governance (3)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/governance) - [VSO (3)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/vso) - [Data Analytics (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/data-analytics) - [Docker (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/docker) - [Integration (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/integration) - [Microsoft Connect (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/microsoft-connect) - [Mobile Development (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/mobile-development) - [RM (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/rm) - [SQL (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/sql) - [SaaS (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/saas) - [TFS 15 Preview (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/tfs-15-preview) - [TFS 2017 (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/tfs-2017) - [Uncategorized (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/uncategorized) - [Visual Studio 2015 (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/visual-studio-2015) - [Xamarin (2)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/xamarin) - [ADX (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/adx) - [AI (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/ai) - [Android (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/android) - [Application Monitoring (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/application-monitoring) - [Apps (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/apps) - [BI (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/bi) - [Brian Harry (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/brian-harry) - [Cloud Azure (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/cloud-azure) - [Cloud Services (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/cloud-services) - [Connect (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/connect) - [Connect 2016 (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/connect-2016) - [Consultants (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/consultants) - [Cosmos DB (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/cosmos-db) - [Data Center (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/data-center) - [Development (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/development) - [EA (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/ea) - [Git (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/git) - [Hybrid (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/hybrid) - [IntelliTes (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/intellites) - [IntelliTest (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/intellitest) - [Lab Management (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/lab-management) - [Live Unit Testing (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/live-unit-testing) - [Load Testing (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/load-testing) - [MSDN (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/msdn) - [MSTest (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/mstest) - [MTM (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/mtm) - [Machine Learning (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/machine-learning) - [Media & Entertainment (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/media-entertainment) - [Microsoft Visual Studio (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/microsoft-visual-studio) - [Microsoft nationally managed partner (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/microsoft-nationally-managed-partner) - [NUnit (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/nunit) - [OpsHub (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/opshub) - [PaaS (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/paas) - [Pipelines (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/pipelines) - [PowerShell (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/powershell) - [Principles and Practices of DevOps (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/principles-and-practices-of-devops) - [Programs (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/programs) - [RC (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/rc) - [Release Candidate (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/release-candidate) - [SQL Databases (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/sql-databases) - [SQL server (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/sql-server) - [SSDT (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/ssdt) - [Software (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/software) - [Subscription & Billing Management (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/subscription-billing-management) - [TFS 15 (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/tfs-15) - [TFS 2015 update (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/tfs-2015-update) - [TFS 2016 (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/tfs-2016) - [TFS ALM (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/tfs-alm) - [TestMethods (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/testmethods) - [UI (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/ui) - [UX (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/ux) - [VS2017 (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/vs2017) - [Validation (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/validation) - [Virtual Machines (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/virtual-machines) - [WPC 2016 (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/wpc-2016) - [Web (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/web) - [Windows (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/windows) - [World Partner Conference (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/world-partner-conference) - [XUnit (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/xunit) - [alm (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/alm) - [automation (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/automation) - [build (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/build) - [code (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/code) - [nationally managed partner (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/nationally-managed-partner) - [sql server 2008 (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/sql-server-2008) - [unit testing (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/unit-testing) - [vm (1)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/topic/vm) [see all](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/2012/11/a-goal-without-a-plan-is-just-a-wish/#) ### Blog Archive - [November 2012 (17)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/archive/2012/11) - [September 2025 (14)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/archive/2025/09) - [October 2014 (12)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/archive/2014/10) - [July 2012 (10)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/archive/2012/07) - [October 2012 (9)](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/archive/2012/10) - [**](https://twitter.com/incyclesoftware?lang=en) - [**](https://ca.linkedin.com/company/incycle-software) - [**](https://www.facebook.com/InCycleSoftware/) ### About us At InCycle, we believe there is always a better way and today, that includes the cloud. [![InCycle Microsoft Partner](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Incycle%202017%20website%20resources/logo-InCycle-New-white.png?width=200&name=logo-InCycle-New-white.png "InCycle Microsoft Partner")](https://www.incyclesoftware.com/) ### Learn more - [Why Incycle?](https://www.incyclesoftware.com/why-incycle) - [Success Stories](https://www.incyclesoftware.com/customer-success-stories) - [Events](https://www.incyclesoftware.com/events) - [Careers](https://www.incyclesoftware.com/careers) - [About](https://www.incyclesoftware.com/about-incycle-software)   ### 1-800-565-0510 [info@incyclesoftware.com](mailto:info@incyclesoftware.com)  ### ![Microsoft GitHub Verified Partner](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/hubfs/GitHub%20Verified%20Partner%20-%20white-SQUARE.png?width=256&height=57&name=GitHub%20Verified%20Partner%20-%20white-SQUARE.png) ![Data & AI Solutions Partner](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Data%20%26%20AI%20Solutions%20Partner.png?width=125&height=144&name=Data%20%26%20AI%20Solutions%20Partner.png) ![Digital & App Innovation Solutions Partner](https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Digital%20%26%20App%20Innovation%20Solutions%20Partner.png?width=125&height=144&name=Digital%20%26%20App%20Innovation%20Solutions%20Partner.png)   © 2025 InCycle Software [Privacy policy](https://www.incyclesoftware.com/privacy) ** ![](https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=302756&fmt=gif) ![](https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=302756&fmt=gif) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Frederic Persoon", "url" : "https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/author/frederic-persoon" }, "datePublished" : "2012-11-13T21:01:54.000Z", "headline" : "A goal without a plan is just a wish", "image" : [ "https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hs-fs/file-3472675950-jpg/blog-files/5.catalyst3-1024x992.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/2012/11/a-goal-without-a-plan-is-just-a-wish/", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blogs.incyclesoftware.com/hubfs/logo-InCycle-New-Blue---transparent.png" }, "name" : "InCycle Software Inc." } } ```