If the end goal this month is you having an operating system, that means we’ll have to start with a blueprint.

A blueprint does one job: it maps out what the program will be. It puts the pieces together before you invest in solidifying it—aka, before you lock it in in… including rolling it out to leads.

As a good kickoff to our conversation this month, I recommend you watch the recording of the AI and Automation session that I hosted with Epoch last month.

In the recording, you’ll hear me reference the McDonald’s Speedee System. I’m probably going to reference it throughout the month, so here’s the point.

If you’ve watched The Founder, the McDonald’s brothers literally mapped out how to optimize for efficiency in their kitchen.

They mapped it out first.

Then they tested their prototype.

Then they locked it in—meaning they started investing in things to make it concrete.

They did not just build a kitchen and lock it in.

That’s the lesson: you need a blueprint. You need a first pass at what’s going to make this sustainable. What is the operating system going to look like?

Think about the operating system as the conditions that exist on the back end that make employees (volunteers) feel like this is smooth and easy.

When I say “operating system,” I’m not talking about computers. I mean a system of operations. An operating system isn’t just a handbook. It’s not just documents. It’s not just spreadsheets.

It’s how things run—solidified by tools and resources.

That’s why most ERG programs don’t have one. And that’s why the move is to blueprint it first.

Put simply:

We talked about this last month. There needs to be clarity and purpose of the program—and that’s going to help so much.

Clarity is kindness.

The clearer you get on what the ERG program exists to do, the easier it’s going to be for ERG leaders.

Included in that, you need clear (at least stated) boundaries of what’s in scope and what’s out of scope for the ERG program.

You need strategy—year over year—how the program will develop. (See The ERG Movement Model.) People want to understand the end goal (purpose) and the path to get there (strategy).

You need clarity on governance. We’ll talk about recommendations I have on governance and why it matters. When you’re designing your blueprint, you need clarity on:

You also need clarity on what tools will support the work.

And when I say tools, I don’t mean you have to purchase something. I mean: what tools will be in place to make the work easier for each role, for each task they own?

If you’re building tools internally—aka, free—then you really have to get serious about simplicity.

Honestly, even if you’re using ERG software, you’ll still need internal simplicity to support it.

Data is another part of the operating system.

All of this matters because your operating system is bigger than one deliverable. You need a clear map of your purpose, your governance and processes, your tools, and your data systems.

When I say “mapped out,” I mean: put it on paper, simply, as a one-pager.

That one pager should include:

And I want to be really clear:

This is a company program. It’s people-powered, but it’s company-led—so you need to lead it and provide clarity of structure.

Then your one pager needs at least a little more context for each role:

And of couse for the ERG program overall, what are the input metrics and outcome metrics?

If you have that, you have a blueprint.

You don’t have the operating system just yet—there are still things to build. But it starts with this.