In a recent Edge International Survey on Strategic Planning, we learned the following: 10% of firms have a strategy to remain flexible and opportunistic (“OK!”) 13% of firms are in the process of preparing a strategic plan (“We believe you!”) 15% of firms have a strategic plan but have not committed it to writing (“Oh my!”) 60% of firms have a formal, written strategic plan (“Congrats — if all your people know what it says”) 2% Other responses If you ask most lawyers where their next matter will come from, they will say something like “it depends…”. If asked: “depends on what?” the response is typically “depends on who calls or writes or faxes or emails next”. Great plan. You just sit there like a grain of sand on the beach and your next work opportunity depends on the the nature of the next wave that rolls in. images-5.jpg Planning is about making choices about what you prefer to do. You earn the right to do those things by providing more valuable legal work that the right prospective clients can appreciate. PunchLine: If you don’t have a written plan, you don’t have a plan. If you don’t have a plan, then you are a ship without a course… and guess what happens to ships without a destination. ssl-shipwreck.gif