Strategic planning is necessary to structure and move an organization toward specified goals while taking into account changes impacting the organization over time. One strategic model involves a process whereby the guiding members of an organization envision its future and develop the procedures and operations required to achieve that future. Another strategic planning model involves a systematic, interactive process for thinking through and creating the organization's best possible future. The primary elements of all strategic planning are a management-for-results orientation, external environmental analysis, and internal organizational assessment. A management-for-results orientation requires management personnel to step back from their daily duties and examine major issues affecting the department and the community and then determining the results the department should be achieving in 5 to 10 years. The primary activities of environmental analysis are data gathering and analysis of relevant trends. The organizational assessment determines an organization's capabilities in the context of its mission. The article concludes with a description of strategic planning in the FBI. 4 footnotes.