Even though the guidelines have curtailed sentencing discretion, the author believes the guidelines still contain considerable flexibility. The most widely recognized avenue of flexibility is the sentencing judge's ability to depart from the prescribed sentencing range. Another area of discretion lies in the judge's fact-finding role and the deference due the judge in applying the law to the facts. To take advantage of the flexibility in the guidelines, judges and probation officers should move away from viewing the guidelines as a totally mechanical scheme. Instead, the focus should be on rigorous analysis of the law and careful development of the facts. It is pointed out that flexibility has a price: the often considerable time and energy involved in developing a record, in making detailed fact findings, and in carefully analyzing governing statutes and their intersection with the guidelines. 40 footnotes