Eric, Wow. You said it all about the reasons to have a plan. Sometimes a five year plan sounds so daunting that people don't do it or do things on the fly, as you noted. Even on the fly if you put in evaluations of how things are going, you can save the day. Five year plans are good because sometimes to get to year 5 you have to plan a detailed path for years 1 to 4. Sometimes plans can be made project by project. We feel one can be creative with the rules.The key issue is to identify what you don't know, measure measure, make changes, and put timetables in place, especially when the right sequence of events is required. Sounds like you have lots to learn from the experience. Thanks, Susan Dr. Susan Schulz