Professional, knowledge-based institutions have a particular form of organization and culture that makes special demands on the strategic planning supervised by research administrators and managers. A model for dynamic strategic planning based on a pragmatic utilization of the multitude of strategy models was used in a small university-affiliated research unit. Working with the strategic planning was well received by the staff, and the research managers gained a good basis for decisions about the future. Key inferences can be drawn from the involvement of staff in strategic planning in a professional organization: 1) the strategic concepts used must be adapted to the specific situation and the specific institution on a continuous basis so the staff accepts the necessity and meaningfulness of strategic planning; 2) the creativity of academic staff members is best expressed throughout the process by repeated written re-formulations of the vision, strategy and action plan of the institution; 3) strategic planning is most meaningful for those who are involved in it, but only the most interested staff members should be involved in the most time-consuming part of the process; and 4) the lemniscatic development method used can help to engage the staff in strategic planning, increasing the legitimacy of the strategy determined for the organization. (Contains 5 figures.)