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Fuller IP · working session

Today we agree on the handful.

July 9, 2026  ·  Rod, Bryce, Nick, and Marvin  ·  90 minutes

Ninety minutes on the process side of the firm. Today’s goal: name the handful of core processes that make Fuller IP work, and agree on what to call them. Documenting comes later, and goes faster because of today. The whiteboard and the pens do the real work. These pages keep us oriented.

What we leave with
01

A shared map

The whole journey, from commitment to followed by all, seen once and agreed.

02

The handful, named

Five to twelve core processes on the board, each with a name we all use from now on.

03

A first target

The process we document first, who owns it, and when the draft is due.

The run of the session

Handful, and agree. Those two words take the time, and they are the point.
The 30,000-foot view

One commitment, three steps, one checklist.

The whole journey on one surface. Today lives in step one of the documenter: Identify.

STAGE 1

COMMIT

The leadership team decides the process side of the firm matters, commits to seeing the work through, and names a champion to carry it.

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STAGE 2

3-STEP PROCESS DOCUMENTER

Agree on the handful, write each one down simply, and put them where people work.

1 Identify TODAY
2 Document and simplify
3 Package
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STAGE 3

FBA CHECKLIST

How the handful becomes followed by all.

Train · everyone learns it, from the process itself
Measure · leading numbers, watched weekly
Manage · hold the line, praise by it
Update · change on purpose, not by drift

Most teams complete this journey in nine to twelve months, working a quarter at a time. Today is the first hour of step one.
Step 1 · today’s work

Identify the handful of core processes.

The exercise looks like a five-minute job. It takes about an hour, and the hour is spent on two words: handful, and agree.

What it is

A handful means five to twelve. Not the million things people do every day: the 20 percent of repeatable work that produces 80 percent of the firm’s value. What makes clients stay, deadlines hold, and the firm worth more than the sum of its matters.

Why it matters

Nothing gets done consistently well until the leadership team is 100 percent clear and on the same page. Alignment here is what melts resistance later. Skip it, and the documenting that follows lands on people who never agreed it mattered.

How it runs
1

Jump-start. A sample list goes up first, to prime thinking. It is not the answer.

2

Five quiet minutes. Each of you writes your own list. Sincerely five, sincerely quiet. No processing out loud yet.

3

One board. Every item goes up next to the sample list, where everyone can see it. No debate while compiling.

4

Decide, one item at a time. Core process? Name it. Not core? It folds into another as a major step, or it comes off the board.

5

Agree what to call each one, forever. “Sales” or “business development.” Pick one and present a united front.

6

Table of contents. The surviving names become the contents page of the future Fuller IP playbook.

The decision walk · every item, one at a time

“Is this one of our core processes?”

YES

Ask what we call it. Agree on the name. Move to the next item.

NO

Ask: is it a major step in another core process?

Yes → fold it in, note where.

No → cross it out.

The jump-start list

A primer for an IP firm, not your list. Yours comes from the quiet minutes.

PEOPLE
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
CLIENT INTAKE
PATENT PROSECUTION
TRADEMARK PRACTICE
DOCKETING AND DEADLINES
CLIENT REPORTING
BILLING AND COLLECTIONS
RUNNING THE FIRM
The board at the end

Illustrative. The strikethroughs are the hour doing its job.

HR  PEOPLE
MARKETING  BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
CLIENT INTAKE
CONFLICTS CHECK → into client intake
PATENT PROSECUTION
IDS FILING → into prosecution
DOCKETING AND DEADLINES ← today’s debate: its own, or a step? decide once
INVOICING → into billing
BILLING AND COLLECTIONS
RUNNING THE FIRM
The board · live capture

Optional. The whiteboard is the primary surface; this copy survives the eraser. It stays on this machine.

{{ coreLabel }}
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Watch-fors

“We have thirty, not twelve.”

Let the long list happen, then whittle together. One billing process with major steps beats five separate ones. Detail can live underneath, later, owned by whoever loves it.

“Is this a process, a procedure, or an SOP?”

Skip the dictionary. If it is not one of the most important repeatable things the firm does, it is not core. Decide and keep moving.

Perfectionism

Nobody nails the list today, and nobody needs to. It gets revisited every quarter. Progress, not perfection.

It matters what you call a thing

Debate the name, agree, then use it forever. A united front on small words buys credibility for larger changes.

About an hour, for any team that lets the walk do its work. The record we know of is fifty-eight minutes.
Step 2 · the next ninety days

Document and simplify each one.

What it is

For each core process, agree the major steps: the five to twenty-five things that must go right every time. Each major step gets two to five plain bullets covering who, what, when, and how. One page per process. A checklist, not a binder.

Why it matters

Simple checklists move outcomes even for experts: surgical teams cut major complications by a third once the basics became unskippable. And a written, approved process ends the circular argument about people versus process. You look at where it broke, and fix the root.

How it runs

One owner per process, accountable for finishing it, not for doing it all. Observe the work first, without fixing anything. Then five questions: what is the objective, where does it start and end, are we getting the results we want, what are the keys to success, what causes problems. Draft, leadership review, approve. Ninety days is the usual rhythm.

Example · new matter intake

1. Inquiry logged

source, matter type, urgency

2. Conflicts check

parties, related matters, clearance recorded

3. Scope and fee agreed

deliverable, estimate, timing

4. Engagement letter signed

signed copy filed

5. Matter opened

number assigned, docket entered, team named

Illustrative. The real one comes from observing the work. Major steps only; the person doing the work supplies the craft.

If we document one today, we use the Get What You Want sheet.
Step 3 · when drafts exist

Package: easy to find, easy to use.

What it is

Choose the format that fits the work: a page, a checklist, a workflow, a short video. Give the whole set one home and one name.

Why it matters

People spend up to a fifth of the working week hunting for information. A process nobody can find is a process nobody follows. Emailing a link once is not packaging.

The likely shape here

Fuller IP works in documents, dockets, and deadlines, so the natural form is a short, dated, searchable set inside the systems the firm already uses: one page per process, visible from where the work happens. Then name the set. “The Fuller Way” is available.

After today · filled in the room

Stays on this machine.

Then comes the FBA checklist

Train

Everyone who touches a process learns it, from the process itself.

Measure

A few leading numbers per process, watched weekly.

Manage

Hold the line to the process, and praise by it.

Update

The process changes when the firm learns. On purpose, not by drift.

That is the third stage on the map, and the reason the first two exist: followed by all.
A documenting sheet · if time allows

Begin at the end.

Name the outcome first, in the right-hand box: what do you want? Then work backward, recording only the steps that must happen well to produce it. The frequency under each step becomes a leading indicator: the number that says on Tuesday, not at month-end, whether the outcome is coming.

Example · business development What do you want? ↓ start here, work backward
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Add target client to list
8 / WK
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Reach out
4 / WK
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First conversation
2 / WK
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Conflicts and needs check
1 / WK
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Draft engagement letter
2 / MO
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Present and follow up
2 / MO
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1 new client / MO

Read it from the right. One new client a month asks for eight names a week, four touches, two first conversations, one conflicts and needs check, and two letters a month. If a weekly number slips, you know long before revenue does.

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Prints clean on letter, landscape. Type in the boxes, or print blanks and use pens. The small arrows move a step left or right. Entries stay on this machine.