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Army design methodology pros and cons
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US military achieved varied to questionable results in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Unfortunately, the complex adaptive nature of the operational environment and a dependence on medium structure problem framing prevented US policymakers and military leaders from observing and adjusting to the emergence of new conditions. The Army Design Methodology (ADM) is the US Army's response to complicated problems in an adaptive environment. What makes ADM such a valuable tool in preventing mission failure is the key concept of collaboration and dialogue. To understand why ADM is imperative to military planning, potential users must understand how impacts ill-structured problems have on planning and execution, examine the influence ADM can have …show more content…
The continuous mix of conceptual and detailed planning gives military professionals a critical capability to promote shared understanding and avoid cognitive planning traps, patterns of thought that prevent military professionals from identifying critical relationships in their environment. ADM and integrated planning help to create adaptive solutions by focusing on the key elements of an ill-structured problem: what the structure of the ill-problem is and what the starting hypothesis should be. While there are no directed steps in ADM, the recommended method is to use an iterative blend of framing the operational environment, the problem, and solutions using key concepts such as operational art, critical and creative thinking, collaboration, and dialogue, systems thinking, visual modeling, and narrative construction. However, it is not the steps that are important, but rather the cognitive …show more content…
The first is to select the right planners for conceptual planning. While everyone in an organization plays a vital role, ADM benefits having experienced team members who deal with uncertainty as a function of their roles and responsibilities. As Mary Jo Hatch mentions in Organizational Theory, those who deal with uncertainty are better suited to deal with ill-structured problems. Success in dealing with uncertainty implies those members understand how to take preventive steps to avoid failure, forecast future needs for probable changes, and implement absorption measures to adopt new values. These critical capabilities can benefit a planning
Effective planning is impossible without first understanding the problem. Commanders rely on personal observations, experiences, and input from others to develop understanding. They also prioritize information requests and incorporate additional information as those requests are answered. A complete understanding of the problem and environment builds the foundation for the operational process and ...
(U) Background: Over the course of United States history the Army has made changes to how it engages its foreign enemies. These tactics techniques and procedures are the result of lessons learned during conflict, mistakes made under fire, and the results of a nation at war. As a result the IPB process has changed to accommodate a dynamic and often fluid battlefield. However this has not changed the core concept behind IPB, the four steps still remain an integral part of the Commanders Military Decision Making Process (MDMP), and are essential in war gaming. IPB assist in providing valuable Intelligence to the War Fighter throughout all phases of operations. This paper will cover each step of the IPB Process as well as discuss products associated with each of those steps and how these products can be an asset to the Commander and the War Fighter.
The benefits to those organizations that choose to embark on the process of developing a long-range plan are numerous as well as invaluable. Organizations that commit to such planning are able to establish objectives and priorities, make clear their future direction, adapting to both internal and external environmental changes, resolve major issues that impact the organization and obstacles and provide a clear and justifiable rationale for decision making (Bryson & Einsweiler, 1988, p. 3). Ultimately, the public is better
The Army incorporated the concept of design into doctrine to emphasize the importance of developing an appreciation of complex problems and ways to solve them before conducting detailed planning. Design’s holistic understanding of unique situations is reached through critical and creative thinking, mediated by discourse and drawings. ADM addresses a different approach to provide the ends, ways, and means to answer the commander’s question. The first part of this paper will explain how understanding the problem provides the initial approach framework. The second part will demonstrate how visualizing the problem allows the commander to conceptualize. The third and final part explores how understand...
War finds success and failure inescapably linked to how well the Combined, Joint, and Multinational Commander ensures the Joint War Fighting Function “Sustainment” planning is linked to strategic, operational and tactical objectives. General Eisenhower’s Operation OVERLORD, the Allied cross channel, air, and seaborne invasion of France during World War II provides an excellent case study to show successful integration of the principles and the spirit of the Joint War Fighting Function “Sustainment.” OVERLORD required synchronizing, coordinating, and integrating the logistics capabilities of coalition forces, their equipment as well as civilian manufacturing capabilities to meet the strategic end state (e.g. the defeat of Germany). This article will review the purpose and definition of Joint Sustainment, its imperatives and logistics planning principles and examine how Eisenhower and his planners incorporated these imperatives and principles into Operation OVERLORD.
Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education (U.S.) United States. Department of the Air Force, (2012a) Team Building (LM07), Maxwell-Gunter Annex, AL: Department of the Air Force
The operational requirements of the Army during overseas contingency operations have been extensive. The Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) Model has proven effective in sustaining persistent mission requirements by ensuring units are operationally prepared to deploy. Commanders and Senior Non Commissioned Officers (SNCO) have responded professionally to the ARFORGEN process by building and maintained cohesive units ready to meet the stringent demands of COIN operations. U...
LM06, Strategic Planning Student Guide. (2013). Maxwell-Gunter AFB. Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education (AETC).
Compare and Contrast the Army Problem Solving Model (Process) with the Rapid Decision Making and Synchronization Process (C100). As a leader and Sergeant Major, I must have the essential skills to identify and solve problems in order to accomplish the missions we face in our current and future operational environment. The army has provide us with two techniques in order to identify and solve problems; the army problem solving model which is a systematic approach to a decision making process, and the rapid-decision making and synchronization process which provide a rapid solution to a rapid changing environment. There are several similarities and differences between these two processes, as I compared the process I realized they both utilize the higher headquarter guidance, subordinates, personal observation, and decision-making guide in order to identify problems. These problems exist due to a difference between the current state of condition and the desire state of conditions.
This paper will not bore with the definition of a profession. The United States Army is about more than words, it is about action. The action of over 238 years of tradition and service. The Army is a profession. A profession requires its members to adhere to prolonged training and learn specialized skills. A member of a profession must wholly commit himself and his skills to a calling which is entrusted by the public. A profession provides its members with intrinsic value which motivates beyond financial gain. The Army is a higher calling which demands all of these qualities and more.
The ability to understand a problem, determine the desired end state, and develop a strategy to achieve that end state is a highly sought after skill in every facet of the military profession. However, in a joint setting, the problems are generally much more complex requiring an advanced mastery of problem solving from joint staff officers. The complexities of planning on the joint staff level stem from the amount of education it takes to simply understand the problem. Joint staff officers not only must understand the components and capabilities of their own service, they must also understand any service they might interact with to include the nine combatant commands. These demands put a heavy emphasis on joint professional military education before the joint staff officer shows up to their assignm...
One of the most apparent activities of irregular warfare in Somalia was the planning development. Typically, we engage in parallel planning which implies concurrent planning and simultaneous coordination among planners from the strategic to the tactical level...
Design is a focused inquiry that enables the commander and staff to make sense of a complex situation, capture that understanding,17 and share the resulting cognitive map. Commanders use design to frame the environment, identify conditions contrary to US national interests, and describe the tensions resident in potential future conditions that describe a problem we must solve or manage. From that understanding of the environment, a critical analysis of the problem compared to the desired outcome based on projected future conditions occurs. The products of environmental and problem framing lead to the development of potential solutions. The design method is iterative, relies upon constant inquiry, and is inherently non-linear. Systems thinking and discourse based upon learning and assessments enable design and continue throughout planning and execution.18 For example, in Kosovo the desired political solution (essentially a Serbian-free Kosovo province) was developed in isolation from the realities of the environment. The strategic end state failed to consider the existing conditions, the potential actors, the tendencies within the environment, internal and external relationships, the patterns of resistance, as well as the opposition to or support of any proposed solutions. The 78-day bombing
ADM offers Commanders and planning staff a tool for the conceptual component of an integrated planning process. The goal is to provide the commander with a cognitive tool that he can use to understand the logic of the system. Design is non-linear in thought and application. Its methodology clari¬fies guidance in the consideration of operational environment, and the current system is understood within existing limitations. The design team pro¬duces an environmental frame, an initial problem statement, and an initial theory of action. As the teams’ understanding increases and the nature of the problem begins to take form, the team explores in greater detail aspects of the environment that appear relevant to the problem. Here choices are made about boundaries and areas for possible inter¬vention. From this deeper understanding, the des...
In both methods of planning, short term and long term it is necessary to achieve top-notch results. Like in any other process, there are both benefits and pitfalls to planning. Good planning provides a clear focus for the company, raises effort, increases persistence, and develops task strategies. In the first benefit of planning, important members focus on what is important in order to achieve the planned outcome. The second benefit of planning increases effort in the execution process. A plan-oriented company gives a greater energy in a specific project situation than a company that is not plan oriented. Adding to this advantage, the effort helps reduce time waste and maximizes productivity. The third benefit of planning is persistence. Persistence is important in achieving a goal and becoming successful; persistence is the willingness to continue a task regardless of changes in a plan. In the fourth benefit of planning, planners are encouraged to contribute with their ideas and participate in the goal process at any time. Despite the benefits of planning, the process of planning can also have its disadvantages. The main disadvantage of planning is the members’ misconception that planning solves problems. Because of their misconception, planners rely on opinions rather ...