The Army Design Methodology (ADM), developed as part of Army doctrine on the heels of failed campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, provides an approach for commanders and staffs to navigate the uncertainty and complexity associated with military operations. If properly understood and utilized, the ADM provides a vehicle for fostering an environment of creativity, problem solving, and adaption within an organization. Within the Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan (CSTC-A), ADM enables the command to foster three qualities to evolve as a learning organization. CSTC-A can best utilize ADM to build a culture of critical and creative thinking, improve the staff’s ability to analyze and develop solutions to complex problems, and foster
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Borrowing from Clausewitz, the problem frame might be described as the ‘gap’ in understanding between the current and future state, where critical analysis enables the exploration of potential obstacles. These obstacles provide a basis for framing the interrelationships between problems an organization must overcome to achieve the desired end state. Explained through narrative and visual means, the problem frame provides the basis for developing the operational approach. While the problem frame identifies relevant obstacles to achieving the future state, the operational approach consists of a conceptual plan to overcome those obstacles. It describes the broad actions the organization must take to move the environment from the current state to the desired future state. The operational approach considers elements of Operational Art in describing a broad framework for action, with its conceptual products and analysis informing the detailed planning associated with the Military Decisions Making Process (MDMP). Doctrinally, ADM provides a method for thinking about and solving complex, ill-structured problems. If understood and implemented properly, ADM provides a secondary benefit as a vehicle for fostering three qualities of creativity, problem solving, and adaption to evolve CSTC-A as a learning …show more content…
The effective use of ADM depends on critical thinking in a process oriented approach to design stimulated by discussion, dialogue, discourse, and diversity of thought. By engendering these qualities in the organization through the practice of design, CSTC-A can improve its ability to operate in the adaptive, innovative space required to solve complex operational problems. Dr. Mary Uhl-Bien, a professor of complexity leadership at Texas Christian University, identifies the most innovative and effective organizations as those which develop a culture that work most effectively within the ‘adaptive space’ of problem solving. These organizations leverage individual and group creativity by removing administrative and process barriers that prevent open dialogue and discourse. Organizations that work most effectively in the adaptive space, such as the Prussian General Staff under Helmuth von Moltke, develop ideas and creative solutions to military problems unconstrained by the way things ‘should be done’ or ‘have always been
Borrowing from Clausewitz, the problem frame might be described as the ‘gap’ in understanding between the current and future state, where critical analysis enables the exploration of potential obstacles. These obstacles provide a basis for framing the interrelationships between problems an organization must overcome to achieve the desired end state. Explained through narrative and visual means, the problem frame provides the basis for developing the operational approach. While the problem frame identifies relevant obstacles to achieving the future state, the operational approach consists of a conceptual plan to overcome those obstacles. It describes the broad actions the organization must take to move the environment from the current state to the desired future state. The operational approach considers elements of Operational Art in describing a broad framework for action, with its conceptual products and analysis informing the detailed planning associated with the Military Decisions Making Process (MDMP). Doctrinally, ADM provides a method for thinking about and solving complex, ill-structured problems. If understood and implemented properly, ADM provides a secondary benefit as a vehicle for fostering three qualities of creativity, problem solving, and adaption to evolve CSTC-A as a learning …show more content…
The effective use of ADM depends on critical thinking in a process oriented approach to design stimulated by discussion, dialogue, discourse, and diversity of thought. By engendering these qualities in the organization through the practice of design, CSTC-A can improve its ability to operate in the adaptive, innovative space required to solve complex operational problems. Dr. Mary Uhl-Bien, a professor of complexity leadership at Texas Christian University, identifies the most innovative and effective organizations as those which develop a culture that work most effectively within the ‘adaptive space’ of problem solving. These organizations leverage individual and group creativity by removing administrative and process barriers that prevent open dialogue and discourse. Organizations that work most effectively in the adaptive space, such as the Prussian General Staff under Helmuth von Moltke, develop ideas and creative solutions to military problems unconstrained by the way things ‘should be done’ or ‘have always been