Planning Beyond Tactics: Towards a Military Application of the Philosophy of Design in the Formulation of Strategy
Abstract
The recognition of the failure at the strategic and operational levels of war during the Global War on Terrorism, specifically in Iraq, has resulted in a quest for intellectual solutions to complex operational and strategic problems. To date this has resulted in a tacit acknowledgment that the Military Decision Making Process (MDMP) is not equipped to tackle ill-defined problems and that a complementary approach is required. This monograph does not attempt to evaluate these new processes or seek to incorporate them within existing doctrine. Instead, it sets out the philosophy behind a design approach to planning that is complementary to existing decision-making tools. The broad design theory is an amalgam of the Israeli concept of Systemic Operational Design (SOD), Effects-Based Approach (EBA), and Systems-of-Systems Analysis (SoSA). The monograph elucidates the philosophical functions that are contingent to this process. The distinction between Form, Function, and Logic has been embraced as the method used for explaining the philosophy of design. This builds on the writing of Deleuze and his "philosophy of difference." The design approach produces more robust planning guidance, a frame of reference that enables reframing when the situation changes, a strategy that is easy to communicate, and the explicit step of acknowledging our own biases and perspectives in shaping how we view the world. The conclusion of the monograph is not to replace the MDMP for planning or as a tool for decisions of implementation, but that a design approach is more appropriate for the creation of strategy at every level, and it concerns primarily decisions of consequence.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 22, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA494400
Entities
People
- Edward P. Hayward
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College