Designing the Desired State: A Process and Model for Operational Design
Abstract
The irregular wars fought in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 have highlighted the need for a new approach to planning when facing ill-structured problems. Operational design is a suitable approach; however, implementation has fallen short and begs for a simple model and process for explanation. The irregular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have highlighted the need for a new planning process. Irregular warfare has proved to be much more complex than conventional warfare. The Marine Corps Planning Process (MCPP) has proven insufficient in dealing with the interactive complexity found in irregular warfare. Planners using MCPP have difficulty understanding interactively complex situations, defining the root problems, and devising innovative solutions. MCPP is an analytical decision-making process whose purpose is analyzing the mission, developing several courses of action (COAs), and choosing the optimal COA. Planners did not develop MCCP with the purpose of understanding interactively complex situations, defining problems, and devising innovative solutions. Toward the end of the Vietnam War, urban planners began to realize the limitations of applying analytical methods to solve interactively complex problems. They found there were two basic types of problems: tame problems and ill-structured problems. They found that it was important to understand the type of problem they faced, so that they could apply the proper solution method. Whereas tame problems lend themselves to analytical approaches, they found that ill-structured problems require a synthetic approach, similar to the design approach that architects apply. In 2005, faced with mounting insurgencies in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army began to experiment with operational design and the Marine Corps has recently followed suit. Both approaches have had implementation shortfalls, mostly because they are overly complicated and lack a defined process. A simple, comprehensible design process that planners can apply a
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA534919
Entities
People
- Jonathan M. Stofka
Organizations
- Marine Corps University