p.5 this paper seeks to explain that counterinsurgencies are complex
and require the use of Operational Design at the infantry battalion level to better frame the problem they face. The malleable
format and the interactive, iterative nature of Operational Design allows for a myriad of actors to assist in problem framing.
Proper framing of the problem situation and understanding the context in which the problem exists will facilitate
the conduct of detailed planning.
p.13 In a 2006 Marine Corps Warfighting Lab concept paper titled
"A Systemic Concept for Operational Design," John Schmitt describes the problems faced by modem military commanders in a manner
that is strikingly similar to Dr. Kilcullen's description of the "conflict ecosystem". Schmitt hypothesizes that,
in the future, modern military commanders at all levels will face "wicked problems." These "wicked problems" also described
as "complex operational situations," pertain to "primarily social problems that are particularly difficult and confusing,
though not necessarily irresolvable." Schmitt goes on to describe these "wicked problems" as situations
that are "essentially unknowable" and states that leaders can develop a systematic understanding of these problems
to cope "with pervasive uncertainty rather than trying to eliminate it." Schmitt also states that "solutions to wicked
problems ... must be created rather than chosen" and that "Each wicked problem is a one-of-a-kind
situation requiring a custom solution rather than a standard solution modified to fit circumstances."
p.15 Schmitt seeks to create an operational design process based on
systems thinking that garners the causes of the problem situation instead of relating the solution of the problem to the defeat
of an enemy force.
