p.28 effective planning has both a conceptual and a detailed component.
p.29 design is a tool for conceptual thinking, and effective solutions
require both a conceptual component and a detailed component.
p.29 Any problem that involves predicting the behavior of human beings is inherently complex.
p.30 We plan, almost exclusively, in an environment of uncertainty.
p.30 There simply is no substitute for clear and concise thinking
p.30 When Army officers
reflected on their First World War experiences in Infantry in Battle, they concluded that the
most essential element in the “practice of the art of war” is the ability to “cut to the heart of a situation,
recognize its decisive elements, and base . . . [a] course of action on these.” The ability to do this, they
concluded, requires “training in solving problems of all types, long practice in making clear, unequivocal decisions,
the habit of concentrating on the question at hand, and an elasticity of mind.”
p.31 It [the design methodology] allows them
[commanders and their staff] to better understand the complexity of the problem by becoming
familiar with the critical elements in the environment and then approximating the problem to
a level of simplicity that allows for meaningful action... The design methodology does not produce an executable solution, however. Its role is to assist the commander in “getting his arms around”
a new and unfamiliar problem or an old problem that has changed in some new and unexpected way.
Having achieved that, the design methodology must be integrated with a more detailed approach to planning
p.31 effective planning requires both conceptual and
detailed thinking. All effective planning requires a conceptual component, and many of the ideas
underlying the design methodology (such as reflection, iteration, systems thinking,
learning theory, narrative, cultural lenses, and more) are useful to the commander and staff even
when there is insufficient time to explicitly employ the design methodology as described in FM 5-0. An effective planner will find himself using these tools even when faced
with problems that are relatively familiar to him because they allow him to move quickly to the more detailed planning that
is necessary for action.
p.34 planners must be able to master conceptual thinking and detailed
thinking, with the design methodology serving as one of several available tools. The ability of a commander or a planner
to recognize the decisive elements of a problem and develop a course of action based on these rests on his ability to think
in both conceptual terms and in detail.
