Military Review English Edition January-February 2015 | Page 73

PERFECTION OF PROCESS

(Photo by Staff Sgt. Michael Lemmons, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division PAO)

During a brainstorming session, a soldier from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, writes down his ideas on a dry erase
board while attending an “Art of Design” class, 17 August 2012.

Perfection of Process
Does Not Equal Perfect
Understanding
Maj. David Oakley, U.S. Army

T

wo distinct aspects of design—as taught at the
School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS),
Fort Leavenworth, Kan. —are the spirit of design
and the practical, methodological approach contained
in the Army design methodology (ADM).1 The spirit of
design is not concerned with specific processes or particular methods but is a way of thinking that appreciates
the interconnectedness, complexity, and uncertainty
MILITARY REVIEW  January-February 2015

in the world. Embracing the spirit of design conditions
Army planners for the unpredictability that defines their
operational environment.2 The ADM is the Army’s practical approach for dealing with that unpredictability—it
provides planners a common lexicon to enable effective
collaboration and communication.3 Although the ADM
enhances planning, Army planners must remember that
design is not a perfected military decisionmaking process
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