All work environments face unfamiliar and unexpected difficulties that hinder the achievement of the desired results. The use of critical and creative thinking in Army Design Methodology (ADM) supports understanding, visualizing, describing, and resolving unexpected situations, through the interconnected procedure.
Army Design Methodology is a methodology for applying critical and creative thinking to understand, visualize, and describe unfamiliar problems and approaches to solving them (Department of the Army, 2015). ADM allows leaders and subordinates to think broadly about the issue by identifying the Operational Environment (OE) and associated problems. Commanders and staff create a more informed approach to solving or managing recognized problems due to this information (Department of the Army, 2015).
There are numerous other tools and models available to the commander and planning team for framing operational environments, framing problems, and developing approaches to solve those problems. (Department of the Army, 2015). By focusing on building the skills necessary for strategic and critical thinking, as well as creating decision-making, one will ensure that the army members will make relevant decisions and gain an advantage in the context of the target setting, where the enemy has reinforced the positions.
Framing the Problem
One should represent the current framing of the problem as that one pertaining to the issue of decision-making in the complex environment of the battle. Specifically, the fact that Houthis have a significant advantage due to their awareness of the local infrastructure and the associated factors makes their position solid. As a result, Houthis are likely to target the Yemen Army by using unexpected attacks as the key to their success (Emami & Zare, 2020). For this reason, integrating the element of uncertainty into the training process and encouraging the troops to become flexible and resourceful in their decision-making is vital.
At the same time, the training process must reinforce the principles of flexibility and situational leadership. Indeed, according to the Department of Army (2015), the process of framing suggests “critical and creative thinking by a group to build models that represent the current conditions of the operational environment (current state) and models that represent what the operational environment should look like” (p. 12).
Therefore, by framing the issue as the necessity for the troops to build a skillset associated with flexibility, innovativeness, proactiveness, and resourcefulness, one will introduce a substantial advantage to the army, which will compensate for the current territorial and infrastructural benefits of the Houthis.
Nature of Problems
The current nature of the problem concerns the lack of agency in the actions of the troops and commanders when facing emergent threats in the target setting. Since the Houthis have a strategic advantage in the target setting, there is an obvious problem with the level of awareness regarding the spatial orientation and the management of the decision-making process in relation to tactical steps for the troops and Army leaders.
Similarly, the presence of rigidity within the Army system prevents from introducing flexibility typically associated with immediate decision-making in a critical situation (Department of the Army, 2015). Therefore, an army leader must introduce appropriate measures to counteract the identified issue.
Operational Environment
Iran supported the Houthi terrorist group on the revolution against Yemeni legitimacy and the country to control the country and expand its influence to include the Arab borders to threaten it. The Arab countries, especially the Gulf States, allied against the Houthi group after receiving a distress call from the Yemeni president after the Houthi forces deployed their forces in the country, which poses a threat to the country in general and to the population in particular, forcing it to return to its base in Sana’a (Emami & Zare, 2020).
In turn, in the Yemeni context, Houthis have a significant strategic advantage of being aware of the local infrastructure and the associated characteristics of the environment, which makes the specified population a particularly formidable foe. Namely, fighting Houthis in the Yemeni context is presently excessively difficult as a result of the differences in the extent of the parties’ understanding of the target environment and its resources.
Thus, the leader must shape the strategy currently adopted in the target setting to maintain the efficacy and the overall performance of the army toward introducing the troops to the opportunity to make strategically and tactically important decisions in the target environment.
Current State to End State
In order to improve the observed situation and introduce the relevant opportunities for the troops’ training, one must be fully aware of the current and the expected end state of the army. Indeed, according to the established principles of leadership and HR management in the military, introducing a certain extent of personal control into the target context is essential (Whitson et al., 2019).
Analyzing the current state and the main factors contributing to the development of the issue, one should point to the problem in the leadership approach. Particularly, the current authoritative leadership framework, while being conducive to an increase in the levels of performance quality and alignment with the established instructions, lacks the focus on agency (Department of the Army, 2015). As a result, the extent of effective decision-making based on a careful analysis of the external and internal factors is quite scarce in the target setting, which, when placed along with the advantage that the enemy has, complicates the process of fighting substantially. (Emami & Zare, 2020)
In turn, one may expect to achieve the expected end state with the introduction of the relevant changes, and describe it as that one of the troops being capable of making informed decisions in the target environment and taking tactically sensible steps that will ultimately lead to an improvement in the army’s position in Yemen. Furthermore, the training process is expected to enhance collaboration and promotion of shared knowledge, which will lead to informed decision-making and a rapid transfer of the necessary data from one soldier to another (Department of the Army, 2015). Thus, an army leader can expect a substantial progress.
Ill-Structured Problem
When addressing problems in the military setting, one must keep in mind their nature and complexity level. By design, ill-natured problems ate the most difficult to resolve in a military context due to their complexity and multifaceted structure (The Department of Army, 2015). Characterized as ‘complex, nonlinear, and dynamic,” the specified complications affect the performance of the troops due to the introduction of the uncertainty factor into the equation (The Department of Army, 2015, p. 42).
Consequently, an army leader must introduce soldiers to the principles of decision-making in the context of a battle, while also maintaining the essential army principles and standards. The identified goal will require a shift in soldiers’ perception of their role in the battle and the significance of their choices. Furthermore, an OSM must explain the role of collaboration to the target population so that they could engage in active decision-making as a tactical process.
Framing Activities
In turn, the introduction of a proper framing for the specified task is necessary as the means of defining the course of the training and the goals that the army pursues. In essence, framing activities can represent a set of actions geared toward developing an understanding of the context in which a specific problem occurs and, therefore, the environment in which the proposed solutions should be deployed (Department of the Army, 2015). Thus, the notion of a framing activity could be equated to that one of building an understanding and awareness of the key factors affecting the implementation of the proposed changes and strategies in the military.
In the target setting, the framing process will require adopting a visual model that will illustrate the complexity of the situation, particularly, the intricate infrastructure of the Yemen setting. Afterward, by prompting the discussion of the situation among the troops, one will encourage the soldiers to create a narrative construction that will represent the target scenario accurately.
Thus, the soldiers’ understanding of the issue and the rationale behind specific strategic and tactical choices will become evident. The promotion of system thinking will encourage the participants to view the problem in conjunction with the key factors that affect its development, including internal and external ones.
The discussion and in-depth exploration of the subject matter to generate further solutions will emerge as a result of collaboration and dialogue, in the course of which soldiers will demonstrate their creative and critical thinking. An OSM must utilize tools such as brainstorming to enhance creative and critical thinking in the troops (Department of the Army, 2015). Finally, one will need to reinforce the concept of operational art as the means of visualizing the core issues and factors to prompt the participants to produce viable suggestions and build a thorough understanding of the issue.
Tools and Techniques
As emphasized above, an OSM must use collaboration, dialogue, and critical thinking as the main tools and techniques in preparing the troops for fighting against the enemy. The specified techniques are believed to be of the greatest effect since they allow improving the quality of the troops’ performance and amplifying the impact of their actions. Namely, with collaboration and dialogue, the accuracy of the performance delivered by the troops increases exponentially (Department of the Army, 2015).
Indeed, due to the focus on precision in information management and the enhancement of the cooperation process, the probability of errors that reduce the extent of an attack’s efficacy is minimized (Department of the Army, 2015). Consequently, the range of impact produced during a battle is enhanced substantially (Emami & Zare, 2020). As a result, the army will be able not only to counteract the actions of the Houthis but also to introduce the measures that will reduce the latter’s efficacy on the battlefield.
Furthermore, an army leader must not underestimate the role of critical and creative thinking in the army context as critical aspects of changing the troops’ perspective on decision-making and introducing them to the concept of a complex analysis of the available internal and external factors. In turn, the application of creative thinking will allow soldiers to identify unorthodox solutions to some of the most compels situations.
Specifically, the troops and their commanders will be able to counteract the Houthis despite their current advantage of being capable of using the local infrastructure to their best ability. Specifically, critical thinking is bound to assist soldiers and their commanders in finding a tactical advantage and integrate it into the selected strategy appropriately.
Role as Operations Sergeant Major in Application of ADM
In turn, as an Operations Sergeant Major, one will have to provide the troops with the required guidance and skills in the process of training. Specifically, an OSM will have to develop an operational approach that will allow guiding the troops and implement it accordingly.
In turn, the implementation process as the OSM must conduct it will have to consist of the steps such as the identification of core performance criteria and ensuring that the soldiers meet them (Department of the Army, 2015). Specifically, the described requirement suggests that an OSM should guide the troops in their management of the core tasks within the training program and help them develop the necessary qualities and skills (Emami & Zare, 2020).
Furthermore, as an OSM, one will have to focus on the promotion and enforcement of the army standards and principles that will guide the soldiers’ further training and development. Namely, as an OSM, one must make sure that the proposed training allows building the required skillset and enhancing the acceptance and application of core army values.
In the context of the fight against the Houthis, the described task suggests that an OSM will have to integrate the tools for ensuring that the training outcomes align with the objectives of the operational approach. Specifically, an OSM has to regard maintaining the extent of soldiers’ engagement, proficiency, and collaboration as the core tasks for an OSM to strive to attain in the course of the training process.
Conclusion
By incorporating the principles of critical and creative thinking, as well as flexibility in decision-making, an OSM will provide the training framework that will allow the troops to gain a significant tactical advantage in the target environment. Thus, opportunities for overcoming the powers of the Houthis will become a possibility.
For this purpose, an OSM will have to encourage soldiers to build both the required skills and the set of values needed for making critical and creative decisions in the context of a military intervention. Thus, combined with the ability to follow commands and instructions precisely, the specified skill will allow the army to defeat the enemy.
Furthermore, the proposed solution to the training process will open a plethora of opportunities for improving the performance of the army, in general. Specifically, the focus on autonomy in decision-making while being able to comply with a set of rigid commands and instructions will allow soldiers the flexibility needed to address complex scenarios. Thus, victory against the enemy will become an opportunity.
References
Department of the Army. (2015). Army design methodology (ATP 5-0.1). Web.
Emami, A. R., & Zare, F. (2020). Iran And Yemen; Study the Reflection of The Islamic Revolution of Iran On Yemen And Its Results. Journal of Advanced Research in Social Sciences, 3(3), 33-47.
Whitson, J. A., Kim, J., Wang, C. S., Menon, T., & Webster, B. D. (2019). Regulatory focus and conspiratorial perceptions: The importance of personal control.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(1), 3-15. Web.