2-7. During planning, commanders and their staffs use the Army design methodology to develop an operational approach that informs detailed planning. The Army design methodology is a methodology for applying critical and creative thinking to understand, visualize, and describe unfamiliar problems and approaches to solving them (ADP 5-0). By applying the Army design methodology, commanders and staffs gain a shared understanding of the environment, and they can define the problems preventing the desired end state. This differs from mission analysis, since it is not mission specific. (See figure 2-1.) These items enable commanders and staffs using Army design methodology: