2-53. It is through operational art that commanders develop and translate their operational approach—a description of the broad actions required to achieve the end state—into a concept of operations. An operational approach is the result of the commander’s visualization of what needs to be done in broad terms to solve identified problems. It is the main idea that informs detailed planning. When developing an operational approach, commanders consider ways to employ a combination of defeat mechanisms and stability mechanisms. Defeat mechanisms relate to offensive and defensive operations; stability mechanisms relate to stability operations.