2-89. Army design methodology is a methodology for applying critical and creative thinking to understand, visualize, and describe problems and approaches to solving them. ADM is particularly useful as an aid to conceptual planning, but it must be integrated with the detailed planning typically associated with the MDMP to produce executable plans and orders. There is no one way or prescribed set of steps to employ the ADM. There are, however, several activities associated with ADM including framing an OE, framing problems, developing an operational approach, and reframing when necessary as shown in figure 2-4. While planners complete some activities before others, the understanding and learning within one activity may require revisiting the learning from another activity. Thus, ADM is iterative in nature.