text: Chapter 8
  Figure 8-1. The operations process
  UNDERSTAND
  8-29. An operational environment includes portions of the land, maritime, air, space, and cyberspace
  domains encompassing the area of operations and area of interest, understood through three dimensions—
  human, physical, and information. Understanding how capabilities employed from each of the domains
  influence outcomes in the three dimensions is foundational to success during operations. Commanders
  communicate that understanding to subordinates. Commanders collaborate with their staffs, other
  commanders, and mission partners to accurate frame the operational environment encompassing the mission
  objectives. Commanders must be comfortable with a certain degree of uncertainty and ambiguity within an
  operational environment—delaying action while seeking perfect understanding may prevent a unit from
  exploiting a fleeting opportunity or make it vulnerable to enemy attack.
  8-30. Commanders, supported by their operations and intelligence staff sections, direct the collection of
  information and allocate capabilities from as many domains as possible. They use operational and mission
  variables, intelligence preparation of the battlefield, and running estimates to help understand how
  capabilities in each domain affect operations on land and vice versa. Competent commanders circulate
  throughout their AORs as often as possible, collaborating with subordinate commanders and leaders while
  observing the situation for themselves. Subordinates often possess a deeper or more nuanced sense of the
  local situation or aspect of an operation than commanders. Direct exposure to conditions on the ground often
  allows them to detect trouble or opportunity before a higher echelon staff member does. Maintaining shared
  understanding is therefore a dynamic, ongoing process, since situations change as operations progress.
  VISUALIZE
  8-31. Commanders visualize a desired end state and potential solutions to solve or manage identified
  problems. Commanders look up, out, and down as they develop their visualization of an operational
  environment, relying on information and observations from superior and adjacent commanders, their staffs,
  and subordinate commanders. An operational approach may require capabilities provided by external
  organizations, and the effects delivered may be dependent on conditions in other domains.
  DESCRIBE
  8-32. Commanders describe their visualization to staffs and subordinate commanders to facilitate shared
  understanding and purpose. Through collaboration and dialogue, commanders ensure subordinates
  understand the visualization well enough to plan and conduct operations. Commanders continue to refine
  their visualization throughout the planning and execution of an operation and balance frequent