SPaMCast Question #9: What would you change about agile and the CMMI?

[NOTE: Over the past several days, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing snippets from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]

Jeff, If you woke up tomorrow morning, and someone handed you a cup of coffee and a magic wand, and said you could change any two things in the CMMI and agile world, what would they be and why? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast 

Tom, the #1 thing I would change in the CMMI world is the focus on achieving Maturity Levels. I would reduce that, and increase the focus on people using the CMMI to become a great company. This is a matter of education. I would change the perception of the model from one that is a “compliance” model to one that is a tool-set to solve most of our strategic problems.

After getting zapped by my wand, the leader of every organization would understand that adopting the CMMI is all about solving business problems. It’s not about documents, forms, certificates or ratings. It’s about adopting a model that's about how great organizations perform, which in turn is about living a great life.

Then I’d turn my wand on the agile world. There is a problem with the way companies interact with agile teams, especially around the way contracts and finance people manage projects. I’d change the perception of agile with upper management, and I would also change the perception of upper management with agile teams.

To illustrate why, I have a funny story. Recently, at a major automotive manufacturer, I taught an agile CMMI training class to two different groups. One was a group of engineers, and one was a group of managers. It became clear right away that their perception of each other was completely wrong.

In the first agile CMMI training class, the engineers complained about every decision that their managers made, as well as their strategy and tactics. In the second agile CMMI training class, management complained about engineers not giving them good information.

Sitting on my perch atop both groups of trainees, it was obvious to see how to fix the problem. If I could zap them with my magic wand, you’d see agile teams and management teams talking to each other. Really talking! They would have good business conversations about how they are going to run their business, without getting all caught up in ego, agile purity or the blame-game.

And the dust from my wand would make them joyful, because they would be working side-by-side in a spirit of ongoing celebration in their quest to become a great company.  OK.....maybe that's too much information!

But here's the real magic, Tom: you don’t need a wand to make it happen. You need a strong desire to improve on what you’re already doing.  If I woke up tomorrow and there was no magic wand, I'd do the same thing I always do.  I'd take the best of both models.  I'd adopt a flexible, agile approach to the CMMI, that fits within my company's particular situation.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #8: Does the math work with agileCMMI?

[NOTE: Over the past several days, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing snippets from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]

Jeff, the approach of taking pieces of all the models was one of the big take-aways I had when I read Don Reinertsen’s “Product Flow 2.0,” which I think is one of the seminal documents for proving this stuff works from the point of view of economics and math. Having a little bit of a math background, I like to know that not only does this sound good and feel good, but the math holds. ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast 

Tom, I think Reinertsen makes an amazing point. This is something that I’ve thought about, and that he’s articulated better than I never could. For me, the thought-process started about 10-15 years ago when clients told me their opinions about mainframes and client servers. The math equation they used was pretty primitive. It went, “Mainframe, bad. Client server, good.” And I find the same thing is happening today with, “Waterfall, bad. Agile, good.” Or “CMMI, bad. ISO, good.”

These are false dichotomies that they’ve set up.  Unfortunately, in our sound bite world, they have the ring of authority

The truth is that all these things have goodness, and all have aspects to them that are not so good. For instance, I would choose a mainframe computer over a server-based environment in certain environments, such as super high transaction banking. That’s still the #1 mainframe user of the world. It’s an appropriate environment at this time for certain kinds of things. But I wouldn’t put one in my house. It’s not appropriate there.

It’s the same with any of these process models. Consider: 

• There’s a lot of goodness in CMMI – there’s some weakness in it
• There’s a lot of goodness in Scrum – there’s some weakness in it
• There’s a lot of goodness in Waterfall – there’s some weakness in it

It’s really just a matter of understanding what pieces work for our business, and what pieces make us want to choose something else. The underlying assumption is, whatever we are doing, we can make it even a little bit better. That puts the onus on us, not the process model, to come up with what works for our unique set of circumstances.  So we look around at everything that’s out there, and pick what works best for our company.

And if we do our job correctly, the sum will be greater than the parts.  That's math that works.

Like this blog?  Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #7: Where else does agileCMMI work?

[NOTE: Over the past several days, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing snippets from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.] 

Jeff, We have other constellations within the CMMI, things like Services and Acquisition. Are they equally, to coin a term, “agilable” as the Development model? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast 

Absolutely, Tom. One of the things that I try to get my clients’ heads around – whether we’re doing a CMMI appraisal, CMMI consulting or CMMI trainings – is that a 'process' is about how you do work and how you do business. In CMMI trainings, I use a quick visual for this. I say, “I have a new way of spelling ‘process’.” And then I hold up the word “engineering,” spelled phonetically, like this:

enjəˈni(ə)riNG

My point is, how we perform our tasks is what a process is. It’s not this thing above us that gives us overhead and makes us do extra work. Done properly, process is “underhead,” not overhead.

With regard to other constellations within the CMMI, my company, Broadsword, used to be focused exclusively on engineering with the CMMI. Back then, it was just CMMI-Dev. But we had a client approach us and say, “Hey, we need some help with our sales and marketing organization. Do you think this agileCMMI approach can work there?”

We told them we thought we could make it work. So we changed the words and infrastructure a bit, and applied common sense to their challenges. As it turned out, agileCMMI worked really well. Since then, we’ve been doing this with HR organizations, State Government agencies, more sales and marketing, transportation, logistics and procurement – all using this method.

Our impact within businesses expanded even more last year, when we started working with clients who wanted to adopt other process models, like ISO 9001 or SPICE or ISO 15504, ISO 20000. They said, “Can this method work for these models?” We said, “Of course it can.”

The reason it works is because what you are building is a product. That product is the process you use to do your work. Furthermore, that product has work products and training and tools and techniques associated with it, just like any software product does. So there is no reason you can’t apply both the agileCMMI method and the CMMI in general and Scrum or other agile methods to any kind of work that you do.

The words change. The infrastructures change. But the one constant with adopting the agileCMMI approach, regardless of constellation or model, is the ability to take what you are already doing, and make it better.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

It's time for another Webinar! CMMI v1.3: All you NEED to know!

Need to learn about CMMI?  Now's your chance . . . and it's FREEEEEEE!

Join us for "CMMI v1.3: All you NEED to know" on April 27th at 2PM for a free webinar hosted by Broadsword Solutions Corporation.

Your speaker will be Jeff Dalton of "Ask the CMMI Appraiser."  Jeff is a Certified Lead Appraiser and CMMI Instructor.  He has conducted hundreds of CMMI Appraisals and taught thousands of students in his CMMI Training classes.  He is a process innovation thought leader and CMMI Consultant who has been a guest speaker at conferences and workshops around the world.

Don't miss this informative event!

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Jeff Dalton, CMMI Instructor and SCAMPI Lead Appraiser

Register now! All you need to know to get started with CMMI

                                                                  

This two hour webinar provides you with everything you need to know to get started with with the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI).  It will provide systems engineers, software developers, project managers, and process professionals with a basic understanding of how to use the CMMI, a model that is the defacto standard and leading framework for software process improvement.

Our guest speaker is is Jeff Dalton, a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, Candidate SCAMPI Appraiser Observer, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations.  Jeff has taught the formal "Introduction to CMMI" three-day class to well over 1000 students and has conducted dozens of appraisals.

When:       Friday April 27th, 2012 /  2:00PM - 4:00 PM 

Where:      Online

YOU WILL RECEIVE WEBEX LOGIN INFORMATION ONE DAY PRIOR TO THE EVENT.

                 

Size:        Maximum of 100 (register early!)

For more information about us please visit: http://www.broadswordsolutions.com

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #6: Do you use agile to implement CMMI?

[NOTE: Over the past several days, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing snippets from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]

Jeff, do you actually use an agile approach to implementing the CMMI? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast 

Tom, yes, we sure do.... sort of.  CMMI isn't really something you "implement," it's more a framework for improving whatever it is you need to do.  But we DO use agile methods to design and deploy the processes and behaviors that a great company needs, and in that way we are "implementing CMMI."  It begins with helping our clients use an agile approach to understand the CMMI framework. We do this with the “AgileCMMI” methodology that we pioneered. AgileCMMI is an iterative and incremental method for designing and deploying process solutions. We describe AgileCMMI as a “Scrum-like” approach because we developed it years ago, before I knew much about Scrum. Since becoming a Scrum Master, I am even better able to leverage the powerful synergies between the two.

AgileCMMI allows us to take a “best-of-both-worlds” approach to everything we do, from CMMI appraisals to CMMI consulting  to CMMI training.

For example, one of our CMMI trainings, the Scrum+CMMI Learning Experience, is based on a set of User Stories that include content about Scrum and CMMI, Scrum Elements, Scrum Artifacts, Storytime, Sprint Planning, Sprint Reviews (Demos), Retrospectives, Agile Estimating, CMMI Practices, Institutionalizing Scrum . . . and more.

As another example, we use the constructs of Daily Stand-ups to help Scrum shops embrace the CMMI while getting more value out of the Daily Stand-up, making it even stronger than it already was.

A third example: we put together Scrum Teams (we call special interest groups, or SIGs) to help companies accelerate performance by embracing the CMMI as an improvement mechanism.

That’s the great thing about CMMI. It can (and should) be used to improve the teams that are using Scrum (or any other technique). Scrum is a minimalist approach to developing products in an iterative and incremental way, but it does not cover everything required to drive performance, organization-wide. Many such best-practices exist within the CMMI.

So whether their goals are to successfully deliver software, achieve a CMMI Maturity Level, or get on the path to becoming a great company, our clients use the AgileCMMI approach to improve incrementally and in a lightweight, useful way, and reach their goals. AgileCMMI helps them get better at what they are already doing.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #5: Do agile and CMMI conflict philosophically?

[NOTE: Over the past several days, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing snippets from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.] 

Hey, Jeff, I recently did an agile class. A number of self-styled philosophers in the class would have argued that agile is a philosophy versus the CMMI, which is more a framework construct. Is there a conflict between a philosophy and a framework? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast 

Tom, I suppose if we were trying to evaluate agile and the CMMI as the same thing, we would have a conflict. But it’s like apples and oranges.

I completely agree with your statement that agile is a philosophy and a way of life, whereas the CMMI is not. The CMMI is by definition a framework of best practices that are so detailed, well thought-out and practical that it cannot be thought of as a philosophy. The CMMI isn’t prescriptive, per se – it’s a “what-to-do” not a “how-to-do.” But to call it a philosophy would be a stretch.

Agile, on the other hand, is more of a system of thought. With the agile manifesto, its creators did a fantastic job of laying out the philosophy, saying, “Here are the things that are important and here’s what guides us. And here are the things that are important, too, but not as important.” They did an excellent job of prioritizing the thinking, and setting up what I call the guiding principles of agile.

The SEI never did that with the CMMI. It was never their intent to put out a set of guiding principles. Their intent was to provide a framework. But I think what happened in the 90s, by way of the Department of Defense mandate, was that the intent of that framework got twisted. People started saying, “We need to achieve a Maturity Level in order to win a contract.” Certain CMMI consultants – “box-checkers,” I call them – were willing to do that. They never really understood that the CMMI is a tool to help companies improve what they are already doing.

Agile, by contrast, is really more of a set of views and theories to help us answer, “How do we want to run our business?”

To your point about a conflict, it’s really been interesting to watch, over the last couple of years, as more and more companies around the country adopt agile. As a result, I see a collision brewing between management and engineering, especially finance and engineering. In these organizations, engineering is embracing agile almost whole-heartedly, and that’s a great thing. But this sets up a potential collision as management is scratching their heads and saying, “I’m not getting how this fits into our financial model.” Well, guess what? Agile doesn’t fit into their financial model! This is especially true when you have manufacturers and suppliers working together, and you have contracts based on the waterfall mentality, and you are getting paid based on life cycles and milestones. Unless that changes in the next few years, as agile becomes more and more popular, we’re going to have a real collision on our hands.

Our view is that the CMMI is the perfect tool to bring management and engineering together. With a proper mindset of communications and improvement over “compliance,” the CMMI can be used to improve the performance of agile companies. That's why it makes sense to allow the two frameworks to work together, instead of forcing them to be something they are not. Let apples be apples and oranges be oranges.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #4: Is CMMI compliance getting in the way?

[NOTE: Over the past several days, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing snippets from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]

Hey, Jeff, is the word “compliance,” as it relates to the CMMI, getting in the way of these two frameworks (Agile and CMMI) being more than the sum of its parts? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast

Tom, on the issue of CMMI “compliance,” I have a different perspective than some of my peers.

I believe that people should worry first and foremost about being a great company. That’s what their focus should be, and that’s certainly what our focus is. I am very passionate about shining an uncomfortably hot spotlight on professional level-seekers.  By that, I mean any company or so-called CMMI consultant that is only interested in getting a so-called CMMI certificate. They don’t care about understanding the true spirit of the CMMI or improving as a company. They only care about compliance so they can get a rating. I believe they are doing a disservice to themselves and their clients.

At the same time, unlike some of my peers, I fully acknowledge that the need for achieving CMMI Maturity Levels exists in our industry. It’s a reality. Many small and large businesses must achieve a Maturity Level in order to bid on work. In some cases, we’re talking about millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts.

So the question of so-called CMMI compliance and CMMI certification, while of secondary importance in our view, is still is a reality.  CMMI consultants need to make sure we acknowledge that reality for those clients whose business will rise or fall on whether or not they are both great at what they do and reach the level of CMMI rating.

This perspective is in contrast to some of my CMMI consulting peers who are out there saying, “Forget about Maturity Levels. This isn’t important.” I philosophically agree with that. But at the same time, we have to make sure that companies don’t go out of business because they don’t reach a particular goal that was arbitrarily set for them.

It's a constant mantra for me: I want our clients to worry about being a great company. And I want them to let me worry about helping guide them toward their CMMI goal. We’ll meet at the end.

So, yes, from a philosophical standpoint, I absolutely agree with you. Companies must focus on learning how to be a great company, and not let compliance or anything else get in the way of that. With learning as their goal, they will stay on the path to greatness. Achieving a CMMI Maturity Level and being so-called CMMI compliant are just byproducts of the journey. 

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #3: Can the CMMI improve a Daily Stand-up?

[NOTE: For the last few days, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing snippets from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]

Hey, Jeff, to give us an idea of how these two frameworks (Agile and CMMI) can interact, do you have an example of how the CMMI can help get more value out of a Stand-up? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast

Tom, as a matter of fact, that is one of the exercises in the Scrum+CMMI training class we offer. We teach the learning experience using Scrum. Here’s how it works:

Just like any Scrum team, we start the day by saying, “Let’s have a 15 minute Daily Stand-up.” Everyone stands up, and we go around the room, using the context of the conference we’re attending. We talk about things going on at the conference. What are the things we have to watch out for? What are some of the risks?

We assemble the comments on a white board. We get five to seven comments before they peter out, just like a typical Daily Stand-up. “Here’s what we’re doing; here’s what we did; here’s what is blocking us,” and so forth.

Then I say, “Hey, let’s pull out the Risk Management process area in the CMMI.”

Everybody groans and says, “Oh boy, here comes the documentation.”

I go forward with a more directed discussion. I ask, “What were some of the technical risks we’re having in this conference this week?”

One guy says, “We were worried we wouldn’t have the right equipment here.”

Another Scrum teammate talks about the HVAC, and someone else makes a comment about the electricity and connectivity.

After we’ve gathered a bunch of technical risks, I direct the discussion to other risks. I say, “What are the logistical risks we’re suffering from today?” And I get a bunch of responses specific to logistical risks. And so on.

Through this conversation, without creating any documents, without incurring any overhead, we create a very robust set of risks, many of which we haven’t thought about.

Then I put the CMMI up on the wall and I say, “This first practice in Risk Management (RSKM), we'll call it ‘categorizing.’ It guides us to have establish categories and sources for your risks.”

This is nothing more than a brain-tease exercise. But it reveals a lot. Participants immediately recognize that, if we come up with some categories, all of a sudden we’re brainstorming in a much more effective and efficient way than before.

I remind them that, in the first Daily Stand-up, we only came up with five to seven things that the Scrum team was worried about. In the second exercise, where we applied just the ‘categories’ practice of the CMMI, we came up with 30 things, about 25 of which were really important.

So, in this workshop, in a five minute period, we demonstrate that just a simple application of one single practice of the CMMI can completely change the way we think about risks.

In this very light and agile way, we’re using the CMMI to help guide us. We’re making sure we are talking about things that are really important, and we’re using the CMMI as a framework to help guide us through the discussion.

This gives us two major advantages. By using the simple Daily Stand-up mechanism, we get a really crisp, robust view of the project, so we can understand what’s going on. We understand it early, and we understand it often.  And by adopting some of the best practices that the CMMI provides, we get more value out of the Daily Stand-up, allowing us to make it even stronger than it already was.

It’s a pretty powerful exercise because it really shows how well agile and CMMI can work together.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #2: Why do folks think CMMI is oppressive?

[NOTE: Over the next few days, the CMMI Appraiser will be sharing snippets from my recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]

Hey, Jeff, what causes the perception that people think that the CMMI only has one size: oppressive? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast

Yes, that’s the typical comment that we get from our clients when they first look into a CMMI appraisal or CMMI consulting. “The CMMI is oppressive.” I always tell students at our CMMI trainings that I could write a Psych 103 book about this.

It’s an interesting confluence of events that caused this problem, and it goes way back to when the DoD used to mandate the CMMI as part of the rating they used to select suppliers. The DoD and other early adopters of CMMI, like Lockheed Martin, Rockwell Collins, Boeing and Air Force, indeed had a lot to do with the creation of the model. These organizations were already conducting oppressive software projects. They were already top-down and document heavy. It stands to reason that their interpretation of how this model was satisfied was going to be the same thing they were already doing.

On the other hand, I believe that if the first adopters of the CMMI had been agile, innovative thinkers like Kent Beck and Ron Jeffries, Jeff Sutherland and Chris Sims, we’d see a CMMI that looked agile and light weight. But, instead, because the big, rigid, iron-clad companies adopted the model first, they set the standard.

Now, we often hear from companies who call us and say, “Hey, we need to look at CMMI certification because we’d like to bid on certain government contracts.” We see this as an education process. It starts with asking, “Is that really why you are doing this? I understand that you want to win that business. But the CMMI is so much more valuable and useful than that. Let’s talk about things like how well you are running your software, how well you are delivering, how happy your customers are.”

Once they realize that these are the kinds of questions they should be asking, and that learning should be their goal – not achieving a level or winning new business – that’s when they start to think like a great company.

I’m constantly reminding them of this. I tell them, “You worry about being a great company. I’ll worry about helping guide you toward this CMMI goal. We’ll meet at the end.”

It’s true. If you focus setting the right goals and objectives, and asking the right questions, you are going to be a great company. When the time is right, you are going to get whatever level you are looking for. We can do that using Scrum, waterfall … any method that makes sense for you, as long as it makes sense for you.

What you discover is that the CMMI is not oppressive at all. In fact, it can be a joyful, liberating experience.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

SPaMCast Question #1: Agile and CMMI together? Why?

[NOTE: Over the next few days, the CMMI Appraiser, will be sharing snippets from my recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about how the CMMI is fully compatible with Scrum, and can be used to improve agile methods, making the investment in agile both powerful and productive. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 176.]


Hey, Jeff - Agile and the CMMI. You say that these two frameworks can function together. Why would a company want them to function together? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast

What I find myself asking clients more often is, “Why would you NOT want the two to function well together in your organization?” But before I go into the benefits, first we need to look at what is Agile and what is CMMI.

There’s an awful lot of confusion in our industry about what they are. Those of us who work with agile and the CMMI every day understand the difference, but there are thousands of companies that are adopting agile or CMMI without really knowing what they are asking for. As a result, they say, “We can’t do CMMI because we’re agile.” Or, “We can’t use agile because we’re CMMI.” What they don’t understand is that both agile and the CMMI are frameworks that are intended to help us write better software. They absolutely can work together.

Next we need to look at what Agile and CMMI are not.

Neither agile nor the CMMI are processes. Neither agile nor the CMMI are methods. Both are collections of practices and philosophies that help us write better software. And yet, while there are great things about Scrum, XP and Spiral – and great things about CMMI – those two approaches to writing great software not the same.

The difference between them has to do with intent. The intent of the CMMI, in our view, is to be a tool to take what you are already doing, and make it better. It was never intended to be a method or a process to be followed. There is a perception that people “implement” CMMI. That’s not something that we do. We use the CMMI as a way to improve what companies are already doing.

We stumbled across this idea about eight or nine years ago, when we started working with a company that wanted to adopt agile methods. They took it seriously and were studious about learning about agile. But they struggled with things like Daily Stand-ups, backlog grooming and user stories. They were struggling, not just to get value out of it, but struggling to get their management to understand what they are doing and to see the value in it.

As it turns out, the CMMI has some awesome tools to help add value to things like the Daily Stand-up, managing risk and transforming an epic to a user story. But the CMMI also has great tools for helping management understand what the heck is going on within the project teams. So it helps both Scrum teams and executives.  That's why it makes sense for companies to allow the two frameworks to work together.  It's a win-win.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program.

SEPG 2012 - What's in it for YOU? Now a free eBook!

Download our new eBook about SEPG 2012!

http://broadswordsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/SEPGNA-whatsinitforyou.pdf

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec! 

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, CMMI Consultant, author, and management consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about running a successful CMMI program. 

Why I'm coming to SEPG 2012 (again) this year - Reason #1!

The #1 Reason to Attend SEPGNA: The Social Experience

Howdy Partners.  Land sakes alive, the big event in the ‘ol West is nearly upon us!  Yes, the SEPG North America rodeo is just is a couple of shakes of a lamb’s tail away (March 11 through March 15), and that means it’s time to rope in my Top Ten reasons to be there.  Here’s a round-up of Reason #10, Reason #9, Reason #8, Reason #7, Reason #6, Reason #5, Reason #4, Reason #3 and Reason #2.  So today we’re gonna get down to it and ride this steed into town – together.

So let’s saddle up one last time and finish my list of Top 10 Reasons to attendSEPG North America 2012.

Drum roll, please!  Reason #1 is …

The Social Experience.

That’s right, the people!  People are why we come together.  People are what make us a community.  As I mentioned in other posts, I’ve been coming to the Conference for the last umpteen years, and this is by far the best time of the year for me – due to the people.

We work and live in an amazing community of really sharp, forward-leaning people.  Getting together every year at SEPGNA is a great way to interact and collaborate with them.  We’ll hang out, learn, talk, laugh and raise a glass to everyone’s success.

I’m not just talking about Partners and SEI folks, either.  Customers will be there, real –life adopters of the CMMI.  You’ll mix with a lot of different companies and have a chance to hear their experiences about how they did it, the good, the bad and the ugly.  And if you hang out for happy hour you will REALLY hear some tales!

(Cue the Spaghetti Western whistle tune.)

Here are just a few of the many opportunities we’ll have to socialize at this year’s event:

Monday – the show opens in the afternoon with a big shindig on the conference floor.  This is where many of us will be reunited for the first time since last year.  Come out, meet vendors, meet old and new friends, and enjoy a beverage of your choice!

Also on Monday is the SEI Partner Lunch where Partners will meet old friends and get to know new ones.  You’ll have a chance to hear others’ experiences with what’s going on with the CMMI and the market.  This will also be my first opportunity to speak with the Partner group in my new role as Chairman of the Partner Advisory Board.  But it doesn’t end there.

Tuesday – The good times carry over to the conference  reception on Tuesday evening where you’ll experience the CMMI social event of the century!  OK, sounds pretty geeky, but it’s always a great time.

After the reception stop out at the famous ISD party and its equally famous band – The Model Mappers!  They play at Gecko’s Nob Hill  from 8:30 – 11:30 pm.  It’s just a short ride from the convention center.  Every year, they really go all out for their customers, and everyone talks about it for months!

Wednesday – if you’re one of Broadsword’s customers, you are invited to join us for our annual Client Appreciation Dinner and User Group.  It’s a diverse, eclectic group, and we always meet at one of the finest dining establishments in town.  We’ll eat, drink and be merry, well into the night.  (Locate a Broadsword representative at SEPGNA for more info).

Other Partners put on events throughout the week, so keep your ear to the ground and you might just catch a late-night celebration.

Those are just a few of the formal events.  But there are far more informal occasions to interact, talk and get to know each other better.  Personally, I find these chance meetings to be among the most enjoyable of all.

Last year I had an impromptu discussion with David Greer, Hillel Glazer, and a few others on the need to collect CMMI User Stories, and a new research project was born!  Stay tuned for our results on that one.

So that’s it, my friends.  Those are my Top Ten Reasons to attend the SEPGNA this year.  As you can see, SEPG 2012 is a win-win, and everyone should come to ABQ next week.  Best of all, it’s not too late to register – and we’ll see you in Albuquerque!

Need more reasons to go?  You gotta be kidding me!

Jeff Dalton is President of Broadsword Solutions Corporation and the incoming Chairman of the SEI’s Partner Advisory Board.  He is a SCAMPI Lead Appraiserwhose blog can be read at www.asktheCMMIAppraiser.com.  He can be reached at appraiser@broadswordsolutions.com.