Can Scrum give us the features we want?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser,

It’s me again, Daniel, from the CMMI certified engineering firm in Dayton Ohio. Thank you for answering my question about CMMI and Scrum, but I’m still in the dark about features. We know what to expect from the CMMI, but can Scrum give us the features we need or not?

Daniel, the connection between CMMI and Scrum remains a mystery to many executives – and that’s OK! The CMMI Appraiser is here to help.

The secret of CMMI and Scrum is that they are more alike than they are different.  A lot of folks see CMMI and Scrum as polar opposites. But there’s a reason these two things exists. CMMI and Scrum both exist to solve problems. CMMI and Scrum are allies, not adversaries. Like these cool kids:

Why shouldn't CMMI and Scrum be friends? As the leader of your company, you can make that happen.  Use the CMMI to improve the Scrum processes to produce better results.

Now, about those pesky features. As I think I said last time, the Scrum team is a nuclear team that does all of its work inside of the time box called “sprint” and spends most of their effort focusing on the task at hand.  This is part of the magic of a scrum team - not forcing them to focus on too much at once.  One of those things that goes on outside of them is the generation of the features (usually either derived from, or a replacement for, requirements). The quality of these features, or functional requirements, must be reasonable, implementable, and well thought-out so the Scrum Team can accept them and turm them in to something valuable.

Trying to get visibility of the features to the scrum team can be tough when you hear your Scrum team say, “We don’t need any process.” But if you sit down with them and buy them a drink, and really talk about quality of the features, they will all start laughing and say the quality is poor. They may even say, “We get a lot of junk for stuff that can’t be implemented.”  They may even start telling you how to improve that (without using the dreaded "p-word" of course!).

At this point, you should ask them: “Would you like to receive higher quality features that are easier to implement and are more implementable?”

Most likely, everyone will say, “Yes.”

Right then I would make the argument that CMMI can help make their live's easier.

For example, check back to my lasts post about Daily Stand-ups. By adopting some of the best practices that the CMMI provides, and applying them to the simple Daily Stand-up construct, you will know exactly what’s happening with the features – same as you do in true CMMI environments (guess what....they're the same thing...).  That's because both CMMI and Scrum are all about solving problems.  They are not so different as you think.

Learn to get the two to work together, and they will be your BFF.

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.

Can we get a Scrum reporting tool?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser – I’m CEO of a CMMI certified engineering firm using agile methods here in Dayton Ohio. I would like to put our Scrum Teams on larger projects because they consistently deliver on time and on budget. The problem is, they rarely deliver all of the features we need, and I rarely find out until too late. Is there a Scrum reporting system or tool we can use to get a tighter grip? ~ Daniel C.

Hey, Daniel,

The best tool you can employ for Scrum projects (or for any others) is the one between your ears.

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The beauty is that Scrum teams tend to be self-organizing, independent, process-light, and quick to change.  Like snowflakes, no two are ever exactly alike.   Each has it's own "velocity." But because they are so different, most companies have trouble imagining how they "fit in" and are using Scrum for only a small subset of their projects. You are not alone in experiencing a lack of visibility into what they are doing. For some, it’s a total white-out.

Don’t take this wrong, Daniel, but part of the problem with using Scrum is that management often doesn’t understand its iterative and incremental nature. They want a "Big Plan up Front" (a "BPUF"). Scrum a bottom-up, collaborative, and self-organizing system for getting work done.  It often starts when one or two teams come up to management and ask if they can implement Scrum. Management agrees to it because it sounds "quick and light", but they quickly realize they have no idea of what’s going on.  But it doesn't have to be this way.

But knowing this does little to solve your problem. You aren’t getting good information. And you can’t make good business decisions without good information.

Strictly speaking Scrum doesn't encourage things like weekly status reporting.   Its primary focus is on their Scrum team. They call it a self-organizing team. There isn’t even a project manager (oh no!).

So how do you get the information you need to run the business?

One solution is to combine Scrum and CMMI. At my company Broadsword, we strengthen scrum with the CMMI, based on the needs of the company.

Case in point, the Daily Stand-up. As you know, Scrum Teams opt for Daily Stand-ups as opposed to the traditional status meetings. We don't want to change that because it's a powerful construct for communications.  In a very light and agile way, we want to use the CMMI as a framework to make sure we are talking about things in the Daily Stand-up that are really important, and to help guide us through decisions.

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 comes down to visibility, not reporting, Daniel. When agile and CMMI are aligned and working properly together, you get good information, which in turn allows you to make good business decisions – including whether or not to alocate your Scrum teams to larger projects (yes - you should do it!).

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.

Is it possible to be CMMI Level 3 and not 'do' CMMI?

Hey, CMMI appraiser, we are a successful Virginia engineering company with an agile approach to software development. We want to be CMMI Level 3, to help us answer RFPs and win deals, but we don’t really want to do CMMI. Is that possible? ~ Lucas L. 

Hey, Lucas,

Absolutely. You should ALWAYS achieve CMMI Level 3 without “doing” CMMI. In fact, I’m never really sure what it means when people say they want to “do” CMMI. The CMMI is all about helping you improve upon whatever it is that you are already doing.  So, if you are currently attracting and retaining business, the CMMI helps you be an even more powerful customer magnet.

Let me give you a personal example. Even though I am the CMMI Appraiser, CMMI is not really what I am all about. Yes, I’m a certified CMMI Lead Appraiser and CMMI instructor. Yes, my company Broadsword has helped other companies achieve CMMI Levels through our CMMI consulting and CMMI training. Yes, I’m known as a CMMI expert and sought-after CMMI speaker. But this does not define who I am.

I define myself an airplane builder, pilot and musician. I’m a Scrum master and software developer. I also happen to be the chair of the SEI’s Partner Advisory Board, and President of the Great Lakes Software Process Improvement Network (GL-SPIN). In everything I do, I use the CMMI to help me do things better.

I’m happy to say that the airplane I am currently building is coming together very nicely, with very few defects, because I’ve used the CMMI to help make that process better.  But it's not a CMMI process.

I’ve been able to improve my performance as a musician, too, by using the CMMI to make that process better.  We use different words, and a different language, but it's all the same thing.

And I’ve used the CMMI to increase the quality of software on the Scrum teams I’ve led. The CMMI helps make me better at all these things I do. Kinda geeky, I know, but it’s true.

In terms of growing the business, Lucas, it goes far beyond merely achieving CMMI Level 3 so that you can check the box on RFPs.  You don't need to get better at checking boxes. You need to get better at delivering software, and attracting and retaining customers, and the CMMI helps you do that.

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.

Tax Day Question: Is a CMMI appraisal the same as an audit?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, we’re a small engineering company in Michigan. Preparing our taxes reminded me of the SCAMPI audit we are going through. Our CMMI Consultant has our ATMs collecting artifacts for each sub-practice and memorizing everything in the CMMI book. He keeps them working 12-14 hours per day, every day. Are all CMMI appraisals as grueling as a tax audit? ~ Buster O.

Hey, Buster,

Nooooo! A SCAMPI appraisal is NOT an audit! A good Lead Appraiser is the OPPOSITE of an auditor. By treating the SCAMPI appraisal like an audit, your current CMMI Consultant is driving all the wrong behaviors, wasting money and making people hate the CMMI. He is acting like it's Tax Day for CMMI users.

The truth, Buster, is that nothing about the CMMI is like an audit. CMMI is a model for continuous improvement. A Lead Appraiser is tasked with not only ensuring that you’re using the model properly, but that you are getting value out of it, and that your company is using it to become a great company. That’s the bottom line of CMMI.

If your Lead Appraiser is insisting on seeing “work product evidence,” or what are now called “artifacts” for every single sub-practice in the model, he’s acting like an auditor. The CMMI does NOT call for an audit of sub-practices! So you can throw away that old shoe-box full of receipts. It’s not necessary.  Sub-practices simply give us a glimpse into the mind of the authors to help us understand what they were thinking.

Why is your Lead Appraiser acting like this? Perhaps it makes him feel more important if he can force people to be terrified of him. I’ve heard that the IRS likes to intimidate people too. That’s why they wear those dark sunglasses and pound on doors after midnight.

If your Lead Appraiser is wearing dark sunglasses, pounding on doors and insisting that you memorize everything in the CMMI book, he is distorting the intention of the Model. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no reason for anyone in your company to jump through these hoops.

The practices in the CMMI are meant to provide valuable guidance for you, Buster. They are not things to comply with, as written. They are not hoops to jump through or penalties to be incurred if you miss a step. They are suggestions of what to do to make your company incrementally and iteratively better.

There are few quick-fixes in the CMMI. I do have one suggestion, though. You can make your company instantly better by getting rid of your current Lead Appraiser and replacing him with a good Lead Appraiser.

A good Lead Appraiser won’t care if you know what the GPs are, by their numbers. A good Lead Appraiser won’t care about keeping your people chained to their desks. Here’s what a good Lead Appraiser will care about:

• Are you training people effectively?
• Do you have a way of doing work that is useful and that can be replicated?
• Do you have policies that clearly set expectations for how work gets done?
• Are you improving as an organization?
• Are you learning about yourselves?
• .... and stuff like that.

A good Lead Appraiser wants to know how he can help you get better. He doesn’t want to see you saddled you with “process debt,” busy-work and taxes. Rather, the approach of a good Lead Appraiser is not taxing at all.

Like the old marketing slogan, "it doesn't cost . . . it pays!"

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.

How do we transform from Waterfall to Agile without disturbing our client's business?

Hey CMMI Appraiser, we are switching from a very mature, waterfall software development lifecycle to Scrum by June. How can we help our people make this big change without sacrificing our client satisfaction? ~ Lou M.

Hey, Lou – great question! Let me pass it along to Julie Calfin, a Senior CMMI Consultant with Broadsword, who does amazing work with companies who are undergoing large scale business transformation. ~ The CMMI Appraiser

Thank you, CMMI Appraiser!

Short answer, Lou: Organizational Change Management tactics can help your people change their behavior quickly with minimal disruption. Organizational Change Management (OCM) is a structured approach that an organization uses to transition from wherever they are today to wherever they want to be tomorrow. You can use it to navigate successfully through the enormous transformation in front of you.

A key to your success will be to understand how to bring people systematically through the change, without disrupting the schedule and budget of their projects. I have just the thing for you.

Below is the depiction of how people move through a change, from having minimal contact with it to having it be rooted in the culture of their organization.

By defining each step along the Commitment Curve that people go through, this graph helps you focus on where people are in their transformation. Over time, we will employ OCM techniques to bring them systematically up the curve.

Think of it like climbing a mountain. Your level of commitment moves from generally understanding the change (“I will probably need hiking boots and time to train”), to acceptance of the change (“This is going to be hard, but it will make me a better person”), to full commitment to it (“My team and I will summit the peak together”).

But it’s not quite that easy. A key take-away here: at each step along the curve, people either progress to the next step, or they exit out of the process all together. In other words, they keep climbing, or they fall off the mountain.

Pretty harrowing, right? Don’t worry – I’m not trying to scare you. An unhappy ending can be avoided by using OCM techniques to bring everyone up the Commitment Curve without any casualties. I’ll go into more detail in my next post.

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

Julie Calfin is a Senior CMMI Consultant with Broadsword Solutions Corporation. She has years of real world experience using OCM strategy and tactics to help her clients achieve their goals. Julie also uses the CMMI, in partnership with her clients, to set-up, monitor, and sustain process improvement programs.

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

On Friday the 13th, did the CMMI Appraiser from Virginia bring bad luck?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser,

I lead the CMMI effort for our engineering division in Maryland. Our whole reason for hiring this CMMI Appraiser from Virginia was to get our CMMI certificate and win new business. So far, no luck. What gives? ~ Bill D.

Hey, Bill,

It’s apt that your question comes on Friday the 13th, the unofficial holiday of bad luck. This calls for a special CMMI Appraiser’s rabbit’s foot. One for you, one for me, and one for your CMMI Appraiser from Virginia.

I kid because you're not alone, Bill.  We hear from companies all the time who call to say, “Hey, we need to look at CMMI certification because we’d like to bid on certain government contracts.”

I get that. I fully acknowledge many small and large engineering companies in Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan and elsewhere must achieve a CMMI 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. It's a business reality we all have to deal with.

But CMMI certification can’t be your CMMI Appraiser’s only goal – or you will not get the results you were hoping for.  As a matter of fact, CMMI Certification doesn't even exist!

To help make my point, let’s go back to the CMMI Appraiser you mentioned. If he or she was a good CMMI Appraiser, they might have asked you “Why are you doing this to yourself?” That might have led to discussion about the possibilities of adopting CMMI as model to be a great company - not a model to get a plaque (we call this "plaque buildup").  Was that your experience?

One technique I often employ is to try to talk the sponsor out of having an appraisal altogether - just to see how important it really is to them and to understand how much they have thought it through. Sometimes, as it turns out, it isn't that important.  Sometimes it's about greatness . . . as it should be.

See, a good CMMI Appraiser would know that learning about your company and how to make it better is the real goal – not achieving a level.

A good CMMI Appraiser would teach you to start to think like a great company.  He or she would help you use the CMMI as a strategic weapon to help you attract and retain new customers.

A good CMMI Appraiser would help you set the right goals and objectives, and ask the right questions that keep you on the path to continuous improvement, where the real deals are won.

Did any of that happen with your CMMI Appraiser from Virginia?  If so, then great!

Unfortunately, too many CMMI professionals don't get this. Some are only interested in helping companies get a so-called CMMI certificate or achieve  CMMI Maturity Level.   We call these companies "appraisal mills." They see no value in providing advice, strategy, and helping to ensure that you get the results you were hoping for.

And they don't even think about why you haven’t won new business.  Boooo!

That’s not bad luck. It’s bad practice.

The CMMI is so much more valuable and useful than that, Bill. It’s about things like how well you are running your engineering division in Maryland, Virginia, or elsewhere, how well you are delivering products, and how happy your customers are.

It’s all about KNOWLEDGE, and nothing to do with LUCK.

… even on Friday the 13th.

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.

We want to be ML3 but out consultant says we have to be ML2 first. Is this true?

Hey Jeff,


Our boss says we need to CMMI ML3 ASAP.  We went out and found a CMMI consultant who told us we first had to be CMMI Level Two or else the SEI would not approve our appraisal. That doesn't seem fair - we hire really smart people and we're probably already ML5.  Please help before my boss does something dumb! ~Ernie

Ernie,

If you've been following my posts, you know how I feel about a lot of "consultants."  It's just too easy to get a business card printed up and start selling yourself as an expert.  There is a lot of misinformation out in our industry about the CMMI, so let me try and help.

First of all, if that's what you were told your consultant is wrong.  That's it.  There's no more to be said about it.  They obviously have never been trained, or even been close to a SCAMPI Appraisal.  In the very first, most basic, "Introduction to CMMI" Training Class the material clearly states that "Maturity Levels Should Not Be Skipped" (emphasis on the word "should") and even this is in relation to a process improvement focus, not appraisals.

Lead Appraisers have conducted many CMMI appraisals where ML3 was the company's first appraisal - and yet the SEI accepted them.  I say "accepted" because the SEI doesn't usually approve the appraisal per se, instead they verify it was conducted properly based on the requirements of SCAMPI.

Maybe what your consultant was trying to tell you was that you SHOULD not skip a CMMI ML2 appraisals. If that was their advice, I completely agree with it.   Almost every client I work with that skipped wished they hadn't.  But it's not a requirement.

The SEI has done a pretty good job of defining the foundation - and it's in Level 2.  Going directly to ML3 sometimes forces you to make decisions that you won't want to make - resulting in Process Debt that will be difficult to unload for a long, long time.

So do it right, take your time, and please - work with someone who is qualified to help you save time, money, and frustration.

Oh, and if you were ML5 - you wouldn't say "probably."  You would KNOW.


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.

Are there special rules for an Ohio CMMI appraisal?

Dear CMMI Appraiser,

I’m leading a new Ohio CMMI appraisal effort for a large nationwide insurance company, and I have a question.  Our CMMI Consultant told us there are there special rules in the CMMI about providing resources for an Ohio CMMI appraisal.  Can that be true? ~ Al C.

Dear Al,

No, there are no special rules in the CMMI about providing resources from Ohio in an CMMI appraisal. In fact, there are no rules in the CMMI at all. The CMMI is a set of guidelines, not a rule book.  To be fair, such a rule may someday be part of the SCAMPI Method Definition Document, but it's very unlikely.  That's because SCAMPI is a set of rules . . . not guidelines.

Are you relieved? I’m guessing that insurance companies in Ohio, or anywhere else, don’t need any more rules.

But I think I know what you’re referring to. The CMMI does offer guidelines on providing resources – everywhere, not only for Ohio. It is the third Generic Practice, also known as GP 2.3.  And GP 2.3 applies to appraisals as well as projects.

The GP 2.3 guides us to provide adequate resources for performing the process, developing the work products, and providing the services of the process.

What it means is pretty simple. Give your team the stuff they need. Give them the tools and environmental resources they need for the processes to be useful, and for their efforts to be successful.

No problem, right? But what if you ignore the guidance from GP 2.3?

That would be like telling your engineers, “My policy is that you stay in the conference room for a working lunch,” then not giving them access to lunch.  Or a conference room.  Or chairs.  Or the Internet so they can post nasty things about you on Twitter..... but I digress.

Nice guy! I had a boss like that once. He turned his SEPG into a ghost town pretty quickly.

If you did that, you wouldn’t be performing this Generic Practice very well (and you would be at risk of being growled at by angry stomachs). If you don’t give your people any lunch, you can’t expect them to adhere to the policy of having a working lunch. Grrrrrrr.  I HATE when that happens!

Send in the sandwiches, boss!

Notice, this GP has nothing to do with how well the process is performed. There are other GPs that monitor how well the process is being executed. Also notice there are no rules that govern providing resources in an Ohio CMMI appraisal, or anywhere else.  You're welcomed to bring in some North Dakotans if that makes you happy!

The GPs really can help guide you and your hearty appetite to continuous performance improvement.

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.

When can we share the results of our appraisal in proposals and marketing?

Jeff, we have just finished our CMMI Appraisal and our marketing team want to use the result in our proposal documents to potential clients. Will it be okay to do so even if we're not yet published in SEI PARS? ~EC

EC,

I know how excited you must be!  Congratulations on having a successful appraisal!

When a CMMI Appraisal is complete, there is a documented called the "Appraisal Disclosure Statement" or "ADS" that gets signed by the CMMI appraisal sponsor and the certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser.  This document is a record of the CMMI appraisal, the projects that were appraised, and any other conditions that might affect the outcome.  It  may contain other information, like risks, or maybe the conflict of interest a CMMI Consultant may have (the COI may, or may not, affect the outcome - a conflict is not a corruption in itself).

There is a clause in the document that describes a waiting period to allow the SEI to confirm that the appraisal was conducted with integrity, and that all documentation and signatures have been submitted.  This usually takes about 30 days.  During that period, you agree to not have a press release, a website announcement, or a proposal that discusses the outcome of the appraisal.

However, you ARE Maturity Level "x" during this period, and I would never suggest fibbing to a client (or potential client) if they were to ask you!

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.

Can the CMMI give us more control?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, now that we’ve passed the CMMI appraisal, our CMMI consultant seems to be rushing our teams to finish projects and present documents, with no real insight into how things are going or how they can be made better. Isn’t the CMMI supposed to give us more control in these areas? ~ Jack E., Quality Assurance Director

Jack, yes, the CMMI is designed to give you more control.  The way that happens is primarily support with the 12 Generic Practices (or GPs).  And none of them talk about "presenting documents!"

The GPs set up an environment that makes improvement possible, and are primarily the responsibility of executives like you who are leading the CMMI effort.  Even when you have a CMMI consultant working with you, it’s YOUR job to leverage the GPs to establish a useful level of control over your processes.

Specifically, GP 2.8 is in place to help you.  The eighth generic practice guides you to monitor and control the process against the plan for performing the process, and take appropriate corrective action.

GP 2.8 is all about answering one simple question: "How do you know?"  And that gives you greater control.

How do you know if the process works? How would you make it better? Are things improving? Getting worse? Static? Because if they're getting worse, guess what! You blew it!

GP 2.8 is a pivotal practice - maybe the most pivotal. GP 2.8 gives you data about how well the process works.  Obtaining this knowledge is not up to your CMMI consultant.  It’s up to you, Jack, and you are wise to ask for help.

So here’s what I recommend. Take a step back and evaluate the data. Ask the following questions:

• How is the process performing?
• Are we getting the results we expected?
• How can we make it better?

A lack of interesting in monitoring and controlling processes is a major reason why projects – and companies – fail. And yet we see many so-called "CMMI consultants" encouraging exactly that. They exhort their teams to finish projects and present documents as though it doesn’t matter how things are going or how they can be made better. I’ve even heard some of these so-called CMMI consultants say “it’s not about goodness.”

Give me a break. That’s like saying it doesn’t matter if dinner is burnt, as long as it’s on the table on time. It may not be about "goodness" but it is about KNOWING whether or not you have goodness so you can have a better dinner next time around!

Fortunately, there are better meals to be enjoyed. GP 2.8 helps you cook them up. It starts with a clear perspective on what the CMMI is really all about. As I have said and keep saying, the CMMI is not about documents. It’s about learning to be a great company.

It helps to have a great CMMI consultant too. A great CMMI consultant is someone who will teach you how to get value from your process – not just to “pass” an appraisal or present documents.

Is your CMMI consultant great?  Is he or she getting better at teaching you? If not, it may be time to find a great CMMI consultant who can help you adopt the CMMI in a manner that is most appropriate to your company and the way you want to work.

The CMMI is a framework for life-long learning, and GP 2.8 helps you apply what you’ve learned. A great CMMI consultant will help you keep these things in mind so that you always know how things are going and how they can be made 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.