SPaMCast Question #6: What does it look like when an organization has improved productivity?

[NOTE: Over the past few weeks, the CMMI Appraiser has been sharing excerpts from a recent conversation with Tom Cagley on SPaMCast about whether agile is resilient – i.e., whether it will be able to spring back into shape after being bound or compressed by the pressures of development and support – and how frameworks like the CMMI can be used to make agile more resilient. Listen to the full interview at SPaMCast 296.]

[NOTE II: In today’s post, Tom is following up on a question about the benefits of using agile and CMMI together to achieve higher quality, faster delivery, and predictable, repeatable results.]

Jeff, you say that by focusing on changing behaviors, organizations can be doubling and tripling productivity. How does an organization see that? What is that? Suddenly, more things getting done? More value? Less people? ~ Tom Cagley, SPaMCast

Tom, what organizations will see is a great opportunity to take on more work. That’s what everybody wants, because the more productive they are, the more they more value they can provide for their customers, at cost that everybody is comfortable with.

You know, I’ve never been an advocate of cutting costs necessarily. To me, value is what’s most important. Value is what customers want, and will pay for. There is no shortage of value to be delivered, and no shortage of work to be done. If we are going to meet the demand, we need to learn to change behaviors, so that the people we have can deliver more value. This is not the time to cut costs.

So, you ask, how does a company do this? Well, let’s say you were going to take a large, chaotic, unproductive organization, and transform it into a great company. You have a vision for how this will happen – by delivering more value than your competitors. The way you are going to deliver more value is by getting better at what you are ALREADY doing.

Everyone knows, there is no silver bullet for success in this industry. But if it were me in charge of this turnaround, I’d use agile methods within a CMMI framework to put my company on the path to greatness. Just by applying a few simple concepts, I would be able to take on more work and deliver more value with the same amount of resources as the competitor might have.

I’ll be talking more about this concept of using agile and CMMI on upcoming webinars. I would love to have all perspectives join me by registering below:

“Agile Resiliency Scaling Agile so that it Thrives and Survives”

Thursday, September 11, 2014 from 1-2PM EDT.

Click here to register for the webinar.

“Agile Resiliency Scaling Agile so that it Thrives and Survives” (in conjunction with QUEST 2015)

Wednesday, September 17, 2014 from 12-1PM EDT.

Click here to register for the webinar.

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 engineering strategy,performance innovation, software process improvement and running a successful CMMI program.