This Halloween, why dress up as great company when you can BE one?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, I became concerned recently when our Virginia-based engineering division interviewed a CMMI appraiser from Maryland who said he would get us dressed up and looking like a great company, so we could pass the appraisal. Is that really useful for us? ~ Janet M.

Hey, Janet,

Is it useful for your CMMI consultant to make you look like something you’re not, rather than try to acquire a deep understanding of your business and help you do what it takes to truly be a great company? Your question is appropriate for this time of year. That’s one SCARY proposition!

No, it’s not useful.  But it's also not unusual that a so-called CMMI consultant would say something like this. 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 “looking like a great company” can’t be your only CMMI Appraiser’s goal – or you will not get the results you were hoping for.

Now, if your CMMI Appraiser was any good at what he does, he 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?

I kinda doubt it.

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.

Unfortunately, too many CMMI professionals don't get this. Some are only interested in helping companies get a so-called CMMI certificate or achieve a 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.

The CMMI is so much more valuable and useful than that, Janet. It’s about things like how well you are running your engineering division in DC, 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 dressing you up to look like something you’re not … even on Halloween.

Note: for those who are already see themselves as a great company, would you care to find out how you stack up against other great companies?

The CMMI Institute has just announced the 2016 Capability Challenge, and they are currently accepting participants. Contestants will be asked to tell their capability improvement story – the story of how they became a great company.  Through a series of short webinars, voters will pick the best stories, with finalists being featured prominently at the annual “Capability Counts” conference.  

Click here to take the 2016 Capability Challenge!

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.

Need to Know Everything about CMMI's PPQA?

Dear Readers,

People often ask me, "Hey CMMI Appraiser, why are you so fired up about CMMI?"  Well, what do you expect?  It's hard to keep cool when you see the CMMI as we see it - as an ongoing celebration, a model for being joyful in the quest for becoming a great company.

So if you share my passion for getting better at what you are ALREADY doing, please accept this invitation to join us as we dig into one of the Model’s most useful and least-explored process areas: Process and Product Quality Assurance (PPQA).

Yes, indeed! It’s time for “Everything You Need to Know: PPQA!”  The webinar, hosted by Broadsword, and presented by Cathy Henderson, premiers Thursday at noon Eastern. Click HERE to register.

The big question this webinar tackles: How do we transform our quality program into something that actually helps the company improve?

Too often, companies focus on tracking incidences of non-compliance, only to find that everyone fears the audit process (sometimes, even the auditor fears it!) and they aren’t getting any better. A more effective strategy is to emphasize quality over compliance. Establish a structure for collecting data that can help you align your processes with the engineers who are using them, driving quality by providing a direct feed of the QA information collected into process improvement activities. “Everything You Need to Know: PPQA!” shows the way.

Space is limited ... sign up now!

Register for the FREE Webinar.

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

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff pioneered agileCMMI, the leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement. He 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.

Announcing the 2016 Capability Challenge! How do you know you’re good at what you do?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, because we consider ourselves a great company, I decided to invest in capability improvement a few years ago. The data we are collecting now enables us to answer any customer that asks, “How do you know you’re good at what you do?” Why doesn’t everyone do this? ~ John E.

John, I love that you see yourselves as a great company, and are focused on becoming even better. It’s true that not everyone commits to continuous improvement – but plenty do. You might be surprised. Would care to find out how you stack up against other great companies by accepting the 2016 Capability Challenge?

Yes, the 2016 Capability Challenge is underway! This contest gives you the opportunity to tell the story of how you became a great company, in front of audiences of customers who care about performance improvement.

Click here for more information about the 2016 Capability Challenge!

You know, it’s interesting. As a CMMI Appraiser, I hear a lot of companies make comments like yours – “We’re a great company” – but have no metrics for understanding project performance. Unlike you, they are not ready to be asked, “Are you good at what you do?”

For different reasons, our customers want the same thing we want. They want to know how we know we are good at what we do. And that means you must communicate in THEIR language, not yours.

For example, let’s say your customer has asked you to do agile projects. They might sit down with you and say, “John, help us understand how your being agile helps us. Does the way you do your work enable us to receive better service?”

Regardless of the values, methods or tools you are using, customers want answers:

“How is it going? Are you any good at this? How do we know?”

Sounds like you can respond with confidence, John, so tell us your story! What business challenges or problems were you trying to solve when you launched your capability improvement program? Why should your deployment be considered successful or unique? What lessons can others learn from your approach?

This goes for YOU, too, Reader! Here's an opportunity to compete with other great companies, communicate your vision, reach new audiences and be recognized as an industry expert. Submit your bid for the 2016 Capability Contest ... and good luck!

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

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff pioneered agileCMMI, the leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement. He 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.

How does CMMI make Agile better?

Hey, CMMI appraiser, I saw your recent post about Planning Poker. We’re an agile shop, and I admit I don’t know CMMI very well at all. When you say we can use CMMI to make Planning Poker better, how does that work? Does CMMI state, ‘These are the people you need to do certain specific things?’ If so, how does CMMI make it better? ~ Dale E.

Hey, Dale, thanks for your question and welcome to the CMMI! I’ll answer your question below, but first I want to invite you to a webinar we’re hosting tomorrow (October 15th at noon EST) that is custom made for organizations like yours that are interested in ways to make agile better, stronger and more resilient with CMMI. Sign up here for “Everything You Need to Know: Agile Resiliency!”

There are many ways that the guidance of the CMMI can help you. Within the Model are 12 characteristics of the process, called the Generic Practices. Think of these practices as the 12 things that need to be done.

One of the 12 things we need to do is, we need to figure out who the right people are, and make sure they are there. Another characteristics is, we need to make sure people are trained on how to use the tools and techniques we are asking them to use. So, if we have Scrum teams using Planning Poker, but we have never really given them good training how to make that work, that’s a problem that the CMMI will help us address.

Take a look at the Generic Practice 2.5 in CMMI. The fifth GP, as it is known, guides us to train the people performing or supporting the process. It encourages us to ask, “How are we training people?” We may look around and decide that we really aren’t! So then we know, using CMMI as our guide, that we need to conduct training classes.

Your organization might say, “Hey, we are already using Planning Poker, but we’re not getting the results we want. It’s not that accurate.” Next step is to ask, “Why isn’t working?” Then take a look at the 12 characteristics of your process for answers:

• Oh, the right stake holders aren’t showing up! That’s one problem we’re having. Let’s fix that.
• Oh, people aren’t trained! That’s another problem. Let’s fix that.

In this way, the CMMI is almost like a checklist. It guides us to consider, in this case, all the things about Planning Poker that we didn’t think about when we implemented it. Back then, maybe we just passed out the packs of cards and said, “Go read an article and start playing.”

CMMI can help make all of our agile processes better if we go through the 12 attributes, and use the Model as a checklist to help make the process better.

There’s a whole lot more where this came from, Dale. Sign up for “Agile Resiliency” on Thursday, October 15th at noon EST – and we’ll go into greater depth tomorrow!

Register for the free webinar here.

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

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff pioneered agileCMMI, the leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement. He 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.

CMMI-TV: Is Planning Poker for Scrum Teams Only?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser, can Planning Poker be used by a company that uses CMMI, or is it for Scrum teams only? ~ NY-SPIN Attendee

Dear Readers,

Today’s episode of CMMI-TV was filmed at an NY-SPIN event in New York City, where I was asked what I thought about Planning Poker for estimating for a company that uses the CMMI. Below is a video clip with my answer, followed by a synopsis of my response. Enjoy!

OVERVIEW

To embrace Agile in a way that makes sense for the organization, we need to strengthen it with tools like the CMMI to create an "Agile Resiliency Architecture,” which keeps us focused on what's most important to our business and our process, and ultimately, our product.

When organizations are out of alignment with the "Agile Resiliency Architecture,” everything starts to go wrong.

WHAT'S WRONG

Teams say, “We play Planning Poker.  We don’t actually have the cards, but we play Planning Poker.”  I say, “How do you do that?”  They say, “We don’t have any cards, so we all talk about what number we were thinking of.”

But that’s missing the point! Planning Poker is an agile technique designed to eliminate the overbearing voice in team meetings. Playing the game isn’t the point. The point is eliciting proper behavior.

For example, if Bill is really loud, and Joanne isn’t, that doesn’t mean Bill has the right answer. But in a traditional estimating environment, Bill wins because he dominates the room.

WHAT'S RIGHT

With Planning Poker, estimating is very different.  Teammates sit quietly at a table, holding numbered cards they’ll use to rank or estimate a project’s difficulty.  When everyone is ready, they flip the cards over, and the number in front of each teammate has equal volume, weight and importance.  They say, “OK, let’s talk about it.”  And they play again: 1-2-3 … flip!

WHAT IT MEANS

Planning Poker is an estimating tool that is designed to eliminate the bullying that goes on in some companies.  When used correctly, it becomes directly tied to our organizational values, such as being collaborative or a fun place to work or having a focus on people, or whatever your values may be.

THREE-TIERED STRUCTURE

Planning Poker is a technique, and like all techniques and methods, it has to be aligned with the organizational values to be effective.

This is true across the entire company.  What we do (our techniques) must be tied to why we’re doing it (our values) and the way we’re doing it (our methods).  If we are using agile techniques like Planning Poker, but we don’t embrace agile values like failing fast, being iterative and incremental and improving continuously, then we’re not aligned vertically, and we will fail.

To understand the Agile Resiliency Architecture, you need to look at the company vertically, not horizontally:

• Tier I – Values = Guiding the work (fail fast, iterative and incremental, etc.)
• Tier II – Methods = Managing the work (Scrum, XP, Kanban, Spiral, Crystal, etc.) 
• Tier III- Techniques = Doing the work (Planning Poker, Daily Standups, Sprint Demos, Retrospectives, etc.)

Yes, Planning Poker can be a fun, collaborative tool that is highly useful, but it's a horizontal technique, and can be a waste of time if not aligned with your values. The real question is, do you know why you are using it?

LEARN MORE ON OUR WEBINARS:

To learn how to transform your company to agile, and strengthen agile within your company, sign up for our upcoming webinars:

Sign up for “Agile Transformation” on Tuesday, October 13th at noon EST

Sign up for “Agile Resiliency” on Thursday, October 15th at noon EST


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

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, ScrumMaster, author, and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff pioneered agileCMMI, the leading methodology for incremental and iterative process improvement. He 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.

Just the FAQs – How can we REALLY know how things are going?

[Dear Readers, for the past several months, our good friend Pat O’Toole, CMMI expert and seasoned consultant, has been collaborating with us on a monthly series of CMMI-related posts, "Just the FAQs." Our goal with these posts is to provide answers to the most frequently asked questions about the CMMI, SCAMPI, engineering strategy and software process improvement. This month, Jeff shares his secret for assessing the capabilities of product development teams. Take it away, Jeff! ~ the CMMI Appraiser]

Hey, Jeff – We want to assess the capabilities of our product development teams. I’m reluctant to schedule a SCAMPI appraisal because, I understand, they are no fun at all. How can we really know how things are going? ~ Bradley S.

JEFF: Wait a second. I love conducting appraisals. No – I really do!

I know what you’re saying, Bradley. Appraisals are lengthy, tedious, soul-sucking events that drive the joy and passion out of the otherwise happy-go-lucky appraisal team members who have been “volun-told” to spend weeks locked in a room ….with me! Seriously, what could be more fun!

But what I love most about appraisals is how eloquently and predictably developers, project managers, line managers, CIOs, and CEOs tell me how awesome they are. Planning, designing, traceability (OF COURSE!), peer reviews, collecting lessons learned (OBVIOUSLY!), and more are all described in excruciating and colorful detail. And they’re always so great! Heck – they’ve “self-assessed” at ML5, and if I only understood them I would agree. It’s a hoot!

After listening to all of the colorful descriptions of their awesome behavior, I train my gaze to the other side of the room, and in the furthest corner, in the darkest reaches of that corner, in the most hidden part of that corner, a tester is waving her hand across her neck while mouthing the words “NOT SO MUCH.” It’s always the best part! My personal record for the length of time it takes to see this is 37 seconds, but who’s measuring?

See, if you ever REALLY want to know what is going on in your organization, ask a tester. As consumers of distorted vision, weak requirements, poor design, and sloppy code, they are asked to behave like one of Harry’s Potter’s Dementors, the fantasy non-beings that takes in chaos and misery, leaving the developers and project managers happy and burden-free. Tough job!

While the most common reaction to busy testers is MORE testers and tools, building great technology products is about more than just testing code. In fact, it’s hardly about code at all. Yet most books, articles, and conference speeches about improving software quality focus on testing tools and automation. While these are all good and necessary discussions, we have thus far fallen short of reaching the goal line: consistently building high quality products that delight our customers.

Isn’t it about time we add something new to the discussion?

As a Lead Appraiser and Agile coach, I am often asked to assess the capabilities of product development teams, and I can usually ascertain strengths and weakness within fifteen minutes – if I start with the test team.

Great software is an ecosystem borne from a glimmer in someone’s mind, matures into needs, grows into requirements, transforms into designs, manifests itself as code, all the while being validated and verified, until it finally emerges to delight and satisfy our customers.

Instead of starting the discussion with expensive tools (who doesn’t like a new toy?), take your first step toward building better products by using the tool between your ears to answer the following questions that every tester asks:

1. What is the Product Vision? Unclear product vision manifests itself as chaos during testing because developers and analysts take it upon themselves to interpret – or even create – product vision. Product vision exists at multiple levels: company, product, team, and individual, and should be clearly defined and written down at all of them. You’ll need it later when you’re pressured to cut corners after everyone forgets why they’re building the product! Guidance and tips for developing a comprehensive product vision live in Requirements Development SP1.1 and SP1.2, Technical Solution SP2.1, Measurement and Analysis SP1.1, and elsewhere. Put them to work to create an integrated view of your organizational and product goals, objectives, and outcomes so that everyone clearly understands them.
2. Are the Requirements any good? Most industry studies peg misunderstanding of requirements as the primary reason we experience product defects and unhappy customers. Many testers know intuitively that this is a serious problem that costs our industry billions of dollars – and they know it because they are beaten up day-in and day-out by the downstream effects of weak requirements. The CMMI’s REQM SP1.1 provides’ excellent guidance for identifying the most insidious defect – lack of clarity – and correcting this process defect will results in a dramatic improvement in customer satisfaction and product quality. Adopting Test Driven Development, a staple in the agile community, is a solid implementation of practices in Requirements Development Specific Goal 3, and this can be your best tool to avoid the frazzled hairstyles that most testers are sporting after the “night-before-launch” test party. 
3. Is the Code any good? The CMMI gives scant attention to code quality, but some guidance is available in Technical Solutions SP3.1 and a thorough examination should be included in any software development appraisal effort. Clean code doesn’t happen on its own, but is the result of well-established behaviors, processes, and coding standards: naming conventions, formatting standards, variable passing conventions, complexity guidelines, and of course, code reviews. I learned this lesson many years ago when I received a curt note from the head of the testing team titled “thank you for letting me do your unit testing for you.” If a tester tells you they are capturing defects that fall into the aforementioned list, it’s a strong indicator that clean code is not on the top of anyone’s list.
4. Are we always improving? I tell my classes that “those who are always improving, win.” There is ample guidance in the CMMI about continual improvements, in fact the ENTIRE CMMI model is about this subject, but that doesn’t stop numerous Maturity Level Three companies from ignoring the advice in Generic Practice 3.2, or the dynamic duo of Integrated Project Management and Organizational Process Focus. Testers will immediately tell you whether they are seeing the same types of defects over and over (and over) again. Listen to them.

Appraisals can be tedious and time consuming, and everyone is looking for ways to optimize and accelerate the process (while reducing cost). So, with that in mind, I have a humble suggestion – start by asking a tester. You’ll be glad you did, and they might enjoy being in the spotlight for once!

© Copyright 2015: Broadsword Solutions and Process Assessment, Consulting & Training

“Just the FAQs” is written/edited by Jeff Dalton and Pat O’Toole. Please contact the authors at jeff@broadsword.com and pact.otoole@att.net to suggest enhancements to their answers, or to provide an alternative response to the question posed. New questions are also welcomed!

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

Webinar announcement: NEED to Know Everything about CMMI?

Dear Readers,

For those who need to know everything about CMMI, Broadsword is proud to present the flagship webinar in our “Everything You Need to Know” series: “CMMI!”

Participating in “Everything You Need to Know: CMMI!” is an excellent choice for anyone who is interested in learning new ways to get better.  Whether that means better software, better finance, better product development, better marketing or HR, learning more about the CMMI can help you make immediate, lasting improvements in your company.

Sign up here.

I find it fascinating that the misperception continues, even among CMMI appraisers today, that the CMMI is this heavy, command and control, document-centric cauldron of hard, dreary work and pure nonsense.

CMMI has none of that. It doesn’t tell you how to do anything. It doesn’t “require” anything. The CMMI says, “Here’s what great companies do.” That’s all it essentially says.

On the webinar, you’ll learn everything you need to know about what the CMMI is and does:

• The CMMI is a tool to help solve business problems.
• The CMMI helps you change and improve requirements churn and volatility, so that you can spend less time and money on requirements.
• The CMMI helps you be on-time and on-budget.
• The CMMI helps you motivate your staff, and make them better at what they do.
• The CMMI helps you understand and deal with risk, before it hurts you
• The CMMI helps you avoid having too many meetings, unhappy customers and unpredictable projects.

And the CMMI can do this whether you choose agile, waterfall, and any other set of methods.

So come on! Join us on the Webinar, and start taking advantage of the benefits of the CMMI. Whether you are an Agile shop, still seeking the kind of results you’ve been hoping for, or a CMMI-focused organization, looking for guidance on being lighter and more flexible, this practical, entertaining webinar will give you new insights into addressing persistent problems, and help you improve upon what you are ALREADY doing.

See you on 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 running a successful CMMI program.