(The Original and Authentic) Ask The CMMI Appraiser!

Can CMMI+Scrum Break the Vicious Cycle?

2012-01-27T06:47:00.002-05:00

CMMI Appraiser,

Thank you for answering the questions from my Scrum team. To be honest, I don't know what's gotten into them! I made the call to send them to your upcoming CMMI training in Albuquerque because, as I told them, we have been spinning our wheels. Boy! They didn't like that! The more I ask them for information, the more secrecy I encounter. And the more secrecy I get, the less willing I am to trust. Can your CMMI training break this vicious cycle? ~ Dave Arling

Dave,

You are right – it’s a vicious cycle - and a recursive one at that! Yes, address trust among teams in my CMMI training classes. But, the sad truth is that software engineering has been a low-trust, high demand environment for decades. It is an "antique" problem!

Before we talk about breaking it, let’s look into its history.

I believe it all started because managers wanted more guarantee and control, not because they were control freaks, but because they were getting burned. Projects would be late, or over-budget, and they’d have upset customers, unhappy bosses, late nights, and unhappy wives or husbands. So managers instituted more and more oversight. The concepts of phases, milestones and gates in software engineering are the result of one company or another having problems that they were trying to solve. The managers said, “I’m never going let that happen to ME again! No sir! This is going to be a part of every release now. I’ll have a gate at every phase. I’ll make sure that at every step of the way they are doing what I asked them to do. I'll make them PAY!!!!!"

Were they wrong to feel this way? Given their experience at the time, probably not. They were suffering just as much as anyone else. In this low-trust environment, managers felt they could not trust their employees to do the right thing. But perhaps they overreacted, because eventually employees resented the extra controls and oversight. It became the norm in our business. Engineers and project managers started withholding information even more! They stopped reporting risks and issues and were not communicating them to managers. Managers were surprised more and more often with unexpected, yet easily anticipated, problems. In other words, it got worse!

Dave, you aren't alone. As a CMMI Appraiser, I hear this all the time from managers: “If I knew about this six months ago when this problem happened, I could have fixed it, but now it’s too late.”

So they point the finger at the Project Manager or engineer who did not involve the Manager, because they did not want the Manger breathing down their necks.

The vicious cycle evolved over time. Managers wanted more and more control. Now we have an environment where engineers don’t tell management what they need to know to run the business. So management institutes more oversight. And engineers become more secretive.

Wow, I'm getting a headache!

Finally, in the '90s a group that eventually became the agile community threw their hands up and said, “This is useless to us. We can’t write good software this way. We’re going to create a high trust environment, with a framework around it, and remove the yolk from around our necks.” They’ve created a lot of awareness around this idea, so much so that now a lot of companies are starting to adopt it. Today the concept is known as "agile" and it manifests itself in the deployment of one of it's more specific techniques such as Scrum, XP, or Spiral.

But the problem is, just like any revolution, it may have gone TOO far to the other side. The pendulum of Scrum and other agile communities has, at times, swung to the opposite extreme. Now, too many teams insist on zero command and control. You sometimes have to remind the team that they are at WORK, have a job, and are being paid by the company! They tell their managers they "you just don't understand what we're doing." You have to tolerate their hostility and insulting remarks. (Are you reading this Leslie and Arthur?). Now that I write this I realize how much that sounds like my kids telling me I'll never understand what they're going through. Of course, I was never their age!

The oppressed have become the oppressors. The Freedom Fighters have become the .... oh you get it.

But hear this, Dave. I’m not calling for a management counter-revolution. Not at all. I’m advocating that we all meet in the middle.

I'm suggesting that the iteraters connect with the waterfallers to write great software! That’s the beauty of CMMI+Scrum. I'm advocating that we do what makes sense.

Rodney King even gets it - why can't we?

Check back later and I’ll share exactly how your team’s participation in the CMMI+Scrum training can help break the vicious cycle.

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 CMMI+Scrum for Agile Puritans?

2012-01-23T08:42:00.000-05:00

Hey, CMMI Appraiser,

I work with Leslie (from the lastpost) and, come on, where do you get off telling us to “be real”? Our Scrum team is made up of true agile evangelists. We have no use for process models or BPUF orany of that old school garbage from stuffed suits like you. The CMMI certification is a necessary evil in ourcompany, so we put up with it. Now itlooks like we’ll have to put up with you at SEPG NA. ~ Arthur X.

Hey, Arthur,

Thanks for your sweet message! It’s not often the CMMI Appraiser gets a love letter. With Valentine’s Day coming up next month, Iguess you were overcome with the urge to whisper sweet nothings in my ear. I love it!

But seriously, Arthur, what I wouldreally love is for us to get on the same page about CMMI+Scrum. Yes, they really can and do coexist. When you get to my class at the conference, you’ll see exactly how. In the meantime, if you are willing tosuspend your disbelief in my sincerity, I’d like to point out a few things about CMMI and Scrum that youmay not be aware of:

This CMMI Appraiser doesn’t wear suits. The closest thing I came to wearing a suit was last month, when I put on a red Santa suit, and sang the "Twelve Days of CMMI." The neighbors are still recovering from THAT adventure.

You say, “We have no use for process models,” but did you realize that Scrum is a process model also? When you look at all of the different techniques of a Scrum team, all the "Scrum Elements," every one of them is a process. They are not the same processes that maybe you think people want to make you use, but they are still a process. And they're pretty darn good ones too! And every one of them is in the CMMI! For example, Planning Poker is represented in the CMMI's Project Planning Specific Goal One. Refactoring is in Requirement Management, Pair Programming is part of Verification, Velocity is part of Measurement and Analysis, and Test-Driven Development is part of Requirements Development. And so on.

“We have no use for BPUF (Big Plan Up Front).” That’s OK! I don’t either. To be clear, the CMMI is not a methodology. It does not have to be BPUF. That’s a perception based on implementation, not a perception based on fact. Are you saying that because the CMMI is most often used in BPUF types of organizations, therefore the CMMI is a BPUF process model? Correlation is not causation Arty. The real meaning behind CMMI is that it looks to make anything that you are doing better. So why not use CMMI to make a Scrum better?

You’re too cool for “old school”? Guess what - me too (and it kind of creeps my kid's friends out)! The beauty of Scrum teams is that they tend to be fiercely independent. Unfortunately, that perception is one reason why most companies are using Scrum for only a small subset of their projects. As I was explaining to your teammate, Leslie, part of the challenge with using Scrum is sometimes upper management doesn’t understand it. It’s well suited for bottom-up implementation, but not so much for "top-down." But because everything in Scrum is on-time and on-budget by definition, Scrum teams can boast to their management, “things worked really well. We are on time and on budget with every release.” But you don't hear so much is whether they met the full number of features they committed to delivering. Their velocity may be lower than they expected. If that happens to you, CMMI can help.

The CMMI is a “necessary evil”? Does that mean agile project are full of rainbows, unicorns, goodness and light? Well, I don’t dispute that the agile community has got great ideas, but Purism is dangerous and damaging in any form. Whether you are a Tea Partier or an anarchist, Puritanism is dangerous because it chokes off the flowering of new thought. It eliminates the possibility that new, better ideas are out there. Isn't that kind of an agile "anti-pattern" in itself?

There has always been this sort ofantagonistic relationship between the Agile and CMMI communities. So much so that that I co-wrote a white paper called "CMMI or Agile? Why Not Embrace Both?"for the SEI along with several of my peers on why that perception is hurting the software community, and why theCMMI is an excellent fit for agile environments. And no, they don’t wear suits either.

Although whether or not they wear Santasuits, I can’t venture to say.

That’s the history and philosophy,Arthur. Embrace CMMI+Scrum as a tool tomake your organization a great company. Every framework, including Scrum, has weaknesses, and you can use CMMI to make it even stronger.

Like this blog? Forward toyour nearest engineering or software exec!

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

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

Is CMMI+Scrum the real deal?

2012-01-19T19:06:00.001-05:00

Hey CMMI Appraiser,

Our Scrum team is going to SEPG North America in Albuquerque this year, and our boss wants us to attend your CMMI+Scrum Learning Experience. We are an agile shop that has ZERO interest in following the CMMI, because we know the two are not compatible at all. Are you for real? ~ Leslie B.

Hey, Leslie,

I think so ... let me pinch myself. OUCH! That hurts! Yes, I'm for real.

And here's the real deal. Scrum and the CMMI actually ARE very compatible. But maybe in not the way you think. Together, they actually make each other, your team AND your company better.

Please keep an open mind, Leslie, and I'll try to lay out the User Story.

First, as you may know, both agile and the CMMI are frameworks. Scrum and process improvement are implementations of those frameworks. In other words, agile is a framework, which Scrum was developed to fit within. And the CMMI is a framework that process improvement fits within. So you can think of both agile and the CMMI as being like containers which hold the keys to implementing whatever it is you’re implementing.

CMMI is not a process that you follow, it’s something more conceptual. You don't "implement CMMI." Likewise, agile is not a process that you follow, it’s conceptual. The improvements you make in your company require specific implementations, like implementing Scrum, XP, or spiral for example.

In my "CMMI+Scrum Learning Experience," which will be delivered on the first day of the conference, your team will learn a few things about the CMMI that can help your company get better:

1. On the Scrum side, CMMI can help strengthen and improve what your team delivers.

2. On the management side, CMMI can help your boss understand what’s going on and what information he should expect.

Just guessing here, but it could be that your boss wants you to attend my CMMI+Scrum training so that you can help him come up with ways to for you to help him understand what you're up to. It's pretty common in my experience that management sometimes mis-understands the power of Scrum. They see it as black magic that somehow is getting results. They may not really know what is going on and are mostly afraid to ask. It happens.

Look at it from their perspective. They're used to numbers, MS Project schedules, and spreadsheets. They often live in a waterfall world with suits, ties, and fancy tassels on their shoes. They get the willies when they see team rooms, skate boards, jolt cola, sticky notes, and user stories. Scaaaaary!

Ultimately, Leslie, that hurts you more than it helps you. For one thing, companies tend to relegate the smaller and less important projects to the Scrum team. They have the perception that agile and Scrum are not scalable for large, complex and meaningful projects. As a result, folks like you and your colleagues are not always given the big, cool projects, and you may be unable to contribute in the manner that you would like to, which hurts professionally and personally.

So let me flip that around, Leslie, and ask YOU to get real. Understanding how to integrate the CMMI with your Scrum implementation can have a real, lasting impact on your company and your career.

Here's the link to register: http://www.sei.cmu.edu/sepg/na/2012/registration.cfm. I hope I'll see you there!

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.

My company wants me to be their Lead Appraiser. When can I start?

2012-01-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

Dear Appraiser,

Our organization wants to go to CMMI level 5, and we are currently at level 2. Our management wants to sponsor me, their employee, to be CMMI Lead Appraiser for the following reasons:

1. They can start their own consultancy service
2. Get process improvements and maturity effectively
3. To reduce the cost of SCAMPI A by getting it conducted by their own Lead Auditor (which is due every after 3 years)

I've looked up the requirements and I think I can become an LA for the cost of the Introduction to CMMI class, the Intermediate CMMI Class, and the SCAMPI Lead Appraiser Class. How much does it cost and how soon can I start the Appraisal?

Whoaaaaa Nellie! Take a step back 'der pard'ner!

Wow! That's so cool that they want to start a whole service offering based on you only taking a couple of classes. Parrrrrrrrrty!!!! I bet they can't wait for the big Lead Appraiser bucks to pile in! And that super-easy CMMI ML5 Appraisal - how cool is that?

I'm sorry, but there are a few teensey-weensy steps you left out.

First of all, appraising your own organization is, shall we say, highly suspect, so I'm not sure that's a good business plan.

As far as training, you did identify some of the basic training, although if your going to conduct CMMI ML5 appraisals, you also need to take the "Understanding CMMI High Maturity Practices" class.

An of course, the SEI Observation - a grueling 5-10 day appraisal where an SEI Observer is watching your every move. Stressssssssfuuuuuul!

And then there are the exams. One after the Intermediate class, one after the SCAMPI Lead Appraiser Training Class, then the SCAMPI Certified Lead Appraiser Exam, and the SCAMPI Certified High Maturity Lead Appraiser exam. Whew! And you can't take them all at once!

There are waiting periods and experience requirements between each step of course - because it's more about real-life experience than it is about classes.

Of course, all along the way there are pre-requisites to progress to each next step. Plan on about 3-5 years of intense study, practice, and experience before you even try to go there.

The bigger problem is that I think you have missed the point entirely. A Lead Appraiser is a highly experienced practitioner whose skill set only begins with knowledge of the CMMI. A good Lead Appraiser has excellent communications, consulting, and teaching skills. This is important because a Lead Appraiser's job is not to help you pass the appraisal, it's to help you become a better company.

I recommend you begin your CMMI study and begin using the model everyday so that you can learn all the great things it can help you with. Take the Introduction to CMMI class and then work with the model some more. Then a couple of years later, take the Intermediate class. If, after that, you're convinced you want to become a Lead Appraiser, apply to the program.

Being a CMMI Lead Appraiser is a vocation - not a something you do quickly.

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.

Do I have to take the High Maturity Class again with CMMI v1.3? Say it isn't so Jeff!

2012-01-16T20:28:00.000-05:00

Dear Appraiser,

I have an issue asking you for help. I have taken the course of "Understanding CMMI High Maturity Practices." Now SEI has upgraded the course. I think there must exist some differences but not very big. However I hope I can get the copy of new version of the course lecture note. Of course, I can pay some dollars to SEI but I don't want to attend the course. Is there a way to solve this issue? Please help me to solve this issue. ~Bosheng

Bosheng,

I don't blame you - I wouldn't want to take that CMMI training course again either!

The Understand CMMI High Maturity Practices course (ironically called "UCHMP" - pronounced "You Chump") is a 5 day course about applying statistical techniques to process improvement using the CMMI Maturity Level Four and Five Process Areas. I took it four or five years ago myself.

When v1.3 of the CMMI came out last year the upgrade featured some major changes to ML5, including the removal of a ML5 Process Area (Organizational Innovation and Deployment - OID) and the inclusion of a new Ml5 Process Area (Organization Performance Management - OPM).

The differences between OID and OPM are numerous, but there is not an upgrade class just for so-called "high-maturity." So even if you wanted to "pay some dollars to the SEI," you wouldn't be able to get it. But there is hope.

The SEI offers a CMMI v1.3 model upgrade course that you can take online. That has a complete description of OPM and a comparison between that and OID.

If you wish to be a member of a ML4 or ML5 CMMI Appraisal team you MUST take this upgrade course, as well as participate in some face-to-face training with your certified lead appraiser.

If you don't intend on being a member of the appraisal team, you might consider connecting with you friendly CMMI Consultant to sit down with you an explain their interpretation of the changes.

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.

You mean I have to collect and analyze my own data?

2012-01-16T10:01:00.000-05:00

Dear CMMI Appraiser,

I sent my software engineers to your CMMI training class recently to get them ready for the CMMI Appraisal we will be starting next month. While I am satisfied that they are now prepared, I don’t like what they apparently learned about data collection and characterization. I told them we need our Lead Appraiser to perform this time-consuming work. According to the team, you think WE need to do it? ~ Paul B.

Hey, Paul,

You know, I distinctly remember getting a lot of push-back from some folks in a recent CMMI training about data collection and characterization. Now I know why!

Let me tell you what I told them, and will tell anybody else from your company who tries to delegate this critical responsibility: It is up to you to collect and begin characterizing this important data.

That’s because appraisals are about you - not about me. They're about people inside your company know more about operations than anyone else. Why? Because I can't fix your problems, only you can!

Appraisals are about you and your team - not about a consultant.

True, collecting and characterizing data can be difficult. It can be time consuming. But the same is true for eating healthy, right? Taking the time to plan, shop for, prepare and eat a nutritious meal can be pretty rigorous. It’s far quicker and easier to roll through the drive-thu and grab a bag of hot, greasy fast food. But that type of behavior can have negative health consequences over time.

mmmmm....sure looks good though, doesn't it?

Which brings me to my favorite thing about the CMMI. It’s all about changing behaviors that have negative consequences.

So let me play that back for you again. “Jeff, could you provide someone to perform data collection for us?”

Sure I could! Just like I could plan, shop for, prepare and eat a delicious, nutritious meal for you! You sit in traffic, gorging on French fries, and I’ll eat right.

How nice for me! But exactly what benefit would YOU get out of that?

None. For the same reason, I won’t let you deny yourself the chance to become a great, continually improving company.

Call me Dr. CMMI, but I’d much rather see you get healthy. I’d much rather see you master the data collection process and make it your own.

I may be more passionate about this topic than others, but it’s not just me anymore. Now that the "managed discovery" approach has been introduced in SCAMPI v1.3, you’ll find more and more Lead Appraisers recommend that you to collect and categorize your own data.

Though it is a new requirement in the SCAMPI process, I've always conducted CMMI appraisals this way, as have most of the leading Lead Appraiser (leading lead appraisers? I'm getting a recursion headache). I've always told companies to collect and characterize their own data. Or, more precisely, that we will do a lot of it together.

Yes, your Lead Appraiser will HELP you collect an analyze the data. But a good one will teach you how to develop this important skill for yourself.

After all, why are we doing this in the first place? NOT to get the artifacts to complete the CMMI appraisal. NOT even to achieve "CMMI certification."

No, the purpose of collecting and characterizing data is to give yourself more ways to become better as a person and a company.

So get with the program, Paul! You’re a good executive. You’ve got a good team. And a good company!

It’s time to start learning the behaviors that will make you great.

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.

Help! It’s the CMMI Appraisal Day Massacre - on Friday the 13th!

2012-01-13T15:00:00.004-05:00

Dear CMMI Appraiser,

Our CMMI Appraiser is torturing us! You would not believe the hours he has us spend in meetings. This whole thing is worse than a tax audit. He is demanding work product evidence for every single sub-practice in the model … and as far as I can tell, there are thousands! When will this ever end? It is so over-engineered and burdensome. Is the CMMI supposed to be like this? ~ Steve C.

Steve,

Maybe you should have called 911. It sounds like you are under siege! It’s more than a little eerie that your question comes on Friday the 13th … there are so many similarities to your plight and that of the camp counselors in the horror film by the same name.

I’m not trying to make light of your situation (well, maybe a little - if you don't laugh, you'll cry). But it’s really scary to think that some of my brethren Lead Appraisers are so far off the deep end that they are making the CMMI feel like murder.

Similar to the purpose of summer camp, the intention of the CMMI is that you gather together, have fun, learn new skills, establish new traditions and come away the better for it. Where, oh where did your sick and twisted CMMI appraiser go wrong?

Let’s set the record straight.

First, as you are experiencing, too many meetings are a productivity KILLER. It’s a pretty good rule of thumb that the more meetings you have, the less you can accomplish. I’ve heard Lead Appraisers say things like, “We need to have a lot of meetings because they need everything clarified face-to-face, or else how can they understand the projects, resolve issues or risks or assumptions or any of those things?” AAAAAAHHHHHHH!! Shoot me now!

Somebody call the process police! That explanation is just criminal.

Second, a SCAMPI appraisal is NOT an audit! A good Lead Appraiser is the OPPOSITE of an auditor. The CMMI is a model for continuous improvement, and 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 better or – as I call it – a great company. That’s the bottom line of CMMI.

If your Lead Appraiser is insisting on seeing “work product evidence,” or what they now call “artifacts” for every single sub practice in the model, he’s acting like an auditor. The CMMI does NOT call for an audit of subpractices! Talk about shattering the stillness of the night with blood-curdling screams!

A Lead Appraiser who behaves like an auditor is driving wrong behaviors, wasting money, and making people hate CMMI. He might as well come at you with a machete.

Clearly what’s happening is that your Lead Appraiser is over-engineering what his task is. He probably thinks the way to win business is to force you down a path where you are terrified of him and think you need to memorize everything that’s in the book. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no reason for anyone in your company to do that.

Steve, this may be difficult, but I want you to remain calm. Stay on the line, and know that the practices in the CMMI are valuable guidance for you. They are not things to comply with, as written. They are guidance for you, like honest-to-goodness camp counselors, whose job is to help you make yourself incrementally and iteratively better.

A good Lead Appraiser won’t care if you know what the GPs are, by their numbers. All a good Lead Appraiser will care about is: Are you training people? Do you have a process for doing work? Do you have policies? Are you improving as an organization? Are you learning about yourselves?

You need a good Lead Appraiser, Steve. Wake up from the nightmare. Fast. We’ve seen that movie. What a horror show!

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.

Too Late to Join the CMMI Appraisal Team?

2012-01-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

Dear CMMI Appraiser,

Hi, I found you by searching for “CMMI Consultant” on Google and I love your posts! Here’s my situation. In November, my boss told our CMMI Consultant that it would help my career to have me join the CMMI Appraisal Team. I agree! But it’s been frustrating because the CMMI Consultant keeps putting me off when I ask what I need to do to join. Now that our CMMI Appraisal is underway, is it too late? ~ June D.

Hi, June. It’s great that you are taking it upon yourself to find out how to join the CMMI Appraisal Team. Because the CMMI is about creating an environment of continuous improvement, and you clearly want to improve yourself, the company will benefit from having you on the CMMI Appraisal Team. Bravo!

Assuming there are a few months before the current CMMI Appraisal onsite has started, and you have been working with the CMMI, it's not too late for you. In fact ...

By this I mean, it’s never too late to do the things we need to do to improve, both individually and as a company. To join the CMMI Appraisal Team, a few things have to happen:

You need to successfully complete the Introduction to CMMI training class
You have to demonstrate the pre-requisite experience as outlined in the SCAMPI MDD for engineers, project managers, or managers
You need to fill out, sign, and submit the SEI’s FERPA form (if you are in the USA) after you've completed the class
You need to register on the SEI’s ATM Pool registration page (sas.sei.cmu.edu). If you were able to do this then the first two items were satisfied.
Your Lead Appraiser must create the Appraisal Record in SAS
Your Lead Appraiser must add you to the appraisal as an ATM
You need to complete the SCAMPI Team Training given by your Lead Appraiser.

This all SHOULD be done prior to starting the CMMI appraisal!

Since the first step is CMMI training, start looking into your options today. There are good CMMI Training courses available through the SEI. You can also take a CMMI Training class with an SEI Partner, like Broadsword Solutions Corporation (www.broadswordsolutions.com).

The advantage of taking the CMMI Training with SEI Partner Broadsword is that they are a real-world practitioner of CMMI, and they use real-life stories, examples, exercises, and case studies as they go. They even cover dynamic concepts like CMMI and Agile, and the cutting edge approach of CMMI+SCRUM, which could help you accelerate your career.

I'd love to have you in my CMMI training class. It's always a pleasure to have participants who are as motivated as you.

As far as your CMMI Consultant, her silence it telling. Why hasn’t she answered your question? My guess is that she may not know what it takes to join a CMMI Appraisal Team. What else doesn't she know?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Feel free to share this post with your boss. It may be time to find a new CMMI consultant.

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.

A pithy description of the CMMI's Engineering Process Areas

2012-01-11T14:05:00.002-05:00

A succinct description of the CMMI-DEV Engineering Process areas from my good friend and colleague Hillel Glazer.

If you only have one minute, here's what you need to know about the CMMI's Engineering Process Areas.

In addition to his talent for writing pithy messages on flip-charts, Hillel has also written a great book called "High Performance Operations" that is available on Amazon.

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 Should We Do Our Next CMMI Appraisal?

2012-01-09T17:18:00.000-05:00

Dear CMMI Appraiser,

I run a 120-person engineering company that has had 100% turnover in our CMMI Appraisal Team since completing our CMMI Appraisal in August of 2009. As a result, I am not sure when we need to restart the CMMI Appraisal process and renew our CMMI certification. Do we have until August of this year? ~ Dylan D.

Dylan, if you’ve had a lot of turnover as a result of adopting the CMMI, it sounds like you have bigger problems than renewal. As the leader, you need to take a step back and consider whether your organization has a healthy approach to the CMMI. Based on your question, I suspect it may not.

What does an unhealthy adoption of the CMMI look like? You see your team putting in long hours, working nights and weekends in a miserable attempt to comply with what they think the CMMI “requires” them to do. They waste time meeting, documenting and chasing paper, rather than actually trying to become a better company.

Does that sound familiar? Then you need to get healthy before you waste more time on another CMMI appraisal. So how do you get healthy?

Stop looking at the CMMI as something you have to “do,” and start looking at it as a set of best-practices of many successful organizations that can serve as a model for you to be successful. Stop focusing on what documents you produce, and more on how you act. And most importantly, stop being concerned with "CMMI certification" and think about what it takes to be a professional company.

Now, this might shock you, but having a healthy approach actually makes the CMMI fun. And it makes it easier to achieve a Maturity Level. i know it's hard to believe, but trust me on this one!

Personally, I find the CMMI to be highly engaging and rewarding, both personally and professionally. We convey this spirit in my CMMI training classes. Contrary to what you’d expect, a healthy attitude toward the CMMI is contagious. Participants in the CMMI training classes are inspired to drive a spirit of continuous improvement in their organizations. So, to get healthy, the CMMI training class may be your best medicine.

Now to your question:

The duration between SCAMPI appraisals is three years. That means if you want to maintain your ML3 rating, you will need to complete a SCAMPI "A" by August of 2012. Depending on your current health and readiness, however, there may be a lot to do. Many clients I work with commission a SCAMPI "C" to evaluate their health and readiness before scheduling the higher-cost SCAMPI "A" to renew their rating. Assume that you need to start ASAP.

So take two aspirin and call me in the morning.

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.

Do I need to be a Certified CMMI Assessor to lead my company's process improvement program?

2012-01-07T08:35:00.000-05:00

Dear CMMI Appraiser,

Like most engineering executives, Iwear a lot of hats. Recently I’ve beenassigned the task of leading the company’s CMMI-based process improvement effort,primarily because I was on the CMMI Assessment Team in my last job. Do I need to become a certified CMMI Assessorto do this? ~ Sylvia O.

Sylvia, wow, I’m not sure if congratulationsor commiserations are in order!

Leadingthe CMMI effort is an opportunity for you to have a real and lasting impact onthe direction of your company. Ofcourse, that direction might be straight off the cliff – so let’s proceedcarefully.

First, to answer your question, thereis no certification required to lead a CMMI-based process improvement effort. If you go forward, you will not hear a knockon your door one night from the process police who want to rifle through your files looking for "objective evidence" So wear that CMMI assessor hat without fear of criminal prosecution.

BUT . . . .

Your effort would be more successfulif your team had at least the basic Introduction to CMMI training class, and if possible,the Intermediate Concepts of CMMI training course as well. And of course, if you want achieve CMMI Maturity Level Two or Three, you will need to engage a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser.

See, the CMMI is a complex set of interdependentpractices. Even though I've taught over100 CMMI training classes, I still learn something new each time.

Furthermore, it sounds as thoughthings may have changed since your last trip down the CMMI process improvement highway. For one thing, the SEI does not call it a CMMIAssessment anymore. The term now-a-daysis CMMI Appraisal. And a CMMI Assessoris now a CMMI Appraiser.

The terminology change is significant. To be a CMMI Appraiser, and conduct a formal SCAMPIappraisal, you will need to engage a certified CMMI Appraiser. I would not recommend that most engineeringexecutives abandon their lucrative careers and become a certified CMMIAppraiser – unless they feel the fire burning inside them that it is their moralduty to help companies get on the path to greatness. Such was the case for me – but that’s anotherstory.

By the way, the CMMI book won't tellyou anything about how to successfully lead an initiative like this. It will merely give you a view into whatother successful companies have done with their processes (i.e.; "bestpractices"). That’s why I really, truly,strongly, passionately, urge you to take a CMMI training course before yourisk everything you’ve worked so hard for.

A good CMMI Instructor will not only teach you about CMMI, but will also help you learn about how to develop a useful set of processes for your company - and how to deploy them without bringing the company down!

Check out the CMMI training classes offeredby an SEI Partner like Broadsword Corporation for opportunities near you.

Good luck!

Like this blog? Forward toyour nearest engineering or software exec!

Jeff Dalton is a CertifiedSCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author, and consultantwith 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 aggregatesatisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

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

Are We Ready to Do CMMI Training?

2012-01-05T15:10:00.000-05:00

Dear CMMI Appraiser,

We are a large government contractor with processes that are poorly controlled and unpredictable. We need to be more productive and profitable, and are considering adopting CMMI as a framework to improve our operations. Would it help us to do a CMMI training, even if we haven’t decided on doing CMMI yet? Who in our organization should we send? Where do we get CMMI training? ~ Andres M.

Andres,

Before we answer your questions about CMMI training, we need to make an important distinction: You can do all the CMMI trainings you want, but it would not help you to try to “do” the CMMI, because that is impossible.

Why? Because the CMMI is a model for organizational improvement. The CMMI is a framework to help provide guidance on overcoming the challenges you’ve mentioned. But the CMMI is not a process. In other words, you can conduct a CMMI training class, but you cannot “do” the CMMI. It’s like making a commitment to getting stronger. You can “do” a series of workouts, but you cannot “do” strength. Not even Mr. Muscle-Head here:

Now to your question: should you do CMMI training?

Absolutely. Taking an Introduction to CMMI training course is an excellent choice for anyone who is tasked with, or interested in, transforming their organization into a high-performing, lean, and productive team.

The right CMMI Instructor will not only focus on CMMI - but real process improvement for your company, independent of the process model.

Good CMMI training teaches you WHY to use the CMMI. Good CMMI training instructs you on WHAT you need to do to be successful with the CMMI. Finally, good CMMI training shows you HOW to use the CMMI in a way that is appropriate for your organization.

Who should do the CMMI training? Any executive, project manager, engineer, software developer, line manager, analyst, tester, or process or quality professional would benefit.

As far as where to do your CMMI training, you could take the course at the SEI, or consider taking doing it with an SEI Partner, like Broadsword Solutions Corporation (www.broadswordsolutions.com). They'll fill in the gaps with stories, examples, exercises, and case studies as they go - based on their real-world experience. They even cover CMMI and Agile.

Boadsword provides custom Introduction to CMMI Training for organizations, on site. You can find out more at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

So, yes: get better. Get stronger, faster more productive and profitable. Do your CMMI Training as you would do any work-out – just don’t overdo 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.

Why CMMI Certification Might Drive You Crazy

2012-01-03T17:22:00.000-05:00

Dear CMMI Appraiser, we are a supplier of electronics and software to large commercial organizations. Lately customers been giving preference to firms that are CMMI Level 2 or 3. We attempted to get our CMMI certification in 2011, but got too busy and failed our CMMI Appraisal. To get our CMMI certification in 2012 what do we do - try again?

~ Laurence F.

Laurence, your story reminds me of Einstein’s definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

In my opinion, if you go for CMMI certification again this year, and don't change your approach, nothing you can possibly do will be different, and the only certification you will qualify for is this one:

Why do I say that? Because the CMMI is not about certification.

Now, I’m just kidding you about being certifiably insane. You have simply been misled, as have many others. After all, the phrase “CMMI certification” is commonly used. It all started with our friends at the Department of Defense, who created an environment where a CMMI mandate feels and looks like a certification. By extension, many electronics and software companies in the commercial sector are routinely inserting requirements in their RFPs and contracts that suppliers be at a certain CMMI Level. You are not alone.

But focusing on CMMI certification is crazy. Or, to put it more gently, it’s a misguided interpretation of what actually needs to be done.

Your clients want you to be better at what you do. That’s a noble intention. We all want that for ourselves, to be in a continuously improving environment.

But if you focus on CMMI certification, you end up losing all of the value of the CMMI. You end up chasing the paper, not the improvements.

And here's a secret (shhh, this is between you and me so don't tell ANYONE)! It's easier to do it right than it is to chase the paper! And you also get the benefits. What's not to like?

The value of the CMMI comes from the transformation of the culture of your company. It’s about changing the way we behave, so that we build products that are better than other companies that are building similar products - albeit with lame processes that cost more, produce lower quality, and make employees unhappy.

You can’t transform a culture by going out and getting certificates. When we put a “certification” mindset around getting better, it drives the wrong kind of behaviors.

And that can drive you crazy.

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.

Happy New Year! CMMI Style!

2012-01-01T19:21:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers,

My good friend, and CMMI expert, Shawn Rapjack has come with his own "CMMI resolutions" for the new year. Take it away . . . Shaaaaaaaawnnnnnn!

Happy New Year – CMMI Style!

I hope you’ve recovered from Jeff’s eggnog extravaganza of the ‘Twelve Days of CMMI’! With the New Year, it’s time forresolutions, self-improvement and, yes … Process Improvement!

If I’m a seniorproject manager or company president, what resolutions should I consider? Start making the coffee when the pot is low... That’s good, but let’s focus on managementimprovement resolutions for the New Year:

1) I resolve to be a vocal processimprovement sponsor. Iwill be a visible proponent of our company’s engineering improvements, leadingby example. My employees will know that process improvement is positive,beneficial, and supported throughout the organization.

2) I resolve to accept change. With improvement comes change – Iwill actively engage with my process team to derive tailored processes andengineering solutions that are logical, that save time and money, and that areagreed upon by all stakeholders.

3) I will personally monitorimprovements. I will engage with my process team tounderstand how processes are being piloted and implemented. I will understand process impacts.

4) I will provide resources. The process team, managers, andemployees will need time to implement improvements – I will ensure they have adequatetime and other resources (training, meeting space, PALs, etc.)

5) I resolve to understand the CMMImodel. I, and mymanagement team, will take ‘Introductory CMMI’ or ‘CMMI for Managers’ courses.(Broadsword Training)

6) I will make the CMMI fun! I don’t want my employees to loathelearning about or implementing new engineering solutions! Improving my workplace environment should bea positive experience! (Broadsword Training - Learning isFun!)

7) Iwill ban the words ‘process’and ‘CMMI’ from my vernacular. I will think of it as ‘E-N-G-I-N-E-E-R-I-N-G’ instead.

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 inCMMI 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.

CMMI Goals for a Prosperous New Year

2011-12-30T08:12:00.000-05:00

Mr. CMMI Appraiser, I am the leader of a mid-sized engineering firm, and 2011 was our best year ever. But as I said to the team, let’s make sure 2011 isn’t our best year we ever had. We need to get the next level of CMMI certification, CMMI Maturity Level 3. What advice would you give us? ~ Wilson C.

Wilson, thank you for your note. First, Mrs. CMMI Appraiser and I would like to lift our glasses to wish you and yours a very happy New Year and a prosperous CMMI program.

Happy New Year!

And cheers to your team, Wilson, for striving to get better for 2012. But you make me nervous with this “next level of CMMI certification” business. IMHO, focusing certification isn't quite the right goal. Do you really want my honest advice? I'll try not to hurt you :)

Just resolve to be a great company. The certification will follow....I promise!

See, without the right goals and objectives, companies just can’t do the right thing. And when they can’t do the right thing, they keep doing the wrong thing. That’s why you hear the same New Year’s resolutions every year:

I Resolve to Deliver Projects On-time
I Resolve to Keep Projects On Budget
I Resolve to Make Clients Less Unhappy
I Resolve to Have Fewer Meetings
I Resolve to Better Understand Risk

What’s wrong with this list? The company is focusing on what they want (the destination), and not the most important thing: what it will take to get there (the journey).

Like Calvin in the comic above, some executives are outraged at the suggestion that they need to change.

You may be perfect, just the way you are ... but maybe your focus just needs to change.

By focusing on CMMI Maturity Level 2 and 3, or CMMI certification, Wilson, nothing changes. You are focusing on the destination. And it's not the destination you want to get to. You're hoping for a first-class trip to Maui in December, but you'll end up with a bus trip to Neward in July. That’s not the best way to be prosperous in the year ahead (but I'll give you a call from Maui, it's NICE here!).

By focusing on the journey, you are always learning how to make your company better. Prosperity is sure to follow.

So let's all change our ways together. In our quest to be a better company in 2012, here are some questions to ask that will speed the learning process:

1. Where should I use the information I’ve garnered from measuring?

2. What have I gained from having standardized processes

3. What have I gained from having process choices for my engineers in 2011?

4. How can I to use that information to increase performance and organizational maturity in 2012?

Life is a journey. Set the right goals and objectives, and keep asking the right questions. With learning as your goal, you’ll stay on the path to greatness.

And THAT'S a New Year's resolution you can keep!

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.

What is a Process Team? Guest Blogger Shawn Rapjack!

2011-12-29T15:04:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers,

While I take a day or two off from my blogging exploits (hey, I flew 125,000 miles in 2011, give me a break!), our good friend and CMMI super-expert Shawn Rapjack is going to share some of his secrets about Process Improvement Teams with us.

Enjoy - and thanks Shawn!

What is a Process Improvement Team?

Anorganization’s process team spearheads implementation of engineering improvements. The team meetsregularly and is treated as a ‘sub-project’ – it has managers, schedules andplans.

This smallteam is committed to an organization’s path to greatness. Team members will likely havedual roles – they will have their ‘day jobs’ but will have process teamresponsibilities as well. The profileincludes people who have different thinking styles, are good communicators, areteam players and are diverse representative of the organization (including managers,developers, testers, etc.).

Theteam’s activities include:

Self-assessingthe organization. This early step helps the organization understand business goals, identify areas of specialconcern or gaps, and create action plans.

Creatinghigh-level plans. The team prepares documents like projectimprovement management, communication and training plans.

Establishingresources. Resources include measurement and lessonslearned repositories, mechanisms to record process improvements, and processasset libraries.

Tailoring. The team works with stakeholders to adoptand then tailor solutions. These solutions must be logical and have buy-in fromstakeholders and focus groups. Associated documentation will be peer reviewed,managed and maintained.

Piloting. The team judiciously introduces processes into the organization toensure a logical fit to the ‘real world’.

Institutionalizing. The team ensures engineeringsolutions are established, performed and effective.

Communicatingprocesses. Team members educate employees about processesthrough indoctrination and training.

CoordinatingCMMI training. (Broadswordoffers comprehensive CMMI training)

Mentoring.Team members providepractical guidance to the organization’s leadership and employees.

Identifying andcommunicating best practices.

Coordinatingappraisals.(Broadswordcan help)

Makingthe organization’s process improvement journey fun and beneficial! Team members engage with employees toprovide a positive, participatory environment for improvements.

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

Shawn Rapjack is a CMMI expert and leader who works for Science Applications International Corproation (SAIC)
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.

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

What is the difference between "Focused" and "non-Focused" projects?

2011-12-27T14:46:00.000-05:00

Hey Jeff,

Help us settle an argument. My boss says a "focused" project is one where we focus in on a single Process Area in an appraisal, and a "non-Focused" project is one where we look at everything. I say it's the opposite. What say you? ~Rob.

Rob,

While I wouldn't recommend it, you could go tell your boss "WRONG - THANK YOU FOR PLAYING!" You are correct - it's the opposite. But don't gloat to the poor fellow - there are quite a few little "gotchas" in the CMMI.

To be more precise, FOCUS projects (not "focusED") are those that are considered "full life-cycle" and all PA's for the level being appraised are "in-scope" for the CMMI appraisal. That could be 7 PAs, 18 PAs, 20 PAs, or 22 PAs (for CMMI-DEV at least). However, it is often impractical to appraisal OPF/OPD/OT at the "project" level, so that leaves (potentially) 15 in ML3. In these cases we may appraise the process team (if an SEPG exists) for OPF/OPD/OT and then verify that their work was adopted by the projects.

"Non-Focus" projects are simply "extra information" that help verify the institutionalization of the process within the organizational unit. The selection of PAs is entirely up to the Appraisal Team and the Sponsor. SCAMPI's "minimum project rule" applies only to FOCUS projects.

However, the entire concept of "Focus" vs. "non-Focus" goes away completely in SCAMPI v1.3. Currently, we can still conduct SCAMPI v1.2 appraisals against CMMI v1.3, but in March everyone will need to switch to SCAMPI v1.3, so then this concept is replaced by a more rigorous sampling methodology.

I usually teach about this in my CMMI Training classes, but now I won't have to. So I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it!

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest software or engineering 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.

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

2011-12-23T22:40:00.000-05:00

Hey Jeff,

I have done two appraisals as ATM for CMMI - DEV v1.2. Now I have to do another appraisal but for CMMI - DEV v1.3. Am I eligible to perform this appraisal, as i have not done intro course for v1.3. ~Jay

Jay,

Good question - and one I'm getting a lot these days. Might as well answer one of them!

Back when the SEI released CMMI v1.2, they required Appraisal Team Members (ATMs) to either take the Introduction to CMMI class for v1.2 OR take the CMMI v1.2 upgrade course online. They did this to ensure that the ATMs were up to speed on the latest revision of the CMMI.

When they released CMMI v1.3 they chose not to require the upgrade or new training class. Of course, ATMs have to have AT LEAST the CMMI v1.2 training class (and they SHOULD take the upgrade if they did). Those of us who make their living as CMMI Consultants can attest to too many ATMs that don't understand the nuances of the new version of the CMMI.

The one exception to this rule is for so-called "high maturity" appraisals, where the new class (or the upgrade class) IS required.

So Jay, you are eligible to be an ATM - but I recommend you take the class anyway. Why? Because there is enough new material (and new practices) that make it worth your while.

Good luck!

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 inCMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

Hark, the CMMI Angels Sing!

2011-12-20T13:06:00.001-05:00

Rejoice! Rejoice! All across the land of CMMI, the day is finally here!

If you’ve been partying with us at Ask the CMMI Appraiser’s 12 Days of CMMI, you know all we wanted for Christmas was a successful CMMI program. Well, guess what?

WE GOT IT! Woo-hoo!

We know we never could have had a successful CMMI program without the wonderful Generic Practices (GPs), which every software and engineering executive needs to own to have any hope of experiencing continuous process and performance improvement. The GPs guided our every sure step.

Wow, what a day! The former CMMI consultant got a pair of footie pajamas. The CMMI sponsor got a new process tool-belt, and the CEO got a cute puppy to love on. And the CMMI Appraiser?

Check it out! Mrs. CMMI Appraiser gave me this cool vintage CMMI guitar.

So, what do you say, my revelers? The CMMI Christmas Carolers go electric! Let’s hit it one more time!

“On the twelfth day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me:

twelve new improvements,
eleven process flowcharts,
ten process levers,
nine months adhering,
eight measures captured,
seven roles connected,
six storage systems,
FIVE DAYS IN CLASS !
four new assignments,
three new compliers,
two process plans,
and a box with a shiny policy.”

Generic Practice 3.2 - Collect Process Related Experiences

GP 3.2 guides us to collect process related experiences – or ways of “doing it better” next time.

This is the last Generic Practice, and it is my all-time favorite. It’s another pivotal practice, and it’s the gift that keeps on giving, all year, every year.

GP 3.2 is about making the process better, based on data and experience.

What is the “experience” of the project? This is the lesson we learned from implementing the process.

Like at Santa’s Workshop. As we said yesterday, nearly all of Santa’s elves are left-handed. But not all; some are righties. Santa found out early on that it does little good to design processes for all left-handed elves. Here’s how he figured it out:

One day, while attempting to weld a bicycle frame and earnestly trying to utilize the process as it was written, a right-handed elf took a blowtorch in his left hand. He accidentally burned the Workshop down. Though the elves escaped from harm, three snowmen tragically melted.

Santa decided his process created too many errors. He wanted to fix it to allow elves use the blowtorch on either side. Now his new write-up of the process says, “Place blowtorch on the left side or the right side, depending on your welding style. And for God’s sake, do not operate around snowmen!”

Same holds true in our organizations. Without GP 3.2, companies would keep running the project the same way they ran every project. Or, more commonly, your people would find that the process did not work, and just avoid or ignore the process, and do it any old way they wanted to.

Remember, we’re not building a product. We’re building a process, and that process has an architecture. Like a product. . . but not. Well maybe yes.

This might be a tall order, given all the egg-nog we’ve consumed these last 12 days, but we’ve got to wrap our head around the idea that we are not creating some process flowchart. We are creating a product that our company is going to use, and the essence of that product is that it is the architecture in which we do our work.

If I can leave you with one thought that will carry you through the new year, it is this: The Generic Practices represent the things that have to happen to make the architecture possible. These things are strategic in nature. As such, they are under YOUR control as management of the company.

GPs enable the Specific Practices (SPs) to be successful.

GP 3.2 calls on YOU to learn this lesson. Have your teams collect information at the end of projects, at the end of phases and the end of durations (or sprints), that help you improve. Once this information has been collected, GP 3.2 allows you to actually do something with it. Hold a retrospective that really gets this good information and feeds back into the process. Tell the team, “We can do this better next time, and here’s how.”

That’s it, my friends. Though our party is ending, remember that the CMMI is an ongoing celebration, a model for being joyful in the quest for becoming a great company. And GPs guide the way.

Have a happy New Year, and rock on!

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.

A nice present from my good friend Jorge'

2011-12-20T12:40:00.000-05:00

Compliments of Jorge' Boria:

'Twas the Night Before CMMI

2011-12-19T13:54:00.000-05:00

On the night before CMMI, the process police showed up waving their damn CMMI books at our “12 Days of CMMI” party, and asked the CMMI Appraiser to pipe down. Apparently, the neighbors complained. They didn't like our well-organized and efficient partying!

The cops took down our side of the story. We described the awakening of the former CMMI Consultant, who saw a ghost and discovered that CMMI certification is not a very cheery goal. We told them about the transformation of our CMMI sponsor, who learned that the CMMI really is a tool-set to solve strategic problems. And we explained how our blissfully ignorant CEO gained a modicum of understanding that he needs to care about the right things to make his organization great.

We tried to prove to the officers: All we want for Christmas is a successful CMMI program.

“Save it for the judge,” they said. “All we want is to STOP the noise.”

Noise? You mean our song? You mean “The 12 Days of CMMI?” THAT SONG? It's a joyful song which is sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” which we use to celebrate the 12 Generic Practices (GPs), without which, no CMMI adoption can be successful?

THAT song?

OK, we're up to one of my favorites - GP 3.1! Let's go!

“On the eleventh day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me:

eleven process flowcharts,
ten process levers,
nine months adhering,
eight measures captured,
seven roles connected,
six storage systems,
FIVE DAYS IN CLASS!
four new assignments,
three new compliers,
two process plans,
and a box with a shiny policy.”

Generic Practice 3.1 – Establish a Defined Process

GP 3.1 guides us to establish a defined process.

This takes some explaining. Yes, the long arm of the law may be after us, but let’s pause long enough to make ourselves clear. There’s more to GP 3.1 than establishing a defined process. GP 3.1 is really guiding us to define how each process is going to be performed within the context of the project.

Now, before his awakening, our old CMMI Consultant insisted that, in order to "do CMMI," then "EVERYTHING MUST BE DONE THE SAME WAY EVERY TIME!" phooey!

This is where the architecture comes in. For example, in the North Pole, Santa provides a facility for his elves to define their own process, based on guidelines and standards. For each project, they will establish a process that is defined for their project to meet their needs, all thanks to GP 3.1.

By the way, did you notice the numbering of these GPs? The first 10 GPs started with the number 2. That’s because they provided guidance through Maturity or Capability Level 2. These last GPs start with the number 3 because they are specific to Maturity or Capability Level 3.

GP 3.1 gives companies some definition around how they perform their work. After all, every project is going to have some uniqueness to it. It’s up to management to provide an environment in which the organization can manage that uniqueness in a structured way - based on a SET of processes that are available for use.

Let’s say Santa’s elves are welding bike frames for Christmas. Now, you may not have known this, but most elves are left-handed, and so the processes naturally are designed for left-handed elves. But a few of the elves are right handed. They naturally want to hold the blowtorch on the right side, rather than the left side, which is what the process calls for.

What to do? Well, Santa’s very flexible and agile. He understands the value in having his right-handed elves to do things righty. Imagine what could happen if he didn't! You've heard of a "scorched-earth policy?" This is a scorched elf policy! Accommodating the righty will require a customization of the process, based on the specific needs of the project. But Santa’s OK with that, because he’s got GP 3.1 to guide his sleigh tonight.

See, that’s why GP 3.1 is so important. Many companies try to standardize the way work gets done. When they do that, they try to make everybody do everything the same way. But when they do that, then they’ve got all of their people doing things the same way, but they are not necessarily the right things for their project. They actually make it HARDER! Those people deserve a piece of coal in their stocking.

In fact, without GP 3.1, the process police would surely head straight to the North Pole and burst in on Santa’s Workshop. They would apprehend each right-handed elf and move the blow torch to the left side, because that’s what the process says. And Christmas would be ruined. And so would some elves.

Oh, look! What good timing! Mrs. CMMI Appraiser has brought out a fresh batch of egg-nog.

Let the record show that the process police sampled a mug, then another, then another …

And the next thing you know, the men in blue were out there caroling along with the rest of us. And there was not a darn thing the neighbors could do except cover their heads with a pillow and hope that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.

Call it Christmas justice.

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.

The True Sprit of the CMMI

2011-12-16T14:30:00.000-05:00

If you were with us yesterday here at Ask the CMMI Appraiser's “12 Days of CMMI” party, you witnessed a true Christmas miracle.

Yes, the abominable old CMMI sponsor , known for shouting at his engineers, “Do CMMI, or you’re FIRED!” suddenly became a champion of the 12 Generic Practices (GPs).

As you know, the GPs are the heart and soul of any successful CMMI program, and that’s all we really want for Christmas – a successful CMMI program. You can read the whole touching story here.

Awww ….

Today a new challenge has arrived. Bliss Unobtrusive, the CEO, finally showed up at the party.

We love Bliss. He’s a chilled-out boss. But that “no problem” attitude of his keeps feeding slack into the organization, which we keep trying to tighten. But we’ll deal with Bliss when we get back from our daily round of CMMI caroling, which we like to think of as our happy path to greatness. Especially when we’ve had this much egg-nog.

Still with me? Today is Day 10 of the 12 Days of CMMI. Let’s make a joyful noise!

“On the tenth day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me:

ten process levers,

nine months adhering,

eight measures captured,
seven roles connected,
six storage systems,
FIVE DAYS IN CLASS!
four new assignments,
three new compliers,
two process plans,
and a box with a shiny policy.”

Generic Practice 2.10 – Review Status with Higher Level Management

The tenth GP guides us to review status with higher level management. But that doesn't mean what you think it means.

It means management needs to care....

Enter Bliss, the CEO I was just telling you about. “Of course I care!” Bliss says. “I love this company like one of my children. Specifically, Hope, my oldest daughter, who needs glasses.”

Gotcha. But that’s not the issue, Bliss. We know you care … but do you care about the right things? Are you looking at the right indicators? Do you even know what the right metrics are?

“Well, no.”

How happy are your customers? Do you have a lot of rework here? How productive are your employees? What kind of defects do you have?

“I don’t know. But we hire great people.”

So I turned to the CFO, who has been snarfing Christmas cookies as fast as Mrs. CMMI Appraiser can bake them. Sir, what are your two biggest challenges right now? Please finish chewing first.

“We have late projects, and over-budget projects," he said. "Our clients are unhappy. Our people are unhappy. They have to come in earlier, stay later, work weekends, work nights, do whatever they can do. We have too many meetings. Our best people quit to go work for our competitors. Nothing we do is sustainable or scalable. We’re losing market-share. We’ll be lucky if we’re still in business one year from today. My stomach hurts.”

Dude, that was like 50 problems. I only asked for two.

Now let’s ask the CEO. Bliss, what is the solution?

“GP 2.10?”

Correct. Or better stated, applying the lessons of GP 2.10 in our adoption of the CMMI toward continuous improvement.

Again, GP 2.10 means management needs to care. It doesn’t necessarily mean that Bliss doesn’t care. It just means he doesn’t care about the right things. The answers I was seeking are exactly the kind of information he needs to have in order to manage his business with process levers. But he didn’t care about that.

See, when you care enough to embrace GP 2.10, you get this wonderful gift called Process Levers.

A process lever is something you do to the process to change a behavior or an outcome. They use process levers at Santa’s Workshop (you knew that was coming). In fact, Santa thinks about the CMMI primarily as a magical construct that gives him the framework to develop process levers.

Let’s say Santa was faced with lots of changing requirements, lots of mistakes in requirements and lots of disagreement about what needs to be done. If the Workshop is churning a lot on this – if they have more than 10% or 15% churn on their requirements – Santa can pull a process lever.

The lever he pulls says, “We need to validate the requirements in a different way as they come in the door. We need to catch these things before they get to test, before they get to design and code or build, and before they get to requirements spec drill-down.” In other words, we need to CHANGE the process.

Process levers are built right into the CMMI at the North Pole. But you can use them anywhere.

See, the cool thing about the CMMI is that it is not so much an engineering model as it is a behavioral improvement model. It actually gives us data (which comes from GP 2.8 and GP 2.9.) that allows us to say, “The next time we do this thing, is there a way to do it better, faster, cheaper, with higher quality and less costs?” – or whatever our goals and objectives might be.

Know how well the process is working, and whether or not people are using it.

That’s the true spirit of the CMMI, Bliss.

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 typesof organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainingsand has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from hisstudents.

Visitwww.broadswordsolutions.comfor more information about running a successful CMMI program.

The Abominable CMMI Program Man

2011-12-15T15:22:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas! Welcome to the 12 Days of CMMI Party here at Ask the CMMI Appraiser blog. Hope you brought a toothbrush because this party is in its second week, and we’re not letting up any time soon!

As you know if you’ve been along for the ride, early last week, a bunch of us process geeks got together and decided to celebrate the 12 Generic Practices (GPs) by championing one GP each day.

Why? Because we love the GPs! We believe they are the very spirit of CMMI. And because we love any excuse to sample Mrs. Appraiser’s egg-nog and get a little wild and crazy!

Have we succeeded? Well, a former CMMI Consultant was discovered taking a nap in our bathtub. The QA director lost her boot when she stomped out ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A SUCCESSFUL CMMI PROGRAM! in the snow. And a neighbor got irate because we keep circling the block singing “The 12 Days of CMMI” (to the tune of the Twelve Days of Christmas”) at the tops of our lungs.

I'd say, so far so good.

But the wildest thing to happen so far was when the CMMI sponsor, formerly the grouchiest, meanest, foulest-breathed person at the party, decided to drop his threatening demeanor ("Do CMMI or you're FIRED!"), and become a positive supporter of the CMMI program as a way to actually improve performance. Who could have seen THAT coming?

So yes, it’s wild. Yes, it’s crazy. And yes, it’s ...

… Day 9 of the 12 Days of CMMI! So put your coat back on and join us for some more caroling around the neighborhood. Let them hear you now!

“On the ninth day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me:

nine months adhering,
eight measures captured,
seven roles connected,
six storage systems,
FIVE DAYS IN CLASS!
four new assignments,
three new compliers,
two process plans,
and a box with a shiny policy.”

Generic Practice 2.9 – Objectively Evaluate Adherence

The ninth generic practice (GP2.9) guides us to objectively evaluate adherence of the process against its process description, standards, and procedures, and address noncompliance.

In other words, GP 2.9 is the act of capturing the data about adherence and reporting it out. This implies some level of oversight.

Take Santa’s Workshop. Santa must understand whether the elves are using the process or not. If they are not, why not? What’s the problem? How can we fix it? What did we do wrong? How could they get more value out of it?

If they don't know whether the elves are USING it, how can they know they need to fix it? So, to all you people that say "this process blows, I'm not using it"....uhhh, WAKE UP!

GP 2.9 instructs Santa, as an executive, on what to look at to assure his processes are being embraced. It also instructs him on what to do with what he sees (i.e., report on his findings with some frequency).

What does that mean, “with some frequency?” How often should you report?

Well, every workshop is different. Your choices include reporting weekly, monthly, quarterly, hourly, or whatever is the right frequency for you. Santa does it annually, but he’s special. Whatever your frequency is, the important part is that you objectively evaluate adherence to the process, and report on it regularly.

Performing at the highest level of organizational excellence is what we’ve come to expect of Santa. I mean, what would happen if he didn't actually deliver all those presents? Have you seen "The Santa Claus?" It's unthinkable!

But we were shocked when we saw the CMMI sponsor starting to behave like a mean-old .

Used to be, the old CMMI sponsor was an absolute monster. His CMMI team did the work it took to be a great company (and, as a natural consequence, achieved the appropriate CMMI Maturity Level).

The CMMI sponsor gave them about 90 seconds to celebrate before pulling out his watch and saying, “OK, how soon do we get to Level 4?”

Imagine how horrible that sounded to the CMMI team. Here they were, making significant personal investments in transforming themselves and their company, and the CMMI sponsor didn’t get it. He still thought it was a race.

“I want the next level by Tuesday!” he growled.

It was really abominable.

He was just like Bumbles, the Abominable Snowman, in that cartoon, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Remember? The mighty Bumbles captures Rudolf’s parents and girlfriend, and threatens to ruin Christmas, until he is defeated by Rudolf and the dentist-elf, and tamed by their friend the Prospector.

The same thing apparently happened with our CMMI sponsor. He kept dealing with the same issues of time, personnel and costs until, ultimately, those issues conquered him. His boss called him on the carpet and said, “Transform, or else.”

The CMMI sponsor finally began to realize that, instead of farming work out overseas, or laying people off, he had to look at the CMMI as a way to dramatically and radically improve the way he ran his department, and not just a way to document their work.

He took our CMMI Training. At the end of the second day, he came up to us, his face flushed with excitement.

“I see the light!” he said. “I see that the CMMI really is a tool-set to solve most of our strategic problems!”

Phew! Looks like we saved Christmas again.

So, party on, revelers! And join us tomorrow for Day 10 of the 12 Days of CMMI!

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.

The Ghost of CMMI Appraisals Past

2011-12-14T00:21:00.000-05:00

The previous CMMI consultant gave us a real scare today when he suffered flashbacks to past CMMI appraisals, and let out a scream. "BUT I GOT THEM THEIR CERTIFICATE!"

In case you came late to the party, here’s what’s happening.

We’re two-thirds into our annual 12 Days of CMMI holiday party, the festivus for the rest of us, or as I like to call it "holiday treats for the process geeks." Each day we’ve celebrated one of the 12 Generic Practices (GPs), which are the very essence of the CMMI.

Sounds like harmless fun, right?

Well, it was … until the previous CMMI consultant – last seen napping in the bathtub – had a nightmare, and let out a blood-curdling shriek.

“It was awful,” he said as we rushed to his assistance. “I saw the Ghost of CMMI Appraisals Past. He showed me everything I ever did wrong.”

“There, there,” Virginia, the developer, said. “It was just a dream.”

“No, it was real!” the previous CMMI consultant said. “It really happened! I told my client they had to ‘get a level.’ I told another client ‘the SEI makes you document everything.’ To a third client I actually said ‘It’s all about the documents!’”

Now, the CMMI Appraiser is a compassionate guy, but how could we possibly empathize? The rest of us have always known that CMMI Appraisals are NOT about documents. Documents are merely one method for verifying process performance. And the amount of documents (number, size, and scope) should reflect the needs of your projects. If you took a CMMI Training course and "learned" that the CMMI was about documents – go ask for your money back!

The previous CMMI consultant started sobbing, “I want to be like you guys! I want to change!”

Yea, I'll help you change.... professions.

Christmas can be an emotional time. Only the joyful acquisition of knowledge would set him free. So we gave the poor guy a belt of egg-nog, threw a coat over his shoulders and took him out in the cold to go caroling with us. After all …

It’s Day 8 of the 12 Days of CMMI. Sing it!

“On the eighth day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me:

eight measures captured,
seven roles connected,
six storage systems,
FIVE DAYS IN CLASS!
four new assignments,
three new compliers,
two process plans,
and a box with a shiny policy.”

Generic Practice 2.8 – Monitor and Control the Process

The eighth generic practice guides us 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?"

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!

This is a very pivotal practice - maybe the most pivotal. This gives us data about how well the process works. If we don't know that - why are we doing this?

Here are some of the data:

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

Example? Let’s say Santa wanted to monitor and control the process of knitting sweaters. In an effort to monitor and control the elves’ development process, Santa will want to capture how many stitches it takes to knit a sweater using the current process, how many mistakes are discovered during formal "elf-reviews," and how many defects are in his sweaters. This is data about how well the sweater-making is going. GP 2.8 keeps Santa’s Workshop in a holly-jolly mood.

There are many different options for monitoring process performance. Data is reported on, at some point in time (potentially in real time), throughout the entire life-cycle. Sometimes it's more anectodotal. A healthy company has a combination of both quantitative and qualitative data.

Failing to monitor and control processes is not an option. And yet we see many so-called "CMMI consultants" exhorting their teams to finish the projects and present documents with no real insight into how things are going or how they can be made better. You end up with some really ugly sweaters.

But it's not about goodness they say! Bah humbug! It may not be about "goodness" but it is about KNOWING whether or not you have goodness.

Talk about the nightmare before Christmas!

Fortunately, there are better dreams to be had, and GP 2.8 helps make them a reality. As we keep saying, the CMMI is not about documents. It’s about learning to be a great company.

Our advice to the previous CMMI consultant? Be a great CMMI consultant. In my opinion, here are the characteristics of a great CMMI consultant:

A great CMMI consultant will TEACH you how to become successful Process Designers and Implementers so you can synthesize the right solutions for your company

A great CMMI consultant will TEACH you the most effective ways to communicate

A great CMMI consultant will TEACH you how to run a successful Process Action Team, or Special Interest Group

A great CMMI consultant will TEACH you about how your SEPG can be successful, and how it should evolve

A great CMMI consultant will TEACH you how to get value from your process – not just to “pass” an appraisal

A great CMMI consultant will TEACH you about “Just Enough, not Too Much”

Learning is something we do in Christmas Present. GP 2.8 assures that there is no need to live in Christmas Past.

Join us tomorrow for Christmas Future.

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.

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

Yes, Virginia, there is a successful CMMI Program

2011-12-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

It’s a holly, jolly Christmas here at the “Ask the CMMI Appraiser” 12 Days of CMMI party. The egg-nog is flowing, and everyone is warm and toasty except for the Director of Quality, who lost her boot in the back yard while stomping out a giant message in the snow:

DEAR SANTA, ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A SUCCESSFUL CMMI PROGRAM!

A programmer named Virginia objected. “Some of my friends in testing say there’s no such thing,” she said (isn't it always the testers that bring us down?). “Prove to me that there is a successful CMMI program.”

As you know if you’ve been out caroling with us these last several days, the whole point of our 12 Days of CMMI party is to celebrate the 12 Generic Practices (GPs), which are foundational to the success of any CMMI program.

Apparently, Virginia is late to the party. So why don’t we take her along with us on another trip around the neighborhood, because …

It’s Day 7 of the 12 Days of CMMI. Sing it!

“On the seventh day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me:

seven roles connected,
six storage systems,
FIVE DAYS IN CLASS!
four new assignments,
three new compliers,
two process plans,
and a box with a shiny policy.”

Generic Practice 2.7 – Identify and Involve Relevant Stakeholders

The seventh GP guides us to identify and involve relevant stakeholders of the process as planned.

GP 2.7 is another pivotal practice. It advocates the idea that if you identify and INVOLVE all the relevant stakeholders, and PLAN for their involvement, you'll increase the chances that they will show up and do what you want them to do.

Especially people like Virginia, who won’t believe the CMMI can be successful until they see it. Perhaps Virginia was being treated as if she is an "irrelevant" stakeholder. Not cool!

Hey Virginia, maybe you want me to come by and rough a few people up?

Now, a process might have within it dozens or hundreds of interactions between individuals or groups. In Santa’s workshops, for example, everything is made by thousands of interconnected elves, all of whom wear green shoes. GP 2.7 holds the team together by identifying and involving all the right elves at the right time.

And what a team they make! They can build anything from electronics to joke books to live pets, with few defects. That’s because Santa has identified and mapped what those interactions are, and who the stakeholders are in each interaction.

This interpretation of the CMMI (and GP 2.7) has worked so well for Santa over the years that he expanded it to cover all operations of all of the North Pole. He mapped everything from marketing to product design to manufacturing to shipping and handling, with each elf responsible for each part of the process.

Except for those lawyers. You just can't get them under control no matter what you do. Just ask Bill Shakespeare.

So Virginia, are you starting to get the big picture? There’s a whole other side to process and performance improvement that you’ve never experienced. It's the side that makes Santa so successful that he can bring every kid in the world toys in one night. Now that's an awesome process!

Unfortunately, we’ve found that the typical software engineering organization is too chaotic. Performance is unpredictable, projects are late and over budget, and you can never predict what you’re going to get. It’s the only engineering discipline in the world allowed to operate this way.

By contrast, take a look at Santa. Clean shop. Happy elves. Work products on time, on budget and with all the requirements managed an documented. That’s because he uses a lightweight, agile approach to the CMMI, with GP 2.7 guiding him to identify and map what those interactions are, and who the stakeholders are in each interaction.

If they didn't have GP2.7 they would always be at ELF-CON 1!

Notice how he takes out the unpredictability and replaces it with sound engineering practices? See how performance improves across the board?

Results like that will get everyone believing in the true spirit of the CMMI, which is to do the things that make a company great.

Yes, Virginia, there is a successful CMMI program.

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.

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

It’s a Wonderful CMMI Program

2011-12-12T14:13:00.000-05:00

We started an early Christmas party here at “Ask the CMMI Appraiser” last week when an engineering exec wrote in that all he wanted for Christmas was a successful CMMI program. Nothing a little of Mrs. Appraiser's egg-nog couldn't fix, so away we went!

He was frustrated because previous attempts to get a CMMI certificate had failed. Asking for CMMI Certification is like asking for a Commodore-64 for Christmas when you clearly need an XBox - big waste! Our hope in throwing the party was to remind this fellow of the immortal words of Clarence the Angel, who said, “No man is a failure, if he has friends.”

Do you feel crushed by a rigid, “one size fits all” view of the CMMI? Depressed by "over-compliance?" Too much process overhead? Saddled with hideous process debt?

Sounds like you need a friend. And I know just the guy

In our opinion, the best way to make friends with your CMMI program is to understand the Generic Practices (GPs), which are not discussed nearly enough. Because there are 12 GPs – like the Twelve Days of Christmas – and because we are always ready for a party, we got the great idea of adopting one GP per day. This was quickly followed by the not-so-great idea of going around the neighborhood, signing about it at the top of our lungs. Turns out the lady at the end of my block does not share my enthusiasm about CMMI. Her loss!

What can we say? There was egg-nog involved.

We're having too much fun to turn back now! So join us for Day 6 of the 12 Days of CMMI. All together now!

“On the sixth day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me:

six storage systems,
FIVE DAYS IN CLASS!
four new assignments,
three new compliers,
two process plans,
and a box with a shiny policy.”

Generic Practice 2.6 – Control Work Products

GP2.6 guides us to place designated work products of the process under appropriate levels of configuration management.

Why? Because it’s awful to lose things. Remember George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), when the money turns up missing from the Bailey Building and Loan Association in “It’s a Wonderful Life”? They searched everywhere, but can’t find it. George concludes that he is worth more dead than alive – and it takes a guardian angel to convince him otherwise. Please don't that happen to you!

What if the same thing were to happen to your work products? What if they were lost and the pressure was bearing down on you to produce them, or else?

Don’t jump! GP 2.6 is your guardian angel.

GP 2.6 basically provides a double layer of protection for you. First, it offers us guidance to manage all of your reams of documents, databases, and other work products that are produced as a result of running a successful project. Second, it provides guidance on how to store those documents and work products, and manage them in some kind of repository or system.

Examples of work products placed under configuration management include:

• Specifications of base and derived measures
• Data collection and storage procedures
• List of configuration items
• Design templates

and more .....

Pretty logical, right?

At any rate, that’s how it works at Santa’s Workshop. The elf-engineers need consistent access to the descriptions of how the process works. They need examples, templates and tools. If they can’t get access to them, or don’t know where to find them, the work products of the process won’t get found or used. They'll have no place to store their work products. Christmas would be canceled. Oh nooooooo!

But the good news is, thanks to GP 2.6, the elves CAN find them. Work products of the process ARE found and used. And we know this is true because, every Christmas morning, all around the world, the good little boys and girls wake up to yet another perfectly orchestrated gift launch. All thanks to GP2.6!

Of course, a CMMI Training class will help all the elves understand what they are supposed to do with GP2.6.

We tried to tell our exec friend with the failed CMMI certification: there's a lot to like about Santa as a jolly, generous fat man. But his best characteristic as a leader is that he understands 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 wonderful life.

So, my friends, let's apply GP 2.6 in our workshop today and every day. Let's live a wonderful life.

Each time you do, an angel earns his wings.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest software or engineering 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.

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

Yule Love Your CMMI Training

2011-12-11T09:51:00.001-05:00

This holiday party is really roaring down the track!

What started as an innocent request at Santa’s knee (“All I want for Christmas is a successful CMMI program”) has evolved into a full blown celebration of adopting one of the CMMI’s 12 Generic Practices (GPs) each day.

As you know, the GPs are foundational to the success of any or all of the process you deploy. So we figured, what better gift than to help you make these GPs your own?

So let’s stand back and take in the scene.

The previous CMMI Consultant is napping in the bathtub. The Project Manager is dancing on the couch with a process work-plan in each hand. The Quality Assurance Manager and the CFO have teamed up to eat their way through an entire plate of Christmas cookies, while a bunch of engineers are huddled in the corner challenging each other as to who can bench-press the most Dungeons and Dragons books. Ah, tradition!

And then there’s us, the undaunted carolers. We’re putting on our coats, bracing ourselves with another shot of Mrs. Appraiser’s egg-nog, and stepping back out into the cold because …

It’s the 12 Days of CMMI, installment #5. Full voices now!

“On the fifth day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me:

FIVE DAYS IN CLASS!
four new assignments,
three new compliers,
two process plans,
and a box with a shiny policy.”

Generic Practice 2.5 – Train People

The fifth GP guides us to train the people performing or supporting the process.

In other words, if Santa expects (there's that pesky GP2.1 again!) his Project Manager-elves to be efficient at estimating and planning, he needs to train them on estimating and planning. If not, those proud elves, who are loath to admit they don't know how to do something will ACTUALLY TRY TO DO SOMETHING! Oh no!

If he’s going to plan for (GP2.2 - ding!) his QA-elves to run process and product quality assurance, he needs to train them on running process and product quality assurance.

If he’s going to provide resources (GP2.3 - bada bing!) for his BA-elves to trace requirements and run JAD workshops, he needs to train them on performing requirement traceability and running JAD workshops.

And if he’s going to assign responsibility (GP2.4---Voilà) to his elf-engineers to perform peer reviews, he needs to train them to perform peer reviews.

Then he needs to mentor them and give them encouragement and support.

This might be what you’d expect from the North Pole. But not here in North America, oh no. Here, the idea of needing training is considered a weakness by too many Scrooge-like bosses. Engineers are trained by being thrown into the fire and learning on the job. They're trained like MEN! They get put on a project and they learn as they go - if they're brave enough to ask.

Oh no Tiny Tim, you need to pull yourself by your bootstraps. Thats right. Bah-humbug!

GP2.5 requires different behaviors from executives. And most executives see the value, once they see the numbers. Training increases productivity early in the tenure of someone’s employment. Where it takes an average engineer about a year to get up to speed in terms of productivity with peers, this GP helps them get up to speed in a matter of weeks.

Santa has 15 different CMMI training courses that he provides to his elves, that are related to CMMI, Scrum, or general process improvement. With real life examples, lessons and proven techniques, class participants take away – and retain – valuable information to be used on the job, immediately.

Then instead of worrying about what they're supposed to do, our happy elves just have fun DOING IT! As one old elf put it - can't we just make some toys now?

Be like Santa. Apply agile methods to continuous improvement, and be rapid, flexible, and able to meet the needs of he good little boys and girls of the world quicker than your competition might be. And believe me, if Santa doesn't come through, someones Mom and Dad will!

And while you're at it, have another Christmas cookie.

Like this blog? Forward to your nearest software or engineering 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.

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

Won’t You Guide My CMMI Plan Tonight?

2011-12-10T15:55:00.000-05:00

Well, the egg-nog has been flowing for 4 days in a row, and your previous CMMI Consultant is napping in the bathtup (his loss!), but the rest of us are still going strong. So let’s keep celebrating the 12 Days of CMMI!

As you know if you’ve been following our merry band of Christmas carolers on
Ask the CMMI Appraiser" lately, the “12 Days of CMMI” started when an executive wrote in that all he wants for Christmas is a successful CMMI program.

I knew I could help him out, sure, but I didn't want to deprive him the real joy of the season, which is the opportunity to help his company with techniques that make them a great company, using CMMI as one of their tools. In other words, the journey is far more important than the destination, so why stiff the guy? He's been good this year and he deserves a shiny new toy.

“You know?” said Mrs. Appraiser as she warmed up my cocoa, “What this nice young man REALLY needs is the gift of the 12 Generic Practices - screw the pear tree!”

The Generic Practices (GPs) are what I consider the most important part of the CMMI and I wish they were called the "Very Important Practices" instead of the "generic practices." Who would care? Why are GPs so important? Because poor implementation of the GPs will ALWAYS lead to spectacular failure.

Remember process debt, filling out painful forms, nasty QA audits, and useless process? You can avoid them with the GPs.

Given that there are 12 of them, and given that Mrs. Appraiser makes a mean egg-nog, well, I started singing "The 12 Days of CMMI" to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and dancing around in my red Santa Suit (the missus really likes me in that).

OK, maybe that's too much information.

So fill your mug, fill your heart, and fill-in for that passed-out consultant by joining us in song:

“On the fourth day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me:

four new assignments,
three new compliers,
two process work-plans,
and a box with a shiny policy.”

Generic Practice 2.4 – Assign Responsibility

The fourth GP guides us to assign responsibility and authority for performing the process, developing the work products, and providing the services of the process. Services? huh? It's OK, Hang in there.

Example, you say? Sure, let’s go back to Santa’s Workshop.

The fourth GP informs Santa that it is critical to assign responsibility for the elf-engineers to execute the processes associated with building toys for all the good boys and girls of the world. Without that the little girl elfs would be maiking footballs and .... oh wait. Stop. Reverse that.

Who leads a JAD workshop? Who performs estimates? An elf has GOT know!

Santa calmly spells it all out ahead of time. He says, “Elf-John is responsible for making baseball gloves, and Elf-Sarah is responsible for making aprons (I never said Santa was politically correct!),” and so on and so forth … assigning the elf that he expects to perform each process. Expects? Hmmm, sounds like GP2.1 to me.

If he didn’t do that, none of the elves would really know what they were supposed to do, and what they were responsible for. Elf-John would build a puppy that meowed. Elf-Sarah would build a set of legos that repelled each other. Defects would abound in Christmastown! oh noooooooo! Think of all the crying children and angry parents! IT WOULD BE THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

Some of you might be saying, “Such is life! Herding elves is what management is all about.”

I say otherwise. I say it is a waste of time when I see management sending out an email to the entire team saying, “I want everybody to do this.” Then they wonder why nobody does it.

My favorite is: "Quality is everyone's job" or the even better: "you have to build quality into everything you do!" What the *#$% does that mean?

That won’t fly in Santa’s Workshop.

Here's what will fly. Focus on the fact that the CMMI is about the transformation of the culture of your company. It’s about improving and changing the way your company behaves, so that you build toys that are better than other workshops that are building similar, but inferior, toys.

Assign responsibility and authority, and you will be guiding your company like a sleigh through the night.

After sampling Mrs. Appraiser's egg-nog, you've certainly got the right color nose for it.

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

Jeff Dalton is 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 thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

For the CMMI Program Team That Has Everything

2011-12-09T15:47:00.000-05:00

Day Three!

If you’ve been following this blog for the past few days, you know about the engineering firm executive named Vincent who only wants one thing for Christmas: a successful CMMI program. (Here is the original Ask the CMMI Appraiser post.)

You also know that, as a Certified CMMI Lead Appraiser, I know enough to insist that the most important part of the CMMI are the Generic Practices, or "GPs". I don't care if your going for CMMI Level 2 or CMMI Level 3 - the GPs will find you!

And you probably know that there are 12 GPs, which inspired me to draw a festive connection to the Twelve Days of Christmas, which caused us to drink a bunch of egg-nog, go outside, knock on our neighbors’ doors and make gigantic fools of ourselves yelling "ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS A SUCCESSFUL CMMI PROGRAM!"

We’re having so much fun, we’re going out caroling again. So come on … it’s the Twelve Days of CMMI, installment #3.

Sing along with me now: "On the third day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me, three new compilers, two process work-plans, and a box with a shiny policy ..."

Generic Practice 2.3 – Provide Resources

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

In other words, give your team the presents – the tools and environmental resources – for the processes to be useful, so your team can be successful. What a gift!

Here’s a timely example. Up here in the North Pole, elf-engineers may be employed full-time or part-time (do I need to pay for health insurance?). They busy themselves building toys for the good little boys and girls. A measurement group may even exist to support measurement activities across multiple gift-building projects in Santa's workshop.

How many wooden cars will no kids want? How many cheap flat-screens will all the dads want? You know, that kind of stuff.

A warm and fuzzy picture for sure, but let’s consider the flip side. What if we don’t provide adequate resources?

That would be like Santa saying to his elves, “My policy is that you build toys out of wood, not plastic,” then not giving them access to wood. Meanie. I had a boss like that once. He didn't have a beard though.

If Santa did that, he wouldn’t be performing this Generic Practice very well (and he would be a mean, nasty Santa), because, if he doesn’t give his elves the wood, he can’t expect them to adhere to the policy of building toys out of wood. What a jerk!

Bring on the lumber, Santa!

This is important because, in software engineering, tools can be quite expensive. For example, let’s say you tell your team, “It’s my policy as a manager that you use these software tools, and that you assemble your team in a co-located fashion in a single room.” And then you don’t clear a single room for them to go work in. arrggggg!

Not only have they failed to perform this practice, but you have wasted money on the tools. I'm sure that has NEVER happened to you!

No white Christmas for you! It's just cold, dark, and snowy.

Notice, this GP has nothing to do with how well the process is performed. There are measures around how well the process is being executed. I talk about it in my CMMI Training class - GP 2.8 (you'll have to wait until the EIGHT day of Christmas for that one!). This GP is concerned only with having management provide the resources so that the processes can be performed …

… so that all those deserving kids can have toys on Christmas.

Stay tuned!

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.

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

Visions of CMMI Certification Dancing in Your Head?

2011-12-08T11:21:00.001-05:00

An executive recently sent us his Christmas wish list (see last Ask the CMMI Appraiser post), with just one item on it. The only thing he really wants for Christmas is a successful CMMI program.

He didn't say so, but I sensed that that fellow had visions of CMMI certification dancing in his head. What he needs to understand, like all good little boys and girls around the world who want a successful CMMI program, is that the most important part of the CMMI are the Generic Practices, or "GPs".

Because there are 12 GPs, and because I am in such a holly-jolly mood, I figure, why not to adopt one GP for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas?
So here we go again with ... the Twelve Days of CMMI, part duex.

Sing along with me now: "On the second day of Christmas, my boss she gave to me, two process work-plans and a box with a shiny policy ..."

Generic Practice 2.2 - Plan the Process

The second GP guides us to establish and maintain the plan for performing the process.

This is another very pivotal GP in the model. And it's the gift that keeps on giving!

We've already said that GP2.1 is about setting expectations. With GP2.2, we develop an infrastructure where all processes we expect people to use are planned for. The idea is that we can expect people to do things all we want, but unless it's also planned for, it ain't gonna happen.

It's kind of like getting a gift in one box and the batteries in the other!

Let's unwrap this. For example, suppose you've got a plan for performing the measurement and analysis process. With GP2.2, you might include milestones and tasks for "M and A" (or "Manda" as I like to call her) in your project plan.

Here's another example. Let's say you have a process that includes gathering requirements from your customer. Part of your process includes writing those process requirements down, and part of your process includes getting a sign-off on them from your customer, and part of your process includes validating them. Each project ensures that all of the appropriate steps are in the plan, and that they get scheduled and sequenced.

This may be news to a lot of executives. Maybe the so-called CMMI consultant they have been working with has a heart that's two sizes too small. They see no value in providing resources and assuring that actions are planned for. They insist it's "process debt." Instead, they are like the Grinch who can't find a reindeer for his fake Santa Claus act, and decides to improvise. He takes his dog Max, and he takes some black thread, and he ties a big crooked antler on the top of his head.

... and poor Max does a face-plant in the snow.

A better approach to adopting the CMMI is to remember the "reason for the season" - that is, why are we doing this in the first place? The CMMI is not about getting a CMMI certificate or achieving a CMMI Maturity Level. That would be the equivalent of stealing Christmas. No, the CMMI is more like an ongoing celebration, a model for being joyful in the quest for becoming a great company.

So start establishing and maintaining the plan today. And check back soon for the 3rd day of CMMI!

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 around the country and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

All I want for Christmas is a successful CMMI program!

2011-12-07T18:25:00.001-05:00

Jeff, I’m an executive in a mid-sized engineering firm, leading myfirst CMMI adoption project. All I really wantfor Christmas is for it to be a success. Can you give me some tips?

~ Vincent A.

Vincent, well, let me check my list . . . hold on, I'm checking it twice … Yes, I see you’ve been a good executivethis year. I’ll be happy to give youtips on how to be even better.

First, let’s be clear that the most important part of the CMMI, IMHO, are theGeneric Practices (or GPs). Aptly numbered for the season, there are 12 of them, and they are the responsibility ofexecutives like you who are leading the CMMI effort. So why not adopt one for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas?

Allow me to answer your question with a series of posts called … the TwelveDays of CMMI. Warm up your vocal chords now....

Sing along with me now: “On the first day of Christmas, my boss he gave to tome, a box with a shiny policy..."

Generic Practice2.1 – Establish an Organizational Policy

The first GP guides us to setorganizational expectations for all practitioners for performing the processes.

Let’s unwrap that, shall we?

There are 22 process areas in theCMMI. That’s 22 areas of study, so tospeak. Each one of those 22 areas hasthese 12 Generic Practices. The reasonthey are called “generic” is because they are generic to everything.

Since there are 22 process areas, you asmanagement, have to unambiguously set the expectation that all 22 of them (ifthat’s what you are doing), have to be used, followed, deployed, measured andevaluated.

Now, let's not get crazy with all this egg nog. You don't need 22 policies - just be sure the policies you DO have "cover" all of the process areas. And when you're addressing CMMI level three, it gets a little more voluminous.

It may not seem obvious, but GP 2.1 is verypivotal to the success of your program (and your engineers). It guides you to provide a clear and unambiguous setting of expectations by management that theemployees will use the process as it has been written and defined.

The Grinch version is "if you want to work here you'll do it!" But I prefer the good cheer version: "if you would like your job's to be easier, want to go home earlier to do a little christmas shopping, and have bette projects, here's what we need you to do."

Remember, Vincent, adopting the CMMI is 100% about solving businessproblems. It’s not about documents. But the more we use it, and themore we work with companies that are using the CMMI, the more we realize that thisis a model that's about how great companies perform.

Too many CMMI Consultants don't get this. They thinking it's about passing an audit. All you get from this is some coal in a stinky stocking.

We like the nice, freshly wrapped gift of a great company!

Start setting expectations today. And check back soon for the 2^nd Day of CMMI!

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

Learn more about CMMI Adoption at www.broadswordsolutions.com.

Who is speaking at SEPG 2012 this year?

2011-12-02T11:00:00.000-05:00

Hi, Jeff – I don’t know if youremember me, but it was great to meet you at last year’s SEPG and hear yourpresentation. This year, we’re sending moremanagement, and I’m hoping to be able to introduce you to my boss. Curious: will you be speaking at theconference again this year?

~ Jayla A.

Jayla,

Thank you for staying in touch, Jayla. I do remember you, and am looking forward to reconnecting. I’d be happy to meet more people from yourexcellent company! It's going to be a great conference - as usual, the SEI is doing an awesome job at putting the show together.

To answer your question, yes, I’ve been selected to speak at the SEPG North America 2012 Conferenceon March 12-15, 2012 in Albuquerque, NM. But the big news this year is …it’s not “just about Jeff”anymore! Broadsword was honored by having not one … not two … but THREE senior CMMIconsultants selected as speakers!

Our very own Julie Calfin and Laura Adkins willbe joining me todeliver four presentations (including two trainings).

Some cool facts about the event:

The review process was conducted anonymously, and speakers were selected based on expertise, not name or company affiliation.

Some of the greatest speakers in our industry will be there.

This is the 7^th consecutive year that Broadsword was selected to speak, but only the second time sending multiple speakers (and then only two of us!).

Broadsword has become known for giving away hats, buttons and other popular prizes during their presentations – as well as timely information that helps companies improve their operational and engineering performance. So c'mon by and get some swag . . . and learn a few new things you can use right away!

And some specifics on ourpresentations:

Julie will be speaking about Organizational Change Management: The key differentiator for sustainable process improvement. Julie is a world-class thought leader on OCM. Not to be missed!

Laura will be speaking about running successful process pilots. Something she knows A LOT about! Laura also helps us out with our CMMI Training classes.

I will be speaking and delivering our famous"CMMI+Scrum Learning Experience" on the first day of the conference in a half-day format. We've delivered this course to many of our CMMI Consulting clients - and they've all loved it. Come by and see what all the hoopla is about!

I will also be co-presenting with my good friends (and clients) from ADNET Systems about using the CMMI at NASA. These guys are pretty cool!

I’m glad you got something out of mypresentation last year, Jayla. Thanks toenthusiastic participants like you, I’ve been voted a "Top Ten Speaker" atmultiple SEPG conferences, and was keynote speaker at the InternationalConference on CMMI in Lima, Peru in 2010. It’s always fun to be with people like you who get it.

See you in New Mexico!

Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser,Certified CMMI Instructor, Candidate SCAMPI Appraiser Observer, author, andconsultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types oforganizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students and has received anaggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Learn more about CMMI Consultants at www.broadswordsolutions.com

It's time for our re-appraisal. What version of CMMIshould we use?

2011-11-29T20:48:00.001-05:00

HeyJeff,

We’reup for our second CMMI appraisal. Wewant to know when CMMI v1.3 was released, and can we still use CMMI v1.2?

_Blz

Hey,Blz,

Ihope you have a jar of marmalade handy. Because, as of today, CMMI v1.2 is toast.

Here’swhat’s happened since your last appraisal:

· CMMI v1.3was released around this time last year by the good folks at the SEI.

· SCAMPIv1.3 was released in March 2011.

· CMMIv1.2,as of today, is toast. Retired. Kaput!

Soooooo....that means three things:

You can nolonger conduct a CMMI v1.2 appraisal. Well, you COULD conduct one, but it just would not be accepted by the SEI! So if your CMMI Consultant tells you to do it, don't. If he does, you should "retire" him too!

· You can now conductyour CMMI v1.3 Appraisal against SCAMPI v1.3 or SCAMPI v1.2 until March 2012. Got a headache yet?

· Then SCAMPIv1.2 will be toast, too. After March 2012 everything will be in harmony - SCAMPI v1.3 and CMMI v1.3. yayyyyyy!

I've stopped teaching the CMMI v1.2 course in my CMMI Training classes already. I don't think I've taught one since last December.

Gotit?

Nowget outta here, Blz. With all this talk about toast and SCAMPI you’re making mehungry!

Jeff Dalton is a CertifiedSCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, Candidate SCAMPIAppraiser Observer, author, and consultant with years of real-world experiencewith the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands ofstudents and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 fromhis students.

Learn more about CMMI Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

Can we be CMMI Level 3 without losing our agility?

2011-11-26T19:40:00.001-05:00

Dear CMMI Appraiser, I’ve been enjoying your posts about Agile andCMMI. I am the founder of an Agileorganization that has grown to 40 people. We aren’t about process at all, but I’d like to see us adopt more of a CMMI Level3 mindset. Our CMMI Consultant tells us we're pitiful and need help. Can companies like ours becomeCMMI compliant without losing the flexibility and freedom that makes us who weare? ~Louis

Louis,

Hmmm. Not a very nice thing for your CMMI Consultant to say about you...isn't he the one supposed to be giving you help?

Yes, companies like yours really can achieve greatbenefit from using both CMMI and Agile. Thecombination allows you to exploit synergies that have the potential todramatically improve business performance.

However,when you say you aren’t about process, I would challenge that. If you are really using Agile techniques, you are, without a doubt ALL about process! As I tell the attendees in my CMMI Training class, that’s nothing to be ashamed of! It's ok, we all know :) You should be proud that you’ve been ableto stay flexible while incorporating useful processes like daily stand-ups, planning poker, and more. A good CMMI Lead Appraiser should be able to recognize those things as useful to your organization and make some suggestions for making them even better.

The goodnews about CMMI is that it aligns very well with all of the major Agile methods. And it can be used to make those things even better! For example, take a look athow the CMMI practices correspond with some of the more common agile techniques:

This should help your organization start to move in a direction where you can use the CMMI to help improve and still be Agile and light-weight. The truth is, not only can you belight and Agile, but you can still have choices that will meet the needs of each project. Choices are what give you the freedom to bewho you are, and to do it the right way for each given situation. If you were to come to me for some CMMI Consulting I would offer you this same advice.

Many people mistakenly believe that, in order to adopt the CMMI, theyneed to adopt a culture of rigid compliance that kills your freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's all about choices - something the SEI calls "tailoring."

At this point, Louis, adopting the CMMI in your Agile organization may be the adventure you are ready for.

Jeff Dalton is a CertifiedSCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, Candidate SCAMPIAppraiser Observer, author, and consultant with years of real-world experiencewith the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands ofstudents and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 fromhis students.

Learn more about CMMI Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

What Process Areas should the SEPG be assessed on?

2011-11-25T13:11:00.001-05:00

Dear Appraiser,

In planning an SEPG review, I am including OPD, OPF, and OT Process Areas in scope. Am I on the right track for an internal audit that is limited to the SEPG group covering only those 3 PA's?

I have a PPQA role in the organization and have been asked to do an internal SEPG review of a newly formed development group targeting a CMMI Appraisal at ML3 in 2012 ~Ingrid

Dear Ingrid,

When you say "SEPG" I am going to assume you mean "the people responsible for the process." The SEPG is not strictly part of CMMI, but in my CMMI Training classes I spend a good deal of time talking about the role and types of people who should serve in this important group. This group goes by many names (a little bit like Gandalf in Lord of the Rings), but usually focuses on the prioritization, approval, development, deployment, and monitoring of the set of techniques and processes used by your organization.

If you started 10 years ago, you must have a very mature SEPG with its own processes that are improved, maintained and monitored. If you're close to being appraised at ML3, I'm sure you have ALL of that under control! ;)

As steward of the process, the SEPG (or EPG, EPI, SPEG, PIT, etc) performs and improves many of the practices in OPF, OPD, and sometimes even OT. I say "many" because there are some that address process infrastructure (like "Process Asset Library" and "Measurement Repository") that are not practices at all. And then there are some that are often performed by other people like "Deliver Training" in OT. The SEI has done a decent job at spreading the wealth!

So OPD and OPF are good places to start. Easy right?

WAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIT! Not so fast!

Depending on how it has been structured over the year, there are probably other practices to consider. The CMMI Appraiser in me is asking "how about GP 2.8" for all of the Process Areas?" Who is monitoring the process if not the SEPG? How about GP2.9 and the aggregate data that's collected for compliance? Who is looking after that. Trending of metrics? Reporting to management on process performance (GP2.10)? How about managing improvement ideas (GP3.2) and managing tailoring guidelines (IPM)? These are all things a CMMI Appraiser or CMMI Instructor will be on the lookout for.

Another way to think about it, as opposed to by Process Area, is to consider all of the things needed to maintain, monitor, and improve the process infrastructure - and that's what you need to be looking at. If the SEPG doesn't do those things - who does? As a CMMI Consultant I often spend more time working with the SEPG than I do working withe teams to develop the process!

Training could be a whole other ball game. Sometimes the SEPG handles training - sometimes it's part of HR or another part of the company. Just remember that, if the SEPG handles it, they need to be sure that a training "capability" is in place. Another word for that is "infrastructure." If they sanction "OJT" as their method that might work, if they actually DO have OJT training that has an infrastructure. With your sized organization I would assume a more formal program that included strategic and tactical plans, materials, trained trainers, and well defined training for practitioners by role. If I were providing CMMI Consulting to you, this is exactly what I would recommend.

Should people be trained on CMMI? A lot of people (including CMMI Lead Appraiser's that I know) say "no." I used to think this also. But the last few years, whenever I teach an "internal" CMMI course" I always hear that they wished they had sent more people to the class. Maybe that's because I include a lot of additional material about making it real though.

One more thing - the SEPG doesn't get a free pass. They ALSO have all of the GP's to consider. How are they being monitored? Do they follow their process? Are they trained?

It's important work - but you sound like the right person for the job. Good luck!

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

Learn more about CMMI Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

Our CMMI Appraiser says we have to change everything on our project! Could that be true?

2011-11-21T11:14:00.001-05:00

Dear CMMI Appraiser, our CMMI appraiser says we have to modify everything about how our project operates to fit the CMMI. This isnot what we expected at all. Is there abetter way? ~Jonathan

Jonathan,

Nooooooooooooooooooo!

Yes, thereis a better way. Unfortunately for yourCMMI appraiser, the better way might mean putting that CMMI appraiser on thenext plane home!

There is no benefit toyou in modifying how you run your project to fit a process model. Use the process model to improve how YOU ARE ALREADY RUNNING IT! As I like to tell my CMMI training classes, ifa process isn’t useful, it’s useless. Inother words, the composition of the process should help us meet projectobjectives, not management's need to see and understand one single process. And certainly not the CMMI appraiser’s needto put your team through the paces of a death march.

What your CMMI appraiser apparently fails to realize is that there is a key concept in theCMMI called tailoring.

Appropriate tailoring is the essence of CMMI Maturity Level 3. CMMI Maturity Level 3 guides us to modify and adopt our processes (which could be based on the CMMI) to meet the needs of our project.

You are not alone with this type of advice. I’ve heard stories of CMMI appraisers telling organizations that Level 3 isabout every company doing the same thing the same way every time. NOT!

It’s about figuringout what your project needs, and having a process that supports that. It’s about having the option to have several DIFFERENT processes.

For example, tailoring in Maturity Level 3 gives you the ability modify theprocess to meet your needs. But you justcan’t do it in a vacuum. You need to selectfrom a set of processes that is managed, maintained, and improved.

Notice I said “set.” The CMMIspecifically refers to your Organizational Set of Standard Processes, the OSSP. It does not refer to the "Standard Process." There is no such thing!

This is just another instance of CMMI consultants using the wrong words,which drive the completely wrong behavior. When people hear it wrong enough times, they learn it wrong. That’s why it is common for people to believethe words in the CMMI are referring to the "standard process.” When I deliver CMMI Consulting, I try to stick to the actual definitions in the book!

Again: the SEI authors very explicitly says in the CMMI text that you shouldhave more than one process. That's what a set is - more than one!

Some CMMI consultants are probably scratching their heads right now, asif they’ve never heard this. My adviceto them is: “It’s right here in the book – take a look.”

Don’t put up with misinformation, Jonathan. If the CMMI Consultant you're working with doesn’tget it, replace him or her withsomeone who does.

Jeff Dalton is a CertifiedSCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, Candidate SCAMPIAppraiser Observer, author, and consultant with years of real-world experiencewith the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands ofstudents and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 fromhis students.

Learn more about CMMI Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

This Thanksgiving don't be a turkey - and avoid the stuffing!

2011-11-19T16:26:00.001-05:00

Dear Readers,

This year, as Mrs. Appraiser and I head out east to join all of our brother, sister, and little appraisers, I'm reminded to give thanks for all that we have.

We live in a place where we have smart engineers, software developers, analysts, project managers, and testers all doing their best to create some of the best products in the world. But this year do yourself a favor - and don't be a turkey!

Ever since I was a little appraiser I loved the white meat. "Just some white meat" I would say as my dad carved out a "partially implemented" piece that was sized just for me. Mom would insists on a little stuffing, vegetables, and cranberry sauce so that I could "satisfy the goal" of growing up healthy.

But I wanted to get to the next "level" and really just wanted the white meat. "Just enough, not too much" I would always say.

As we all prepare to head out for the holiday, keep in mind the basics of "Just Enough" process:

- always err on the side of "too little" and not "too much" process. Engineers will know what to do if there isn't a flowchart. And they don't need to read the CMMI book either!

- keep it simple. Engineers are smart, and they'll know what to do with a just a little help. They don't need step-by-step instructions, they need guidelines. Even if you did provide them, you would probably get them wrong anyway.

- keep your documentation short, but consistent and easy to read. Most people won't read it anyway. Remember, it's not about "CMMI Certification" it's about getting better at what you already do well.

- limit the amount of time and scope you allow people to work on "the process" ("limited WIP") so that it is not possible to over-engineer the solution. This creates "process debt." And it's because if you let them, engineers will produce a process that is un-implementable.

- think of your process as a "product." As a product, it will need resources, a plan, a design, and architecture, sponsorship, budget, and many other things to be successful. A "process binder" is not a process system! Once you get it done you can test is will a CMMI Appraisal.

- Consider banning the words "process" and "CMMI" from your vernacular. Want another word? Try "E-N-G-I-N-E-E-R-I-N-G."

I remind you of these things because MOST organizations miss them. They get so focused on "CMMI Certification," getting a CMMI Level, or writing a CMMI Process they miss the point! Don't be a turkey this year and get filled up with stuffing, cranberry sauce, and potatoes. Just ask for the white meat. It's healthy and low in fat. Just like your process should be!

If you've taken my CMMI Training class then you've heard many of these things from me. But if you're working with a CMMI Consultant that is not giving you the straight story, send me a note and I'll post a response.

Have a great holiday!

Jeff Dalton is 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 thousands of students and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Learn more about CMMI Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

What's the CMMI "sweet spot?"

2011-11-09T17:04:00.003-05:00

Jeff, CMMI Maturity Levels are a competitive advantage in ourindustry. As the CEO of a North AmericanIT Outsourcing firm, I want us to be right in the sweet spot where all of ourcompetition is. How do we figure outwhere that is? - Dorothy V.

Dorothy,

Greatquestion. And great problem. The challenge of the CEO is to add justenough and not too much improvement to every aspect of the business.

Just so ourreaders are clear, the CMMI is a model that’s guides us on how to be a greatproducts and engineering company. It is not intended as a rating or rankingsystem. There is no inherent competitiveadvantage to being Maturity Level 5, for example. But there is tremendous value in being abetter organization.

To answeryour question, Dorothy, this chart from the SEI shows that the “sweet spot” for companieslike yours is Maturity Level 2 and 3.

It’s nocoincidence that the majority of companies that reach out to me are most inneed of Maturity Level 2 or 3. A questionI often hear first is “Should we go to Level 5?”

If you’rejust learning how to spell “CMMI” this is the wrong question. A better question is “should we become agreat company?” And the answer to thatis YES! You may achieve Maturity Level 2as a great company, and you may achieve something higher. But either way, focus on that, not on levels.

Thequestion of ML4 of ML5 is best put on the back-burner until after you are asolid, consistently performing ML3 company for a period of time. Rushing to ML5 is usually counter-productive.

Like you, Dorothy,I want to know what the competition is doing before offering a solution also. We’ve analyzed the data, and more oftenthan not, we tell them, “focus on being a great Maturity Level 3 company – and,for now at least, Level 5 is probably not where you need to go.”

If you’restill in the ML2 or ML3 category, it’s just not worth the investment to shootright for ML5. In North America, at anyrate, it may not give you nearly the return you think it will.

In yourcase, Dorothy, I’d suggest focusing on making your company a really great company that is performing at Maturity Level2 or 3. Get the value of CMMI –not the certificate. Good luck!

Jeff Dalton is 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 thousands of students and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students.

Learn more about CMMI Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

What are some warning signs that our CMMI program will be a disaster?

2011-11-08T21:44:00.001-05:00

Mr. Appraiser, here’sa CMMI adoption question from our executive team. If we decide to take on a CMMI adoption, whatare some warning signs to help us avoid a disaster? ~ Philip N.

Dear Philip,

The question of CMMI adotionis a serious one – but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with theanswer! Here are the Top 10 Clues thatyour CMMI adoption will be a disaster:

Top 10 Clues that your CMMI adoption will be adisaster:

10. You tell your team to go“get a level” by Tuesday

9. You say, “We need to goright to Level Five (or Four, or Three)

8. Two minutes afterachieving Level Two, you say, “When is Level Three?”

7. Your CMMI “consultant”says, “The SEI makes you do it.”

6. Your CMMI “consultant”says, “The CMMI makes you do it.”

5. You use the phrase“implementing CMMI”

4. Two dozen consultantsdescend on your company to “do CMMI” to you

3. No one has any idea whyyou’re “doing CMMI,” but you’re doing it anyway

2. No one can articulate whatthe company is trying to achieve

… And the Number One cluethat your adoption will be a disaster …

You’ve bought a tool that promises “CMMI in six months or less”

There you go ladies and gentlemen! Don’t go away. More good stuff will be here when we comeback.

Jeff Dalton is a CertifiedSCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, Candidate SCAMPIAppraiser Observer, author, and consultant with years of real-world experiencewith the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands ofstudents and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 fromhis students.

Learn more about CMMI Appraisals at www.broadswordsolutions.com

New look and now we're mobile!

2011-10-30T11:11:00.006-05:00

Dear Readers,

I hope you like the new look and feel of the "Ask the CMMI Appraiser" site. We continue to offer you free, useful advice about the CMMI and Agile methods - all without ads or commercials!

We're Mobile!

Now you can access "Ask the CMMI Appraiser" optimized for your iPhone, Android, iPad or other mobile device.

I use it with my brand-new Android Bionic (awesome machine!) and it works great.

Today I'm spending the day finalizing my submission for the SEI's SEPG 2012 conference. I've spoken at the conference every year since 2006 - so wish me luck!

As usual, thanks for reading, and keep those CMMI and Agile questions and comments coming!