What is the status of the transition to the CMMI Institute?

Hey, Jeff! What is the status of the CMMI operating authority? ~ AgileDC Participant

To those who were able to join us at AgileDC in the National's Capital, it was great to see you! What a treat to be with so many people who care deeply about Agile.  The best part for me was making new friends and sharing new strategies for making Agile stronger with the CMMI at my “Agile Resiliency” presentation.

You know, one of the reasons I love to give CMMI trainings and presentations is, it’s a great chance to meet so many of you readers out there. For example, I met a woman who remembered the series of posts we did after the SEI’s announcement last spring and summer.  As you may recall, in May, the SEI announced that operation of the CMMI would be moved to a new business unit within Carnegie Mellon University.

“So what’s the status?” she asked. “Who is taking over operations of the CMMI?”

The transition of CMMI operations is well underway. The new organization is named "CMMI Institute" (www.cmmiinstitute.com).  It is headed up by global technology executive, Kirk Botula, formerly the COO of Confluence.  I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Kirk in my capacity as Chairman of the SEI’s Partner Advisory Board.

Coincidentally, one of my first stops after the AgileDC Conference was in Pittsburgh for strategic meetings with Kirk. We met in CMMI Institute’s new offices.  Click here to read my impressions of my visit to the new CMMI Institute.

Again, great to see so many of you at AgileDC.  Keep reading Ask the CMMI Appraiser for updates and insights on the current events that are shaping our industry.

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 are you thankful for?

Dear Readers,

This Thanksgiving, as Mrs. CMMI Appraiser and I sit down at the holiday table with our Little Appraisers, friends, and extended family, we have a lot to be thankful for:

• SEPGs that are open to learning how to deploy processes
• Developers who embrace the CMMI as set of guidelines for performance improvement 
• CMMI sponsors who accept help in guiding their program
• CEOs who accept help in facilitating strategic decisions 
• CMMI consultants who do not over-engineer the solution and create "process debt" 
• Lead Appraisers who build consensus amongst executives in the business
• Executives who take appropriate action and are not heavy-handed 
• Directors who put a communications strategy together and execute it
• Engineers who pursue CMMI training and embrace useful process 
• Management who motivate engineers to reach for great behaviors
• QA groups that help us and don’t try to beat us into submission

And last but not least, we’re thankful for YOU, the Reader. We’d like to show our gratitude by offering you our new eBook. Look for the link to download your free copy, right here on Ask the CMMI Appraiser on Black Friday.

‘Til then … have a happy Thanksgiving!

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 Art of CMMI: Tactical Dispositions

[Our good friend Shawn Rapjack, CMMI expert and seasoned consultant, is back with a another installation on CMMI based on Sun Tzu's "The Art of War: Tactical Dispositions."  We're excited that Shawn has agreed to share segments of his article with you here on "Ask the CMMI Appraiser"]

Continuing the ‘Art of CMMI’ discussion, let’s join the battle with the Art of War’s fourth chapter, ‘Tactical Dispositions’ and alternately named, ‘Positioning’.  A theme for this chapter is ‘defense’, and specifically: ‘not creating opportunities for the enemy’.  But what does this mean for us CMMI practitioners?

It means playing it safe, being anticipatory, and addressing risk.  Sun Tzu summarizes:

Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

And,

Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory

Such cautionary forethought is captured throughout the CMMI.   For example, managing risk provides a mechanism to anticipate possible roadblocks. As with battlefield tactics, risks are identified and plans are implemented to counteract or mitigate their impact. 

Project planning also requires significant ‘defensive posturing’.  Managers need to consider future ‘attacks’ on their project well into the future.  These could be:  scheduling conflicts, resource allocation conflicts, budget issues, etc.  Remember that:

To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.

To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength; to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.

And hence the modern saying:  ‘You have a fine grasp of the obvious.’ If a manager only anticipates the obvious hurdles (‘uh oh! Budgets!’), they will miss the countless obscure ‘gotchas’ (weather-related delays, delivery schedule conflicts, etc.) that could befall their 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.

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

The Art of CMMI: Attack by Stratagem

[Our good friend Shawn Rapjack, CMMI expert and seasoned consultant, is back with a another installation on CMMI based on Sun Tzu's "The Art of War: Attack by Strategem.” We're excited that Shawn has agreed to share segments of his article with you here on "Ask the CMMI Appraiser"]

Continuing our Sun Tzu and CMMI discussion, let’s triumphantly march into the Art of War’s third chapter, ‘Attack by Stratagem’, which discusses leadership and organizational awareness.

Focused leadership provides a strong foundation for implementing process change within an organization.  Such responsibility rides on the shoulders of the organization’s manager (the ‘general’!) who must take personal ownership for implementing innovative engineering solutions and the new ways of thinking that CMMI fosters. The manager has the guidance of the process improvement team, but must set the tone for program and process improvement success.  Such leadership is summarized by Sun Tzu:

The general is the bulwark of the State; if the bulwark is complete at all points; the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State will be weak.

Let’s look a bit more closely at some of the mentorship that Sun Tzu has kindly provided us:

 There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:

·       By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.   Know the company.  A manager must be aware of the organization’s resources, funding, manager abilities, and schedule commitments before important decisions can be considered.

·       By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds.  Well, we don’t want restlessness! Leverage the process improvement team’s process experience to promote logical engineering solutions and change management – this may differ from, but should complement, the organization’s decision-making process and governance style.

·       By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.

      Know the managers.  Specifically, choose the right people for the right jobs. Plan for needed skills and training, but also recognize individual abilities and strengths.

I’m sure we have all heard of the following saying, keeping in mind from our previous blogs that the ‘enemy’ is process debt and poor engineering solutions:

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

Adopting and implementing CMMI provides an organization with the perfect opportunity for self-discovery.  What does this mean?  Companies adopting CMMI processes learn:

·       How different parts of their organization can interact cohesively.

·       What their organization is doing awkwardly, i.e., identify areas for improvement.

·       That their team is capable of great things!  This builds confidence:  ‘Hey, we tackled CMMI ML 2!!  What’s next?”

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 and performance improvement program.

What rewards and recognition are appropriate for our SEPG?

Hey, CMMI Appraiser – I’m an executive CMMI sponsor for a Virginia-based aerospace engineering company that doesn’t reward performance with bonuses or incentives. Even so, I want to make sure my SEPG feels appreciated for the changes we’re asking them to make in adopting the CMMI. What reward program would be appropriate for our circumstances? ~ Pam M.

Pam, It sounds like both your heart and brain are in the right place. You understand that CMMI is as much about changing the culture as it is about improving the way you do your work. Because rewards and recognition are part of a discipline known as Organizational Change Management (OCM), I will pass your question along to Julie Calfin, Broadsword’s Director of Consulting. Julie does amazing work with companies that are undergoing large scale business transformation like yours. Take it away, Julie! ~ The CMMI Appraiser 

Thank you, CMMI Appraiser!

Pam, I agree with the CMMI Appraiser. It’s great to hear from someone who understands that using the CMMI to transform your culture is not easy on the team. I have several ideas to share that will help you give your SEPG the thumbs-up.

The great thing about recognition and rewards, in addition to helping you say, “Thank you,” is that they are two great levers to help people change their behavior. They can help people to stop doing what you don’t want them to do, and do more of what you do want them to do.

Recognition can be a cost-free way to let people know that they are appreciated. Sometimes it’s just a pat on the back, a public “atta-boy” to the people who have contributed. For example, you may send a group email recognizing a certain teammate for her contribution to process design. Or you may give verbal recognition to another teammate for his participation in pilot testing new processes. Managers also appreciate receiving letters recognizing their employees for going above and beyond the call of duty. These letters come in handy when completing performance reviews!

When it comes to rewards, the key take-away is that rewards should always be tied back to the organization’s process improvement goals or future state vision. You want to make sure that the right behaviors are incentivized because measurements drive behaviors. Before rewarding, ask yourself, “Is this reward aligned with the way we want our people to behave in the future?”

Rewards can also be spot rewards. For example, one of Broadsword’s clients pauses briefly to celebrate when they arrive at different phases in their process improvement program. They throw a big ice cream party with all their staff. Everyone has a good time, and then they get back to work.

When Broadswords’ clients use our agileCMMI method, we encourage them to reward the members of the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) at the end of each three month release cycle. When one of our clients completed their first incremental process release, the Program Sponsor gave each SIG member a gift card and a hand-written note, thanking them for their time.

These are examples of recognition and rewards that don’t cost the organization a lot of money, and do a lot to help motivate and engage people. Here are some rules of thumb (or rules of thumbs-up!) with recognition and rewards:

• If measurements drive behaviors, rewards serve to reinforce desired behaviors or proliferate undesired behaviors
• Recognition of key contributors is part of the program’s planned tasks
• Individual performance goals and associated incentive compensation are aligned with attaining the organization’s process improvement goals

You’ll have to find what works for you, Pam. Keep in mind, your rewards and recognition approach has a lot in common with the company’s vision. Both are a bridge between the past and future.

Hope this helps! Let us know how it goes.

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

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

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

How can we accelerate our CMMI adoption?

Dear CMMI Appraiser, our company provides BIM (Building Information Modeling) products and services. We hired a CMMI consultant to help us adopt the CMMI and be more productive and profitable, but there has been a lot of push-back from our project managers, QA folks and engineers. What can we do to speed up the changes we want to see? ~ Alan M.

Alan, accelerating change falls under the discipline known as Organizational Change Management (OCM), which is a specialty of Julie Calfin, Broadsword’s Director of Consulting. Julie does amazing work with companies that are undergoing large scale business transformation like yours. Take it away, Julie! ~ The CMMI Appraiser


Thank you, CMMI Appraiser!

Alan, to accelerate change, your CMMI consultant must provide training at strategic points in the program. As the diagram below depicts, training is the gear in your company’s Organizational Change Management strategy, and that makes the behavior change engine run.

Your CMMI consultant should know this. To overcome push-back, they should be staunchly defending the Generic Practices (GPs) in the CMMI, which are foundational to the success of any or all of the process you deploy. Specifically, they should insist upon Generic Practice (GP) 2.5 – Train People.

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

So, if you expect (GP2.1) your Project Managers to be efficient at estimating and planning, you need to train them on estimating and planning.

If you are going to plan for (GP2.2) your QA folks to run process and product quality assurance, you need to train them on running process and product quality assurance.

If you are going to provide resources (GP2.3) for your BA teammates to trace requirements and run JAD workshops, you need to train them on performing requirement traceability and running JAD workshops.

And if you are going to assign responsibility (GP2.4) to your engineers to perform peer reviews, you need to train them to perform peer reviews.

Unfortunately, in many companies, training is considered to be a costly overhead expense that does not fit into today’s tight budgets . Engineers are trained by being thrown into the fire and learning on the job. They get put on a project and they learn as they go. Unfortunately, this training approach results in frustrated Engineers who are slow to accept change.

But GP2.5 requires different behaviors from executives. And most executives see the value of training people, 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, training helps them get up to speed in a matter of weeks. It also reduces the cost of Engineers’ time to reinvent the wheel and perform re-work.

Training helps all stakeholders understand the magnitude of change they are being asked to undertake. Training helps them learn the KSAs (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities) that they need to be able to perform their roles in the new organization. And training helps them become their own advocates.

There are many training courses available in the marketplace, that are related to CMMI, Scrum, or general process improvement. Look for a CMMI training program that offers real life examples, lessons and proven techniques, so that your team can take away – and retain – valuable information to be used on the job, immediately.

Sounds like maybe your CMMI consultant could use some training too.

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

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

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

The Art of CMMI: Waging War

[Our good friend Shawn Rapjack, CMMI expert and seasoned consultant, is back with a another installation on CMMI based on Sun Tzu's "The Art of War: Waging War” We're excited that Shawn has agreed to share segments of his article with you here on "Ask the CMMI Appraiser"]

Jeff's army waging war on Process Debt

Waging War

Continuing our Sun Tzu and CMMI discussion, let’s move onto the Art of War’s second chapter, ‘Waging War’.  This chapter dovetails with the first, ‘Laying Plans’, in that it has a strong focus on estimation and budgets.  Morale and timeliness are also goals.

Now would be an opportune time to discuss ‘the enemy’.  Sun Tzu faced daunting adversaries on the battlefield. Our ‘enemy’ however is different but just as pernicious – process debt and poor engineering solutions!  In our discussions of Sun Tzu and CMMI, these foes should be identified and dealt with, just as Sun Tzu would have – with thought and forthright conviction. For process professionals like us, ‘fighting’ is the deployment and success of organizational processes. 

This excerpt nicely sums up thorough estimation:

In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand li, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.

And thoughtful scheduling:

Though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

Managers must ensure that project and process schedules are being followed, monitored, and updated.  If this is not done, available resources may not be sufficient. 

Resources must be planned for and incorporated into plans.  Small details must be considered – how long will it take to peer review requirements documents?  How long will it take to incorporate these changes?  Wiggle-room should be made in the schedule if the customer has a history of not being responsive with requirements validation.  These details (like Sun Tzu’s glue and paint) need to be considered!

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 and performance improvement program.