How do we satisfy our State Government client who is asking us to “be more agile?”

Hey CMMI Appraiser,

We are working with the CIO of our State Agency, who is a big believer in organizational performance improvement and is always pushing us to be better. He just came back from NASCIO and heard that vendors need to start being "agile." Our team is smart and talented. We do daily meetings, collaborate, and meet with our customer all the time. Isn't this ok?  If not this, what is agile? ~ S.T 

Hey, ST,

Thank you for writing in.  Different people mean different things when they say they want to be agile. Let's dive into this.

When people say, "be more agile," sometime they mean, "deliver faster and cheaper." And when (too many) software engineers and developers think about "being more agile," they sometimes think it means, “no oversight or documentation!”

What does it ACTUALLY mean? Agility’s greatest strength, and the reason for its extraordinary success, is an intense focus on learning and adapting. Your customer probably wants you to keep learning and adapting your service to meet his evolving needs.

For you to be agile, then, you need to approach Agile as a student.

OK – now what?

In order to study and learn the discipline of agility, it helps to think of the approach as a three-tiered architecture of Agile Values, Agile Methods and Agile Techniques.

1. Agile Values

This tier defines the values that we agree to embrace. Our values are the things that are most important to us. These are the things that your organization needs to stay focused on, and your customer wants you to stay focused on.

Some of these agile values are transparency, collaboration, hiring the right people, fail-fast, inspect and adapt, share the work, and others.  The most commonly discussed values can be found at http://agilemanifesto.org/.

Side note: recently when I presented about Agile Values at a conference, a skeptical manager approached me and insisted that traditional Waterfall-style projects can easily have these same values.

I said, “That’s true. And guess what? When they do, they just called well-run projects!”  These values are universal. Unfortunately, "waterfall" methods and techniques don't always align well, or "trace," to the values.  So that's why we have . . .

2. Agile Methods

The second tier in the Agile architecture defines the WAY we do work - sequence, events, and ceremonies - and that WAY is derived from the values in Tier 1. All of the methods selected should adhere to the values. We call this having "values traceability."

Clients who work with Broadsword often hear me talk about "the WAY." Your "way" is derived from the values and methods use choose to select and embrace

Methods describe the sequence, interfaces, style, and the workflow of much of what we do. In this context, I use the words "method" or "framework" while I'm working with our clients. I think of them as synonymous.

In an Agile environment, the most common methods (frameworks) are Scrum, Extreme Programming, Spiral and Crystal, with the first two being the most prevalent.

For example, Scrum defines ceremonies, artifacts, and roles, and presents a basic sequence  (sprints, et al) for us to deliver our service or product in the context of values.

3. Agile Techniques

Techniques are the things we do every day, within the selected method, in adherence with the values. There are some techniques that are unique to methods, and some that span the entire family of Agile frameworks.

Techniques normally associated with Agile methods include:

• retrospectives
• Backlog grooming ("story time")
• User Story development
• Story Point estimation
• Planning Poker
• Fibonacci estimation
• Sprint Review (Demo) 
• Refactoring
• Test Driven Development
• BDD
• Spring / Iteration Planning

Being the third tier of an integrated architecture, a technique alone, without the corresponding methods and values (such as "we do a daily meeting") does not make you "agile," although it's better than NOT meeting everyday.

As I said above, you need to approach Agile as a student.

If you want to become a student, join us on November 7th @ 8:30 am – November 8th @ 4:00 pm (2 days). Here’s the link: 

Sign up for the Agile Scrum Learning Experience!

Hope to see you in class!

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.

CMMI Institute announces Global Conference Series for 2015!

Today, we are pleased to announce the CMMI Institute Global Conference Series for 2014-2015 in cities that span the globe. The CMMI Institute Global Conference Series connects organizations and individuals committed to building capability and elevating performance with the best practices, case studies, and shared learning that will equip them to face challenges and reach their goals. Check out the individual events or explore the whole series at the CMMI Institute Global Conference Series website, then mark your calendar and book your room.  Mark your calendars for these exciting events:  10-11 December 2014 in Shenzhen, China 26-27 March 2015 in London, England 12-13 May 2015 in Seattle, Washington, USA  Interested in being a presenter at one of the CMMI Institute conferences? If you have a case study that highlights how you improved your organizational capability and performance, we want to hear about your experience.  Submit by visiting the Call for Participation on the conference website, fill out the form and select the conference you plan to attend. Register early for the Global Congress and save 10%! CMMI Institute email subscribers can access a special 10% discount on the Early Bird registration rate for the CMMI Institute Global Congress. Register by 30 November 2014 with the promotional code "EmailSpecial" to unlock the SUPER Early Bird rate. Register Now and Save> Bookmark http://CMMIConferences.com to keep up with all the news about the CMMI Institute Global Conference Series. 10-11 December 2014 Shenzhen, China JW Marriott Hotel Presented in partnership with  ZenithUS and with support from the City Government of Shenzhen 26 - 27 March 2015  London, England Location TBA Presented in partnership with UNICOM.   Event formerly known as SEPG Europe. 12 - 13 May 2015 Seattle, USA The Westin Seattle Hotel Event formerly known as SEPG North America Register by 30 November 2014 with promotional code "EmailSpecial" and save 10% Like this blog? Forward to your nearest engineering or software exec! Jeff Dalton is a Certified SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, Certified CMMI Instructor, author and consultant with years of real-world experience with the CMMI in all types of organizations. Jeff has taught thousands of students in CMMI trainings and has received an aggregate satisfaction score of 4.97 out of 5 from his students. Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about engineering strategy,performance innovation, software process improvement and running a successful CMMI program.

Global Adoption of CMMI Performance Improvement Framework Continues to Rise

Reposted from: BusinessWire · Feb. 24, 2014 | Last Updated: Feb. 24, 2014 11:31 AM ET  

CMMI Institute announced today that a record number of Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) appraisals were completed in 2013 as organizations across the globe elevate organizational performance by adopting CMMI. The company also released the findings of a customer satisfaction survey using the Net Promoter® Score (NPS) methodology in which individuals who utilize CMMI rated CMMI as the world class means of improving organizational performance.

CMMI appraisals allow companies to measure their capability maturity against a defined framework of best practices. More than 1,600 appraisals were completed in 2013, the most ever done in one year and an 11% increase over 2012, the previous record year for appraisals. Of the 2013 appraisals nearly 40% were completed in China, where the widespread adoption of CMMI is driving economic growth and development across the region.

For complete story go to: http://t.co/LijVKa7L0Y

Just as a side-note, as a Lead Appraiser at Broadsword, I personally delivered 10 of those SCAMPI A's last year, in addition to about a dozen Class B and fifteen Class C Appraisals.

CMMI ROCKS!

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

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

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about engineering strategy, performance innovation , software process improvement and running a successful CMMI program.

Can you tell us how to get a CMMI Level in the next three weeks?

Dear Appraiser,

Emergency!  We've won a new contract and they tell us we have to be CMMI ML3 in the next three weeks.  We don't know anything about CMMI, but my boss says if we use Agile we can make it.  Can you tell us how to do that? ~ Desperate

Dear Desperate:

No.


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

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

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about engineering strategy, performance innovation , software process improvement and running a successful CMMI program.

Where can I find resources to help me use CMMI and Agile?

Dear Appraiser,

When we read the CMMI it doesn't appear to support the use of Agile.  But on your blog you talk about it all the time.  Where can I find more information?  ~Tyra

Tyra,

You're right!  The CMMI does not read like an "agile friendly" model.  In fact, it's methodology agnostic, and doesn't read like ANY methodology  (although if it "leans" one way or the other, it's towards the "waterfall" world).  

The other wrinkle is that, unlike agile, it doesn't speak directly to values - although they are embedded throughout the model more than you might think.

The trick to making this all work is to understand the INTENT of the practices, goals, and process areas, instead of reading it literally and trying to "comply" with what is written.

In my talk on "Agile Resiliency" (which I'm giving at the Boston SPIN next week), I discuss turning the CMMI into a set of questions, instead of a set of statements.  "HOW do we estimate the scope of the project?" instead of "Establish a WBS to estimate the scope of the project."  If you do it with story points and planning poker, that's OK!

For example, a "Work Breakdown Structure," used for estimating the scope of the project in the CMMI ("PP SP1.1"), is intended to scope out the project size, along with all of it's major components.  In an agile world, a product backlog, set of epics, and maybe a product plan ALSO do these things.  So, if they're done well, they will meet the INTENT of the CMMI, if not the literal words in the book.

For more information check out some of the many posts on this blog about Agile and CMMI.  You can also check out:


Cutter IT Journal article on Scrum and CMMI that I wrote (free download): http://www.cutter.com/offers/agiledalton.html

SEI Technical Report I co-wrote for the SEI on CMMI and Agile  (free download):  http://broadswordsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/CMMIandAGILE.pdf

My eBooks on Amazon: www.broadswordsolutions.com/cmmiebooks

Hillel Glazer's excellent blog: www.agileCMMI.com

Good luck!

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

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

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about engineering strategy, performance innovation , software process improvement and running a successful CMMI program.

What is the Best Performance of Process Improvement Strategy

What is the best performance or process improvement strategy?

On February 6, 2013, Bill Fox will be presenting What is the best performance or process improvement strategy at the monthly DC SPIN meeting in Northern Virginia.  You can learn more about the event at: http://www.upstartsystems.com/Default.aspx?alias=www.upstartsystems.com/dcspin

Two years ago Bill Fox started a conversation on process improvement called 5 Minutes to Process Improvement Success when he began asking industry leading practitioners one simple question, “What is your best process improvement strategy or tactic that has worked really well for your clients?”  After more than 30 interviews, many interesting strategies and themes have emerged.

I was lucky enough to be an early participant and supporter of the interview series and my interview, An Iterative and Incremental Approach to Process Improvement, was one of many frequently viewed interviews in this successful series.

Recently, The Cutter IT Journal published the surprising findings from the interviews in Bill's article in the November 2012 issue of the Cutter IT Journal alongside my own article on Agile Resiliency. 

According to the editor of the November issue, Hillel Glazer:

“In our first article, Bill Fox looks at whether we’re asking the right questions and reflecting on what we’re trying to accomplish. By the time you read this, Fox will have interviewed three dozen experts in the field.  Within two dozen, he came across a fascinating discovery that can change your own thinking on how to speed delivery and improve quality — and every other notion often attributed to agile, CMMI, or both.  What if success with agile or CMMI really has nothing to do with agile or CMMI?  Fox takes us down that thought path.”

In this presentation, Bill will share many of the surprising strategies and what we might take away and learn from them to improve results and success of our performance and process improvement efforts.  If his findings don’t surprise you, why aren’t you using them?  If you’d like to attend the presentation, go to the DC SPIN home page for more details. 

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

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

Visit www.broadswordsolutions.com for more information about engineering strategy, performance innovation , software process improvement and running a successful CMMI program.

To download eBooks about CMMI, visit Jeff’s Author Page on Amazon.

The Art of CMMI: Laying Plans

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

Laying Plans

Reinventing the wheel is never wise.  As process improvement professionals, we strive to establish sound engineering strategies, to help our coworkers work more efficiently, to provide mentorship, and to be sound, diplomatic mediators. 

But such noble pursuits have already been invented and successfully employed – thousands of years ago by Sun Tzu.  (Talk about GP 3.2!!!!)

Sun Tzu was a Chinese military strategist and philosopher who authored the Art of War – a broad strategic masterpiece spanning military training, strategies and tactics – but also governance and social interaction. This book has been the bulwark of military institutions and the foundation of business strategies.  But let’s focus on its application to CMMI and process improvement!

The Art of War is divided into 13 chapters – for this, our first blog in a series, let’s discuss Chapter One, ‘Laying Plans’.

Sun Tzu knew that planning was where the ‘war’ was fought – and he provides us with many teachings to this effect.  This excerpt summarizes the Laying Plans chapter nicely:

The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.  Thus do many calculations lead to victory and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all!  It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

So, in our CMMI implementation experiences, promoting initial organizational planning is vital. The process team must establish and analyze business goals; implement organizational change management; and define / tailor engineering solutions.

Project plans must be written and tailored, reviewed, agreed upon and updated.  Such plans are valuable resources for reference, but importantly, it’s the thought that goes into them that’s key – this is where the ‘general is making his calculations’. 

Providing resources and creating estimates (more important calculations!) are crucial to winning your campaign!  Good estimation anticipates and counters many problems before they appear.  Cost and schedule estimates must be comprehensive and well-considered – for Sun Tzu, this would have been a matter of life and death, for us, this is a matter of project success.

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.