How do you spell CMMI Relief?

Dear CMMI Appraiser – I am the owner of a small software engineering firm with large multi-national clients. We want to renew our CMMI appraisal to keep our CMMI certificate, but we find the process is just too complicated and too much overhead. How can we get relief? ~ Sunny A.

Sunny,

As you evaluate your CMMI appraisal and renewal, I suggest that you consider that this discussion is not about CMMI certification.  It’s about culture. Once you help your team get clarity on this matter, they’ll come to understand that process isn’t overhead. Process is the definition of how we do work every day.

I discussed this challenge in my interview with Bill Fox on 5 Minutes to Process Improvement Success! (now on Amazon), which is a blog that highlights the best in project management and process improvement strategies and tactics.

As I said to Bill, it sometimes helps to use a clever little trick to help teams think about process differently. Feel free to try this with your team, Sunny. Stand up and say, “Hey, everyone, I want to show you a new way to spell ‘process.’”

Then write out the phonetic spelling of the word ‘engineering,’ like this:

enjəˈni(ə)riNG

It's a funky looking word and it'll take them a moment to decode it.  Once they do, tell them what you mean. Say that process isn’t this thing we do that adds overhead, time and energy. If they do it that way, then they did it wrong. Instead, process is about how we perform engineering tasks every dy.

So how do they put this concept to work?

The method we utilize is one that we pioneered, called the AgileCMMI methodology. AgileCMMI starts with the concept that people learn best by digesting information in very small pieces – not by waterfall. Developers are no different. We present everything incrementally and iteratively, in a language they understand, using UML diagrams and data flow diagrams. It’s a much better approach than trying to convert them to process experts, which they will resent and resist.

Once they’ve started getting the benefits of adopting the CMMI in small pieces, through the use of their current tools and knowledge, your team will begin to see your point that process isn’t overhead. Process is not some foreign thing that you are making them do, but just another word for engineering.

The AgileCMMI methodology works in environments large and small. We’ve had really good success with small organizations like yours solving problems for big organizations like NASA.

There are other methods, and other CMMI consultants will surely have their own approaches. But whatever path you take, be sure to keep your team focused on culture, not certification. It really is the best way to get relief. 

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.

How does the CMMI help us stand on the shoulders of giants?

Dear CMMI Appraiser,

I saw an interesting tweet from you just now. What do you mean that “CMMI helps establish an environment for greatness by standing on the shoulders of giants?” ~ Sylvia B.

Sylvia, thank you for following the CMMI Appraiser on Twitter. With that quote, I am paraphrasing Sir Isaac Newton, who once famously said: "If I have seen further, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."

The same is true about the CMMI -- from CMMI appraisals to CMMI training to CMMI consulting -- and organizations that have adopted it. The CMMI helps us see farther. The CMMI provides a framework for changing behaviors and changing culture that can establish an environment for allowing us to operate like a great company – for the long term. And it does so by allowing us to stand on the shoulders of giants.

Who are these giants? Other great companies! See, the idea is that if you adopt CMMI, you are standing on the shoulders of those who came before you. That means you don’t have to figure out what to do. You don’t have to come up with all things you need to worry about. Others before you have figured out the practices that will help improve the speed of software delivery, reduce defects, eliminate rework and make your projects more predictable and manageable. You receive all of the benefits of their lessons learned. That’s what the CMMI is: a large collection of lessons learned and best practices.

So, by adopting the CMMI and modeling your company’s behavior according to its principles, you are standing on the shoulders of others who have become great companies before you. Those “giants” have handed you the infrastructure and tools you need to be a great company.

And you didn’t even have to climb a beanstalk!

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.

We're scientist that want to use the CMMI to support space projects. Will the CMMI work for us?

Dear CMMI Appraiser, our company provides scientific support services for government agencies. We don’t write software or work with engineering.  Can the CMMI help us be a great company also? ~ Snil V.

Snil,

The beauty of the CMMI is that it can be used to help any company establish an environment that can make you a great company, not just software or engineering organizations. And yes, it even works for companies that provide science support for government agencies.

For example, Broadsword has experience working with several companies that do exactly that at NASA. And who is more science-focused than NASA?

As a matter of fact, one of our clients does provide scientific services to NASA Goddard.  To help them be successful, we’ve had to evolve the way we apply and interpret  the CMMI.  As a result, the CMMI-DEV has been a perfect fit for the work they do. We are able to bend and strengthen the model for their environment, which is a science-support environment, not an IT environment. Our goal has been to interpret the model for them in a way that helps them be successful, as opposed to forcing them down a path that leads to a certificate.

Another company we work with builds Cryogenic Sytems for NASA.  No, they're not sending Walt Disney into space, they're developing products used to cool components needed for space flight. For them, we adapted the CMMI to fit into a small company environment. Apparently, other CMMI consultants whom they interviewed tried to force them to change the way they behave to meet a model. Ours has been a completely different approach. We’ve taken the CMMI and helped them understand how they can adapt the language and the model to fit into the way that they work. This helps them receive all of the benefits of the CMMI related to predictability, time, and budget, without creating a lot of overhead that results in a "paper-chase."

A third science-based company we’ve worked with does a lot of work for NASA also, designing and supplying sensors that are mounted on space vehicles to provide monitoring during launch. This is a large company with many different divisions performing many different functions. The company is now able to harness the efficiencies of using one single model – the CMMI – across its many different divisions, improving their ability to serve NASA and other scientific and aerospace organizations across the country.

What is the common thread? All of these are all scientific support organizations in highly technical environments.  In order to help solve their problems, we've had to bend, twist, and flex the CMMI so that it fit into the environment in which they operate.  And yes, all of them have had successful appraisals in the past.

You don’t have to be a software or engineering company to get the benefit of the CMMI, Snil. You have access to CMMI consultants who have experience with science-support organizations. Broadsword’s consultants are high tech people, not just generic CMMI consultants.

So, yes, Snil, the CMMI absolutely can work for science support companies, not just software or engineering companies. The key is to work with a CMMI consultant who understands your unique challenges, and can provide expertise specific to your environment.

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 there a tool I can use to determine what we need for CMMI?

Dear Jeff:

I have a question.  Is there a matrix which lists the what are the criteria for meeting each CMMI level?  I’m on the SEI website and looking at a lot of their resources.  There’s one presentation that touts being ready for level 2 in 30 minutes or less and then cranks out a fluff schedule which is 468 lines!  I’d really like something direct and concise – and I’m having a difficult time wading through all the resources.

I think my organization has a LOT of what CMMI looks for already in place.  Either through good engineering practices and/or a little dumb luck.   I need a resource which will allow me to quickly evaluate what I have and what I need for compliance.  Does such a thing exist? ~Chris

Chris,

30 minutes or less?  Wow!  No wonder I have trouble telling clients it takes weeks!  I should call that CMMI Consultant that wrote that presentation.  Think of all the time I will save!  Actually, it DOES take weeks, but that's another story.....

The CMMI is open to interpretation based on the context of your organization, so there is no real "tool" for determining exactly what you need.  The best tool is the one between your ears.

The CMMI book is the best reference for such information, as each practice has "example work products" that give you a clue as to what the authors intended.  Also, the "tips" on the side of each page are very handy for this type of information.  Just remember that these are very generic - and often suggested by people who are in a different business than you are.

There really is no such thing as "being ready for CMMI in 30 minutes" or "CMMI in 60 days or less."  Anyone telling you that is full of something, and it isn't CMMI knowledge!

You may be able to find some examples on the web of a "PIIDs" (Process Implementation Indicator Document) that someone used as a checklist for their CMMI appraisal, but it's highly unlikely that it will map to your engineering organization's practices.

Your best bet is to engage with a certified lead appraiser to do a lightweight and quick "mini appraisal" or SCAMPI "C" that will give you the information you seek in a couple of days.  Then go get yourself some CMMI Training.

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 running a successful CMMI program.