Applying Capability Maturity Model Integration

(CMMI) for Your Company Processes:

Using CMMI as a benchmarking tool to gain

credibility with your customer 10th BPM Summit:

Mastering Lean Six Sigma and Process Excellence to Maximize Operational Goals

27-29 April 2009

Rick HefnerNorthrop Grumman Corporation

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Background

• Many organizations struggle with implementing process improvement– The practitioners and mangers simply

refuse to change their behaviors– There is no visible progress,

or simply rote adherence – Customers and stakeholders see

no visible benefit

• This presentation will: – Clearly explain the business value behind the CMMI

practices– Describe CMMI’s positive impact on project and organization

performance -- cost, schedule, quality and risk– Present practical strategies and tactics for implementing the

model to achieve these benefits– Provide ways to explain the benefits to your customer

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Agenda

• CMMI Model– Overview– Barriers to seeing the value

• Underlying CMMI principles and value

• Needed actions to realize the benefits– Overcoming performer resistance– Overcoming customer resistance– When good companies go bad

SM SCAMPI, SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, and SEI are service marks of Carnegie Mellon University. ® Capability Maturity Model Integration and CMMI are registered in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

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What is the Capability Maturity Model Integrated?

• The CMMI is a collection of industry best-practices for product development, services, acquisition, project management, support, and process management

• CMMI for Development (CMMI-DEV) – Used by engineering organizations– Version 1.0 released in 2000, v1.1 in

Mar’02, v1.2 in Aug’06

• CMMI for Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ)– Used by buyers (e.g., govt. agencies)– Version 1.2 released in 2007

• CMMI for Services (CMMI-SVC)– Used by service providers (e.g., help

desk)– Version 1.2 released in 2009

http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/

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CMMI-SVC Goals and Practices Example: Service Continuity

Goal 1 The essential functions and resources on which services depend are identified and documented.Practice 1.1Identify and prioritize the essential functions that must be

performed to ensure service continuity.Practice 1.2Identify and prioritize the essential resources required to

ensure service continuity.

Goal 2 Preparations are made for service continuity.Practice 2.1Establish and maintain service continuity plans that enable

the organization to resume performing essential functions.Practice 2.2Establish and maintain training for service continuity.Practice 2.3Provide and evaluate training in the execution of the

service continuity plan.

Goal 3 The service continuity plan is verified and validated.Practice 3.1Prepare for the verification and validation of the service

continuity plan. Practice 3.2Verify and validate the service continuity plan.Practice 3.3Analyze the results of validation and verification activities.

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Process Areas (CMMI-DEV)

Project Management

– Project Planning– Project

Monitoring and Control

– Supplier Agreement Management

– Integrated Project Management)

– Risk Management

– Quantitative Project Management

Engineering

– Requirements Development

– Requirements Management

– Technical Solution

– Product Integration

– Verification– Validation

Support

– Configuration Management

– Process and Product Quality Assurance

– Measurement and Analysis

– Decision Analysis and Resolution

– Causal Analysis and Resolution

Process Management

– Organizational Process Focus

– Organizational Process Definition

– Organizational Training

– Organizational Process Performance

– Organizational Innovation and Deployment

Implemented byeach project in the organization

Implemented bythe organization

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Why Adopt CMMI?

• The CMMI is a model of industry best-practices

• When an organization decides to adopt CMMI, they commit to performing these best-practices– Different than a customer-driven process, where you simply

do what the customer asks you to do

• You are performing practices in what you understand to be the best way known in industry– “Best” implies predictably producing products or services of

acceptable quality at the lowest possible cost and schedule

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Adopting any Best Practice Model

The set of best practices

Already performing Not performing

Aware ofNot aware of

Perceive as valuable

Don’t perceive as valuable

Determine how best to perform in your environment

Learn about successful implementations

Eliminate barriers

Eliminate biases

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Barriers to Seeing the Value

“Sometimes you have to believe it to see it.”

• Practitioners may not have worked in an environment where the practice was performed

• Practitioners may have worked in an environment where the practice was performed poorly or in a non-value-added manner

• The practice may run counter to a long-held belief

• Believing the practice is an improvement may require an action the practitioner is not willing to take– Awkwardness of doing something new– Admit they’ve been doing it wrong– Loss of personal power when perceived to be an expert in the

current approach

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Agenda

• CMMI Model– Overview– Barriers to seeing the value

• Underlying CMMI principles and value

• Needed actions to realize the benefits– Overcoming performer resistance– Overcoming customer resistance– When good companies go bad

SM SCAMPI, SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, and SEI are service marks of Carnegie Mellon University. ® Capability Maturity Model Integration and CMMI are registered in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

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Underlying Principles of CMMI

• Process discipline leads to predictable project performance– Say what you do; do what you say– Document the plans/processes– Communicate them to the performers and stakeholders– Audit to ensure we are following them

• Conscious choices lead to better processes– E.g., identify relevant stakeholders and their involvement;

identify work products to be controlled and the control method; define validation procedures and criteria, …

• Organizational learning improves project performance– Capture what works, and what doesn’t– Make rules (policies) to guide projects– Define expected processes, and let projects tailor them to fit– Capture work products and measures, and learn from them

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How the CMMI Practices Add Value

• Each practice provides value in 3 possible ways:– Performance – the practice directly reduces cost and or

schedule through either increased efficiency, increased effectiveness, or lowered rework

– Quality – the practice produces higher quality products, by either preventing or uncovering defects

– Communications – the practice helps everyone understand expected behavior, or provides insight leading to better decisions

• Many practices effect more than one dimension

• Some practices provide the potential for a positive impact or reduce the risk of a negative impact

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Some CMMI Areas Offer More Potential Value than Others

• The activities which drive cost and schedule the most provide the most potential for productivity improvement

• For example, for large software companies and large software projects, the most expensive and time consuming activities, in rank order are*:– Defect removal– Producing documents– Meetings and communications– Coding– Project management

Reference: “The Schedules, Costs, and Value of Software Process Improvements,” Caper Jones, 2007, used with permission

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Agenda

• CMMI Model– Overview– Barriers to seeing the value

• Underlying CMMI principles and value

• Needed actions to realize the benefits– Overcoming performer resistance– Overcoming customer resistance– When good companies go bad

SM SCAMPI, SCAMPI Lead Appraiser, and SEI are service marks of Carnegie Mellon University. ® Capability Maturity Model Integration and CMMI are registered in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

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Addressing the Underlying Beliefs

• Sponsors and performers must have a strong vision of the desired culture– What are my roles and responsibilities?– What changes in behavior are required?– What are the underlying beliefs and values?– How do I benefit – WIIFM?

Culture

Ethics Values Norms

Attitudes Beliefs Priorities

Opinions Behavior Conduct Do & Don’ts

Covert level

Intermediate level

Overt level

Reference: “Sustaining CMMI Compliance,” Rick Hefner, 2006 CMMI Technology Conference and User Group  

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Different Practitioners Needs Different Value Arguments

• (I, EA) Explain how the practice adds value– Identify a situation in which this value would be realized

• (EM) Where possible, provide data– It is difficult to find perfect data, which “proves” the value– Even perfect data may not convince a skeptic

• (LM) Identify others who have seen the (qualitative) value of this practice

• (LM) Couch the value in ways that appeal to the practitioner– Reduced risk. addressing a customer issue, reduced workload, etc.

• (LM) Show ways that the practice can be done easily

• (LM) Suggest the practitioner try it and see

"Crossing The Chasm“, Geoffrey Moore

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Determine and Communicate the Key Messages

• Achieving and maintaining mature processes is essential to meeting our business goals– Predictability, performance, quality

• CMMI involves short-term investment for long-term gain

• CMMI is an enabler (not a guarantee) of project success– Other aspects (people, technology, customer relationship, etc.) are

equally important– The value is often risk reduction (which may be difficult to

measure)

• CMMI is a a set of proven, industry best-practices– Adoption is about learning how to apply these practices to our

work– The practices may feel awkward and have limited value until we

learn them– It’s OK to make mistakes – we will get better over time

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When Good Organizations Go Bad

Focus on passing the appraisal, not understanding and deciding among possible interpretations

Improvement goals are not set realistically

Practitioners/customers perceive CMMI as more expensive

Only some of the projects participate in the improvement effort

The remaining projects don’t implement

Only some of the projects get appraised

People don’t learn or become proficient in the new behaviors

Insufficient resources (e.g., training, QA, metrics, consultants)

Benefits are not realized because projects do not start up effectively

Management doesn’t enforce using processes on new programs

Rick Hefner, “CMMI Horror Stories: When Good Projects Go Bad,” Software Engineering Process Group Conference , 6-9 March 2006

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Accountability

• Adopting and sustaining CMMI is about each practitioner learning and performing the new behaviors

• The role of management in cultural change is to hold people accountable for the new behaviors and conduct

• Change agents can enable management by:– Helping them have a clear vision of the new culture– Identifying inappropriate behavior– Providing tangible, objective

measures of adoption/sustainment

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Lessons Learned

Based on over 20 Northrop Grumman CMMI Level 5 organizations

• CMMI and Six Sigma compliment each other– CMMI can yield behaviors without benefit– Six Sigma improvements based solely on data may miss

innovative improvements

• Training the entire staff as Six Sigma Green Belts has resulted in a change of language and culture– Voice of Customer, data-driven decisions, causal analysis,

etc.– Better to use the tools in everyday work than to adopt the

“religion”

• Having multiple improvement initiatives helps encourage a change in behavior as opposed to “achieving a level”– Reinforces that change (improvement) is a way of life

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Summary

• The promised CMMI benefits can be achieved if:– Performers understand what

changes are needed and what benefits they will provide

– Customers understand how the process is effected, and the benefits to be realized

– The organization understands and addresses the sources of resistance to change

Rick HefnerNorthrop Grumman

(310) 812.7290rick.hefner@ngc.com