Integrating CMMI and agile development : case studies and proven techniques for faster performance improvement

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 10
Foreword......Page 22
Foreword......Page 24
Preface......Page 26
Acknowledgments......Page 32
Part I. Introduction......Page 34
  1.1 Introduction and CMMI Primer......Page 38
  1.2 Agile Primer......Page 43
  1.3 General Information about the Case Studies......Page 45
  1.4 General Information about Terminology Used in the Book......Page 46
Part II. Helping Mature Organizations Increase Agility......Page 48
 Chapter 2. Techniques to Increase Agility in CMMI Mature Organizations......Page 50
  2.3 Where to Start When Using the CMMI Model to Increase Agility......Page 51
  2.5 How the CMMI Model Is Often Used, and Options Not Well Understood......Page 53
  2.6 Aligning Your Process Initiatives with Your Real Business Objectives......Page 54
  2.7 Aligning Process Descriptions and Training with the Real Process......Page 55
  2.8 Two Specific Examples to Increase Agility: Pruning and Leaning......Page 56
  2.10 Understanding the CMMI Model Intent to Help Your Organization Succeed......Page 58
  2.11 Options You Have in Using the CMMI Model for Appraisals......Page 59
  2.12 An Alternative Approach to Agility......Page 60
  2.14 Summary: How Agile Helps CMMI......Page 62
  3.1 What You Will Learn in This Chapter......Page 64
  3.2 Background on the Higher CMMI Level Practices......Page 65
  3.4 Measurement Fundamentals......Page 66
  3.6 Stepping Back......Page 67
  3.7 Digging Deeper for Candidate Root Causes......Page 68
  3.8 Specific Context Relevant Measures......Page 69
  3.9 Deriving the Right Data and Caring about the Data......Page 70
  3.12 Relationships among CMMI, Agile, and Lean......Page 71
  3.13 Back to the Case Study: How CMMI, Agile, and Lean Can Help Together......Page 72
  3.15 Back to the Case Study Again: What Really Happened......Page 73
  3.16 Insight......Page 74
  3.17 More about the Real Intent of CMMI Level 4 and 5 Practices......Page 75
  3.18 Continuous Process Improvement at LACM......Page 78
  3.20 Diddling in DOORS: A Story about Real Work Management and Measurement......Page 81
  3.21 Finance Perspective on Work Management and Measurement......Page 84
  3.22 Is the CMMI Measurement and Analysis Process Area Inconsistent with the Agile Principle of Simplicity?......Page 85
  3.24 Summary......Page 86
  3.26 Summary: How Agile Helps CMMI......Page 87
Part III. Helping Agile Organizations Increase Maturity......Page 88
  4.1 What You Will Learn in This Chapter......Page 90
  4.2 BOND Case Study Background......Page 91
  4.3 What Is a Gap Analysis and Why Is It Crucial for Agile Organizations?......Page 92
  4.4 Keys to Conducting a Gap Analysis for an Agile Organization......Page 93
  4.5 Example of “Potential Weakness” Against CMMI in an Agile Organization......Page 95
  4.7 TWG Approach for Agile Organizations......Page 97
  4.8 Revisiting the Goal and Challenges on the Process Improvement Project......Page 99
  4.9 Alternative Practices and Tailored Agile TWG......Page 100
  4.10 Returning to the Peer Review Example......Page 102
  4.11 Tailored TWG Techniques and Lessons at BOND......Page 103
  4.13 Packaging of Processes......Page 104
  4.14 An Agile Organizational Process Asset Structure......Page 106
  4.16 Different Organizations with Different Process Asset Structures......Page 110
  4.17 Agile TWG Roles and Responsibilities......Page 111
  4.19 Separating the TWG Work from the Lead Offline Work......Page 112
  4.20 What Do You Do When You Find a Gap?......Page 113
  4.21 Answers to Common Questions When Running an Agile TWG......Page 114
  4.23 Do I Need to Verify Everything I Develop?......Page 115
  4.24 Do I Need to Make Sure the Steps in My Processes Are in the Right Order?......Page 116
  4.25 Do I Need to Make Sure Process Descriptions Are Not Redundant?......Page 117
  4.26 Can Requirements Be Captured in an Email or PowerPoint Slides?......Page 118
  4.28 Formalizing Informality......Page 119
  4.30 Summary: How Agile Helps CMMI......Page 121
  5.1 What You Will Learn in This Chapter......Page 124
  5.2 BOND Case Study Background......Page 125
  5.3 Project Management at BOND......Page 128
  5.4 Starting with Roles and Responsibilities at BOND......Page 129
  5.5 Growing Project Leaders from the Inside......Page 131
  5.6 Example Stretch Point: Adding a Project Management Plan per Agreed Template......Page 132
  5.7 “The What”—Scoping the Effort......Page 134
  5.8 “The Who”—Managing Your Resource and Skill Needs......Page 135
  5.10 “The When”......Page 137
  5.11 Life Cycle—It’s Your Choice......Page 139
  5.13 Senior Management Briefings: An Area in Which the CMMI Can Help Agile......Page 141
  5.14 Example of Senior Brief Evolution: Backup Slides for Efficient Use of Time......Page 142
  5.15 “The How Much”—Don’t Force the Team to Perform “Unnatural Acts”......Page 143
  5.16 Lessons from Formalizing Planning at BOND......Page 144
  5.18 The Power of Templates......Page 146
  5.19 Do I Need to Write Down Meeting Minutes and Action Items?......Page 149
  5.20 Involving Relevant Stakeholders......Page 151
  5.21 Involving Relevant Stakeholders —Additional Help Sometimes Needed......Page 152
  5.22 Sharing Across the Organization......Page 153
  5.23 A Measurement and Analysis Process That Fits an Agile Organization......Page 156
  5.24 Training All Project Personnel in the Organization......Page 159
  5.25 Technical Solution in an Agile Organization......Page 160
  5.26 Product and Process Quality Assurance......Page 161
  5.27 Mitigating the Risk of Your CMMI Appraisal in an Agile Organization......Page 162
  5.28 Lost Momentum Risk After Reaching Your CMMI Goal......Page 163
  5.29 Party Time! We’re Level 3! The Meeting a Year Later with Ethan......Page 164
  5.30 Summary......Page 165
  5.31 Summary: How CMMI Helps Agile......Page 166
Part IV. CMMI Helping Address Agile Misapplications......Page 168
 Chapter 6. Common Misunderstandings of Defined Processes and Agility......Page 170
  6.1 What You Will Learn in This Chapter......Page 171
  6.3 How NANO Achieved Success and Then Got in Trouble......Page 172
  6.5 Where NANO’s Agile Approach Broke Down......Page 173
  6.7 Preparing for the Gap Analysis at NANO......Page 174
  6.9 Example of a Generic Practice......Page 175
  6.10 How Some View Process in Agile Organizations......Page 176
  6.11 An Example of Process Misunderstanding......Page 177
  6.12 Another Example of Process Misunderstanding......Page 178
  6.14 Priority Recommendations at NANO......Page 179
  6.15 Develop an OPF and OPD Process at NANO......Page 180
  6.16 Using the CMMI Framework as a Process Roadmap at NANO......Page 181
  6.18 Addressing the Stakeholder Weakness at NANO......Page 182
  6.19 Maintaining a Successful Agile Culture as You Grow Requires Training......Page 183
  6.21 Another Example of Formalizing Informality......Page 185
  6.22 Addressing Risk in the Process Improvement Plan at NANO......Page 187
  6.24 Priority-Based Incremental Deployment Supported by Scenario Training......Page 189
  6.25 More on GP 2.7 and Clarifying Roles and Responsibilities at NANO......Page 190
  6.26 The NANO Roles and Responsibilities Off-Site Meeting......Page 191
  6.27 “White Space” Tasks......Page 192
  6.28 An Alternative Approach to Defining Roles and Responsibilities......Page 194
  6.29 An Alternative Approach to Tailoring at NANO......Page 195
  6.30 Planning with Uncertainty Using an Agile and CMMI-Compliant Approach......Page 196
  6.31 CMMI Project Planning Consistent with Agile Planning......Page 199
  6.32 Summary: How CMMI Helps Agile......Page 200
  6.33 Summary: How Agile Helps CMMI......Page 201
  7.1 What You Will Learn in This Chapter......Page 202
  7.2 GEAR Case Study Background......Page 203
  7.4 The Common Pattern of Unclear Process Asset Requirements......Page 204
  7.5 Criteria and Product Content Templates......Page 205
  7.6 Writing Processes for People in “My Department”......Page 206
  7.8 OPF and OPD for Agile Organizations......Page 207
  7.10 Another Advantage to Keeping the “How-to” Guidance Separate......Page 208
  7.11 Aligning Engineering and Project Management at GEAR......Page 209
  7.12 At GEAR, “It Depends on Who Shows Up”......Page 210
  7.13 Does the Written and Trained Process Match the Real Process?......Page 211
  7.14 Requirements Change Approval Alignment with Real Work......Page 212
  7.15 Asking the Intent Question Leads to Behavior Change......Page 213
  7.16 Process Development and Deployment Optimizations at GEAR......Page 214
  7.17 Advantages and Disadvantages to the “Thread” Approach......Page 219
  7.20 Tailoring Recommendations at GEAR......Page 221
  7.21 Agile Process Tailoring Guidance: Always Tailor Up......Page 222
  7.24 Will Tailoring Up Solve All Your Tailoring Issues?......Page 223
  7.25 The Purpose of Criteria and How They Can Help Tailoring......Page 224
  7.26 Process Compliance Issues at GEAR—The Problem......Page 225
  7.28 Product and Process Quality Assurance (PPQA)......Page 226
  7.31 Keeping an Organization “Balanced” Versus Shifting a Culture......Page 227
  7.33 “How to” Options to Implement PPQA......Page 228
  7.35 Recommendations at GEAR: Second Step Is, Compliance Checks......Page 230
  7.36 The Power of Criteria to Aid Agility......Page 231
  7.37 A True Story about the Abuse of Criteria......Page 233
  7.38 Summary: How CMMI Helps Agile......Page 235
  7.39 Summary: How Agile Helps CMMI......Page 236
 Chapter 8. People Challenges Implementing a “Hybrid” Agile Approach in a CMMI Process Mature Organization......Page 238
  8.2 Introduction......Page 239
  8.3 DART Case Study Background......Page 240
  8.5 More Case Study Background......Page 241
  8.6 The Way an Agile Approach Should Work with Respect to Task Management......Page 242
  8.7 Mistakes Made on DART......Page 243
  8.8 Why Didn’t We Prepare Al for His Collaboration Challenges?......Page 244
  8.9 More on the DART Case Study......Page 245
  8.10 Technique 1: 1.0 Percent Rule......Page 246
  8.11 Technique 2: Scope and Collaboration Management......Page 247
  8.12 More on the DART Case Study......Page 248
  8.13 How Did I Make the Decision Each Day on What Was Most Important?......Page 249
  8.14 More about “Less Visible” Tasks That Require More Time on Agile Projects......Page 250
  8.15 More about the Importance of Using a Scope Document......Page 251
  8.16 Technique 3: Push-Pull......Page 252
  8.18 Examples of CMMI Helping Agile Teams Self-Manage......Page 254
  8.19 How Is Management Affected by an Agile Approach?......Page 260
  8.20 The Importance of Personal Safety to Establishing a Culture of Trust......Page 264
  8.21 Summary: How CMMI Can Help “Hybrid” Agile......Page 267
  8.22 Summary: How “Hybrid” Agile Can Help CMMI......Page 268
Part V. How Real Performance Improvement Is Achieved......Page 270
 Chapter 9. Your Repeating Specific Weaknesses: Finding Them, Why They Are Bad, Eliminating Them, and Keeping Them from Coming Back......Page 272
  9.2 Motivation and Objective......Page 273
  9.4 Determining the “As-Is” State of My Golf Game......Page 274
  9.5 The Stages of Mastering a New Skill......Page 275
  9.6 A Few Simple, but Critical Steps......Page 278
  9.7 My Golf Swing Repeating Specific Weaknesses......Page 279
  9.8 Repeating Specific Weakness Lessons......Page 280
  9.9 Golf Weaknesses and Analogies to Business......Page 282
  9.11 Selecting Specific Checkpoints......Page 283
  9.14 A Critical Distinction: Traditional CMMI and Agile Approach......Page 284
  9.15 Were the Checkpoints for the Three Repeating Weaknesses Sufficient?......Page 288
  9.16 Analysis......Page 289
  9.18 Rhythm in Golf and High-Tech Organizations......Page 290
  9.19 What Business People Can Learn from Golf Professionals......Page 292
  9.20 How the Checkpoints Helped to Achieve the Golf Project Goal and More......Page 293
  9.21 Revisiting CMMI Level 4/5 Practices and Their Relationship to Agility......Page 295
  9.22 Summary: How Agile Can Help CMMI......Page 296
  10.2 What Can We Learn from the Case Studies in This Book?......Page 298
  10.3 What Have We Learned from NANO and GEAR?......Page 301
  10.4 What Have We Learned about Measurement?......Page 302
  10.5 What Have We Learned by Thinking Out of the Box (Golf Project)?......Page 303
  10.6 The Value of Small Changes to Aid Real and Consistent Performance......Page 304
  10.7 Supporting Small Changes in Business: The Two Sides of Tailoring and Criteria......Page 305
  10.8 Conclusion......Page 307
Epilogue: What Does Passion Have to Do with Performance?......Page 312
Appendix A. Twelve Principles Behind the Agile Manifesto......Page 318
Appendix B. Example Agile Project Management Plan (PMP) Template......Page 320
Appendix C. Example Agile Organizational Process Asset Guidelines......Page 326
Appendix D. Example Agile Process Asset Approval and Release Process......Page 330
Appendix E. Example Agile Organizational Process Focus Process......Page 332
Appendix F. Example Agile Organizational Process Definition Process......Page 336
Appendix G. Terminology Used in This Book......Page 340
References......Page 342
About the Author......Page 346
 A......Page 348
 B......Page 364
 C......Page 349
 G......Page 350
 M......Page 352
 O......Page 353
 P......Page 354
 Q......Page 355
 S......Page 356
 T......Page 357
 W......Page 358