Maturity models can be a divisive topic. Used correctly, they set a path for an organization that has enough process and documentation to survive the varying competence of its leaders and employees. Used improperly, they become a cudgel to beat down employee morale and creativity.
My first exposure was to DOD's Capability Maturity Model circa 2000. At the time, CMM was all the rage. Indian companies were pushing for CMM level 5, and using their CMM rating to overcome the remoteness of their employees to US companies. Data suggested moving from one level to the next took 24 months. I succeeded in the challenge to shorten that to 18 months for the 30-person program I was on...from Level 2 to 3. Yippee.
Since then, CMM matured to include Capability tailoring. About a decade after my first use, I used that tailoring to create a framework that defined a sustainable program--any sustainable program. I combined a change management maturity framework and a tailored domain-specific framework. That program continues to use much of what we rolled out a decade earlier.
"Culture change takes ten years, and you are always in Year Five." I've waxed poetic about culture earlier in this blog. The culture is, and leadership pushes against its inertia to change it. That's why it takes a decade, and why you are always in the middle of the culture change. That's also why mediocre organizations benefit briefly from inspired leadership. Personalities move on, and the culture reverts to stasis. That typifies what CMM describes as Level 1-Ad Hoc. There are flashes of brilliance due to heroics, but no follow through to standardize brilliance.
What happened to all those companies that went to CMM-5? Within five years, they were out of business. Their process management became too expensive, and they priced themselves out of the market. I opine CMM-3 is the sweet spot, where all aspects of an organization are defined, documented, and followed. Individual heroics are replaced with repeatable brilliance. Interestingly, capability tailoring caps out at CMM-3.
I grew up believing that a parent's success is shown by how their grandchildren turn out. It means their kids turned out well, married suitable spouses who helped create a suitable family for the grandkids. Success as a manager can only be measured if the organization they transformed sustains that transformation years after they left. Otherwise, it's just heroics.
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Ben
In tenebra solus sto