the agile scampi -...

The Agile SCAMPI Taming the Savage Beast

Jeff Dalton, President Broadsword, an SEI Partner SCAMPI Lead Appraiser CMMI Instructor Agile Envangelist ScrumMaster

SCAMPI and CMMI are registered trademarks of Carnegie Mellon University All materials copyright © 2011 Broadsword Solutions Corporation unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

EPISODE X: Return of Sanity

Ruled by the the galactically-feared

Satrap Comudus Aurelius Marcus Ptolemy . . .

uhhh . . . the Immaculate . . . yea that’s it

His Minions from the outer-rim planets of Haze

Enforced his evil, but misunderstood, laws

Claiming that “Some Guy at the SEI Says So”

His subjects worked the mines for evidence

Tired of manufacturing evidence they pleaded

For sanity, shorter hours, and better snacks

“There must be a better way!”

“I  take  it  the  odds  are  against  us  and  the  situa1on  is  grim”  

Here comes your Appraisal!

“Sounds  like  fun!”  

“FUN? Seriously?” - Appraisal team members

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For the latest version of this presentation please email:

info@broadswordsolutions.com www.broadswordsolutions.com/resources

Jeff Dalton “Ask The CMMI Appraiser”

(a.k.a “the guy with no flyin’ monkeys”)

•  We  want  a  Hat!  

•  C’mon,  gives  us  a  hat!  

Hey Jeff! Give us a hat!

What is this thing . . . called SCAMPI?

Standard

Process

CMMI

Appraisal

Method for

Improvement

Findings, Recom

mendations

Actual Practice

Appraisal Requirements

Organizational Process Suite

Appraisal Team

Organization/Projects

CMMI +

MDD

Unlike  CMMI,  SCAMPI  is  a  Process,  not  a  Process  Model.    So,  it  is  a  “HOW-­‐TO”  and  a  “WHAT-­‐TO”    But  it  is  not  a  “WHY-­‐TO”    Mature,  Agile  organiza1on’s  strive  to  understand  the  “WHY!”      *    We  will  not  be  focusing  on  all  of  SCAMPI  today  .  .  .  Just  some  prac1cal  techniques  for  making  it  more  agile  and  useful.  

What is this thing . . . called SCAMPI*?

But what is it really? Is it an Audit?

One  1me  I  followed  a  Lead  Appraiser  that  insisted  on  seeing  a    work  product  for  each  Prac1ce  .  .  .    Each  SUB  Prac1ce!    Ahhhhhh!  

Secret  Projects  

ATM’s  worked  12-­‐14  hour  days  all  week!  

It  drove  all  the  wrong  behaviors,  wasted  money,  and  made  them  hate  CMMI!  

But what is it really? Is it an Exam?

I  followed  another  Lead  Appraiser  that  tested  each  prac11oner  by  having  them  recite  the  Generic  Prac1ces…    Backwards!    Ouch!  

Talk about looking for data in all the wrong places!

It’s really about LEARNING about ourselves

“Wow! We Planned and that project turned out to be faster! AWWWESOME!”

Hmmmm…..Agile is about Learning too…

Fail  Fast    Fail  Early    Incremental    Itera1ve    Collaborate    Learn  and  improve  ourselves  

Scrum, XP, Spiral, and Crystal are techniques that attempt to support these principles. But AGILE is a “way of life,” not a method. It’s about the way work gets done So why not SCAMPI?

Turns out there’s some Science here

When neurons in the auditory cortex hear something new, they go into overdrive and trigger an overdose of Dopamine . . . Leading to SCHITZOPHRENIA The Association Cortex in your brain needs to incrementally interpret new ideas

When exposed to new information our brain desperately try to make sense of it

SCAMPI should be a Time-Boxed Event

They don’t do this for a living, nor should they! A structured event for learning about themselves Engineers will keep searching and analyzing Teams need help focusing

We learn all we can in the time we’ve allotted. Then Pencils Down!

Strive for “Stuctured Introspection”

Decide what you want to learn Decide how you want to learn it Learn a little Have introspective conversations Learn some more Talk to people to learn more Iterate through a structured response Share it with your peers Back to work!

“Filling out PIIDs is not on our “Bucket List!” Neither is making the Lead Appraiser happy Every reason we use SCAMPI should be focused on learning. If you focus on learning you’ll most likely get your name in PARS!

Know thy Lead Appraiser. . . Months before!

Teacher Coach Leader Peacemaker Psycho-analyst Consensus Builder Comedian Evangelist Scrum Master-ish

This is in addition to the “price-of-admission” experience, training, testing, observations, and certifications. Notice that “Deity,” “Ratings Fairy,” “unreasonable jerk” and “The Decider,” is not on this list!

Some techniques for making Appraisals simpler and more Agile

R1: Selecting Team Members

In addition to the pre-requisites in the MDD, it might be easier to tell you what we don’t want: People who are free most of the time Those who are incapable of trusting their teammates People you cannot collaborate freely People who always insist on being right - or are bullies People who think they get to approve everything through resistance

Guess that leaves my mother-in-law out….

R1: Prepare Teams for action in advance Negotiate Team Agreements together Create self-organizing cross-functional Teams Organize around projects/groups, not around Process Areas Become experts at one or more projects/groups Incrementally Train Team (Start early, the “SCAMPI Dump” doesn’t work!) Teams are autonomous units that make decisions and characterize practices Self-subscribe to daily workload Attend daily standups and project “Road Shows.”

R1: SCAMPI and the Daily Standup

Inter-­‐team  collabora6on  makes  self-­‐organiza6on  possible      What  do  we  have?    What  do  we  need?    Where  do  we  get  it?    How  is  the  game  being  played?        Are  we  playing  posi1ons?    How  are  the  teams  playing  together?    How  can  we  play  it  be\er?  

R2: Offsite Data Collection – 3 Iterations

Iteration 1

Crossword Puzzle

Iteration 2

Spike

Iteration 3

Lock

5 Days 5 Days 5 Days

Products:

•  First Pass of PIID Worksheet

•  List of Data Needed

•  List of People to Talk To

•  Statement of Conclusions

Products:

•  Analysis of New Data

•  List of Data Needed

•  List of People to Talk to

•  Statement of Conclusions

Products:

•  All available evidence reviewed

•  Practices characterized

•  Open Practices identified

•  Questions that need to be asked for the onsite

•  Project Road Show •  Project Survey •  Project Presentation

Retrospective and R

ELEASE

15 Day Release Cycle

Mini-­‐Teams  work  2  hours  per  day  (5%)  for  three  itera1ons  

R3: Onsite Data Collection – 3 Iterations

Iteration 1

“20 Questions”

Iteration 2

Project Focus

Iteration 3

Socrates

1 Day 2-3 Days 1-2 Days

Products:

•  Crowd-Source the data

•  Facilitated by a mini-team member

•  “20- Questions Game”

•  People are more engaged if you throw chocolate at them

•  The are “FAR” Groups

•  Non-CMMI questions

Products:

•  Each Mini-team interviews their project teams to gather additional data

•  Lead Appraiser moves between as appropriate

•  “Free” team members begin analyzing and characterizing new data.

Products:

•  Mini-Teams justify their findings using Socratic Method

•  Any Team members( and LA) can challenge

•  “Show me”

•  Robust sampling of evidence

•  Aggregate in Real-Time

Retrospective and R

ELEASE

4-6 Day Release Cycle

R3: Preparing Findings – Three Iterations

Iteration 1

Spike

Iteration 2

Dig-in

Iteration 3

Refine

1-2 hours 3-4 hours 2-3 hours

Products:

•  Brainstorm bulleted list

•  Strengths and weaknesses

•  Weakness come directly from your tools

•  Strengths come from the team

•  Take a break!

Products:

•  Iterate through and cull the list

•  Mini-teams get assigned sections

•  Work to complete formal findings statements in mini-team

•  Take a break!

Products:

•  Consolidate findings

•  Review one-time as a team

•  Wordsmith if you must

•  Take a Break!

•  Final proof-read

•  Ready for presentation

Retrospective and R

ELEASE

1 Day Release Cycle

This is the good stuff! But to avoid “Corporate A.D.D.” think in Iterations.

What Went Well? The Training Planning Interviews

What Would We Do Differently?

We would start gathering data

earlier

We would have a larger team

What Still Puzzles Us?

The Sampling in

SCAMPI v1.3

PI v. LI when we Aggregate

characterizations

What the PAB does

R3: Agile SCAMPI – Retrospective

We hold a Retrospective after ever Release . . . So we learn to be better!

Focus on Learning – not Levels!

Now that we’re mature can I borrow the car?

What? This wasn’t enough for you?

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