Traction and Convergence

It's very 'interesting' the way the Universe works.

An article I'd had published 4.5 years ago was recently cited by a prospective client as one source of why they called today.

By itself that wouldn't be any big deal. However, coming on the heals of SEPG and other exposure (in part due to this blog) of the Agile CMMI concepts, makes one wonder about timing.

Clearly, the idea/need is catching on. One comment made by the caller, "...you used 'Agile' and 'CMMI' in the same sentence..." Something else she said was that she'd already interviewed some developers at the company. Their response was refreshing if not surprising: they were eager and enthusiastic about the idea of bringing more discipline into their space. Although they (claim to) use Scrum, the developers and team leads felt that CMMI would improve some areas they found needed more attention.

In any case, I hope things go forward with them so I can update what I find once I get there and maybe start working with them. It sounds like a really interesting place.

ON ANOTHER FRONT...

One of my clients did something really interesting. Background: They are using Scrum. They created User Stories and put them into a template for every Sprint that basically puts CMMI and other management-related tasks into every project. This ensures that certain time-consuming work isn't lost in the noise or consumed in unproductive time. They're making sure that the Backlog includes time to effectively follow their own processes (CMMI or otherwise) and produce the necessary materials (including setting up and use of their Scrum tool). I thought it was pretty neat.

It's quite a step forward in thinking -- really taking to heart the idea that the best, most unobtrusive yet disciplined processes are the ones that are built right into everyday work. And, one way to do that is to exploit existing tools. Together with portal technology, this client is really maximizing their bringing process to the developers without having the developers to figure out how to do their real work *and* "follow the process" at the same time.