CMMI or Lean Six Sigma: Which Comes First?

By

The above results are phenomenal for first-time Class C Appraisals. Upon further investigation, all stakeholders agreed that the Six Sigma tools and ‘mindset’ had contributed greatly to such unparalleled results. Also documented were such shared characteristics as:

• All processes and procedures contained measurements, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement follow-up
• All organizational results exceeded the data published by the SEI benchmarking activities
• All levels of management and staff used the measurements on a daily basis

More interestingly, all three of these case studies involved organizations whose Lean Six Sigma training and focus had been strictly DMAIC. All three believe that their SEI CMMI results as well as the organizational measurements would have been significantly better if their Lean Six Sigma training had included the concepts in Design-For-Six-Sigma (Define-Measure-Analyze-Design-Verify, or DMADV), with more focus on understanding requirements and performance drivers versus the DMAIC ‘Fix and Improve’ approaches.

Summary

I am still a devout SEI CMMI advocate. It is unmatched at providing the ‘whats’ of software process improvement, project management and design. However, I am encouraged and impressed by the three cases investigated demonstrating the horsepower gained from a Lean Six Sigma approach and mindset. Another major factor was driven by Lean Six Sigma, namely ‘lean’. Too often, organizations that achieve SEI CMMI Levels 2 – 5 are dissatisfied with the bureaucracy and paperwork that has been created during the implementation of the CMMI requirements. While this is not the fault of the CMMI but rather the fault of the implementers, it often destroys the perceived value added by the CMMI. In these three cases studies, the inherent focus on ‘lean’ driven by Lean Six Sigma prevented the implementations from being to ‘fat’ and bureaucratic.

I suspect that Drs. Deming and Juran would be pleased to see the gains they enabled via the tools and cultures of quality.

About the Author: Karl D. Williams is a Principal Consultant for Six Sigma Advantage. He has trained over 17,000 people in CMM, CMMI, Six Sigma, and software skills. Karl was formerly a Director at Motorola and, more recently, a Senior Vice President of Process Design for Bank of America. He is a Master Black Belt, an SEI-authorized CMMI Trainer and Lead Assessor. He has performed over 160 CMM, CMMI, QSR, and customized assessments at over 100 organizations in 19 countries. He has published over 80 articles and authored a book entitled "Continuous Improvement & Reengineering…A Better Way". Karl can be reached at .

     Email This Article      Print This Article