Motivating Strategic Practice Development Using CMM

IST 617 Assignment 3 – Student Choice #1 Oct 25, 2010 Choice #3: Design a Motivational Information Innovation

Motivating Strategic Practice Development with a Capability Maturity Model Approach

Leo de Sousa

Abstract This paper describes the use of a motivational information model (Capability Maturity Model -

CMM) as an innovative way to help plan, mature, assess and motivate the creation of a process.

Topics covered are (a) Background (including Definitions), (b), Description of the Model, (c)

Construction of the Model, (d) Applicability of the Model and (e) Discussion of Motivational

Theories that support the model. The use of this model has proved to be effective in several

disciplines and organizations. After reading this paper, the reader should be able to create and

use a “Strategic Practice Capability Maturity Model” in their organizations to plan, assess and

motivate practitioners to develop a strategic practice.

Definitions Capability Maturity Model (CMM): CMM was developed by the SEI at Carnegie Mellon

University in Pittsburgh http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmm/. A Five Level Model to guide and assess

the maturity of a process.

Strategic Practice (SP): a best practice discipline that can be applied horizontally across an

organization. Examples: Project Management, IT Security, Enterprise Architecture, Risk

Management, Business Continuity, Performance Management, Facility and Space Planning,

Strategic Planning, etc

http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmm/


Strategic Practitioner: a person designated to build, grow and promote a Strategic Practice like

Project Management, IT Security, Enterprise Architecture, Risk Management, Business

Continuity, Performance Management, Facility and Space Planning, Strategic Planning, etc

Background In April 2005, I was tasked to create an Enterprise Architecture strategic practice at the British

Columbia Institute of Technology. We just reorganized our Information Technology Services

department and created a Strategic Practices team. The mission of the Strategic Practice team

was to deliver horizontal best practice services like Project Management, IT Security, Business

Analysis and Enterprise Architecture. At the suggestion of my Associate Director, Dave

Cresswell, I investigated the possibility of using the Carnegie Mellon University Software

Engineering Institute Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) methodology (see

http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/index.cfm). Capability Maturity Model Integration is:

“… a process improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential

elements of effective processes that ultimately improve their performance. CMMI can be

used to guide process improvement across a project, a division, or an entire organization.

It helps integrate traditionally separate organizational functions, set process improvement

goals and priorities, provide guidance for quality processes, and provide a point of

reference for appraising current processes.”

Since we did not have an existing Enterprise Architecture (EA) practice, I chose to take the

model and adapt it to create a plan for building the EA practice. It took many iterations and

consultation with colleagues and senior IT leadership to be able to publish the first EA CMM


plan. The end result of this collaborative process was the creation of a CMM plan for Enterprise

Architecture. I use the CMM to grow and mature our EA practice. The success of this approach

led us to apply it to help other Strategic Practitioners to build CMMs for Project Management,

Business Analysis and IT Security. I began a blog in 2007 called Enterprise Architecture in

Higher Education (http://leodesousa.ca) and wrote about our work with Capability Maturity

Models in Enterprise Architecture. You can find my posts at http://leodesousa.ca/?s=cmm.

These CMM posts are the most popular from readers and requests for templates on my blog.

Forrester.com analyst Gene Leganza interviewed me in 2009 and wrote a blog post about the

value of our approach - http://blogs.forrester.com/gene_leganza/09-09-10-

babies_bath_water_and_enterprise_architecture_maturity_models. Over the past few years, I

have sent copies of our templates to over 100 people from around the globe to review and use in

their organizations.

A surprising side effect of this artefact is its motivational properties for the strategic practitioner.

The CMM acts as a “project/program plan” or “roadmap” to progress to a higher level of practice

maturity. I found exploring a new practice, especially one that I really knew nothing about, a bit

overwhelming. When I though more about it, the capability of Enterprise Architecture to impact

our entire organization added more stress to ensure we did this right. Taking a disciplined and

collaborative approach to develop the CMM made a significant increased my comfort and

competence level and decreased my stress level. Interestingly, this course is my first serious

exposure to motivational theories and I now have a context to understand why the CMM

approach has been so successful. As I read Edward Deci’s book “Why We Do What We Do”, I

found much of what he explores in Part One “The Importance of Autonomy and Competence”

directly related to the successes we encountered by taking a Capability Maturity Model

http://leodesousa.ca/?s=cmm

http://blogs.forrester.com/gene_leganza/09-09-10-babies_bath_water_and_enterprise_architecture_maturity_models

http://blogs.forrester.com/gene_leganza/09-09-10-babies_bath_water_and_enterprise_architecture_maturity_models


approach. Specifically, Deci’s chapters on the need for Personal Autonomy, and Engaging the

World with a Sense of Competence confirm our approach to building and using the Capability

Maturity Model. An article by Tosti and O’Brien on the Top Ten On-the-Job Reinforcers and

Mumford’s Needs for Job Satisfaction also support the use of the Strategic Practice CMM.

Description of the Model The Capability Maturity Model can be seen as a holistic approach to understand the maturity of a

process or practice. The model has 5 levels of maturity starting at Level 1 - Initial and maturing

to the highest level, Level 5 - Optimized. (See Figure 1)

Figure 1: Generic CMM Model

© 2007 BCIT IT Services

CMM – Capability Maturity Models

Val

ue

Time

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level #

Descript.

Attributes• General

awareness of discipline &/ormethods

• Some early &isolatedattemps

Level 1 + ……

• Definition of semantics andprocesstargets

• Where youwant to be

Level 2 + ……

• Processes aretested, tuned,and systemized

• Systemicapproach to discipline &/ormethodology

Level 3 + ……

• Integrated intobroader areasof practice

• Recognized opportunitiesto applydiscipline &/ormethodology

Level 4 + ……

• Discipline is optimized for effectivenessand efficacy

• Consistent application of Best Practices

• Operates as a“Centre of Excellence”

ProcessOptimized

ProcessManaged

ProcessRepeatable

ProcessDefined

InitialAwareness

Capability Maturity Model Levels

• Level 5: Optimizing - Continuously targeting improvements required to meet business objectives


• Level 4: Quantitatively Managed - Predictable results, knowledge of factors causing variance and reuse

• Level 3: Defined - Meeting cost and functionality targets as well as improved quality

• Level 2: Repeatable - Meeting schedule and reduced turnover resulting from less overtime

• Level 1: Initial - No benefits: Inconsistency, schedule and budget overruns, and defective applications

Construction of the Model Our approach to building the model allows for the strategic practitioner to develop and

communicate their approach. This approach develops the strategic practitioner’s personal

autonomy and is in alignment with deCharms (Deci p.30) – people strive for personal causation;

to be the origin of their own behaviour. There are 8 steps to build a strategic practice capability

maturity model (CMM):

1. Identify and define 5 stages of maturity for the practice

• Process Levels:

• Level 1=Informal

• Level 2=Development

• Level 3=Defined

• Level 4=Managed

• Level 5=Optimized

2. List Attributes that describe each maturity level

3. Develop Attribute Descriptions for further clarification of what the outcomes are


4. Review with stakeholders particularly management, peers and client community to

confirm that the roadmap described for maturing the practice meets expectations (see

Figure 2)

5. Create a spreadsheet to record the CMM process levels, attributes and descriptions (see

Figure 3)

6. Evaluate and score each Attribute within each process level

• I used a simple scale of: 0 = not started, 0.5 = underway, 1 = complete

7. Total scores for each level to determine CMM level and total EA Maturity score

8. Publish and review regularly (annually at a minimum)

Figure 2: Completed Enterprise Architecture CMM Model


CMM – Enterprise Architecture

Time

Val

ue

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

EA ProcessOptimized

EA ProcessManaged

EA ProcessDefined

EA ProcessDevelopment

EA ProcessInformal

• EA ad hoc • EA docs & stds

created locally• Tech Reqmts

determinestrategy

• No IT ServiceCulture

Level 1 + ……• Implements

Zachman• EA Guiding

Principles• EA Roles • Explicit links

to BCITstrategy

• EA ArtifactDevelopment

• EA DocsCentralized

Level 2 + ……• EA Guiding

PrinciplesPublished

• EA Roles Integ.• EA Process

Communicate• EA Manages

Artifacts• Senior Mgmt

support and endorse EA

• Explicit EAgovernancefor BCIT IT purchasesbased on stds

Level 3 + ……• EA GP & Stdsrecognizedinstitutionally

• BCIT Capital Plan adjustedbased on EA

• Senior Mgmtinvolved in EA review

• Domain Arch.Manage docs

• Explicitgovernancefor managingIT purchasevariances

• All planned ITpurchasesgoverned byEA standards

Level 4 + ……• EA integrated

in BCIT • EA Standards

& Waiversimprove EA

• EA metrics supportevery decisionmaker at BCIT

• Explicit governance ofIT purchasesusing EA Stds& Waivers

• TechnologyInvestmentsOptimized with EA

Attributes

Descript.

Level #


Figure 3: Enterprise Architecture CMM in MS Excel

Applicability of the Model Now that the model is built, we will explore its applicability. As a reminder the Strategic

Practice CMM:

• Describes the maturity of a process

• Creates a roadmap for maturing a process

• Communicates a plan to clients of the process

• Motivates the strategic practitioner


Using the CMM as a roadmap to mature a process answers the question “What should I do

next?” It also provides guidance to the strategic practitioner about where to focus their efforts

“Where should I focus next?” The tool can be used as a performance development tool by

managers of the strategic practitioners to help support and develop their careers.

Describes the maturity of a process

• Introducing a new strategic practice requires a plan and a roadmap

• Strategic Practitioner needs a way to communicate their process to stakeholders

• Published the Strategic Practice CMM within a department and to the client community

Measurement Attributes

• Easy to assess if complete or not

• Simple scoring system – no weighting for more complex attributes

• Updated as attributes are complete – clearly shows progress which is a positive

motivation factor

• Reviewed annually to account for changes in strategy

Communication

• The CMM is the roadmap for the process maturation

• Clients (internally and externally) can see where the practice is going and provide

feedback (hopefully constructive) to the strategic practitioner

Motivation

• The CMM is clear and provides the strategic practitioner with a roadmap to mature their

practice


• The CMM is reviewed annually (at a minimum) so that strategic practitioner can

celebrate successes of completed attributes in a level.

• Ideally, when the strategic practitioner completes an attribute, they should update their

CMM. This scoring approach tangibly demonstrates the competence of the strategic

practitioner

• If the strategic practitioner becomes overwhelmed with all the work they need to do, a

manager can refer them back to their CMM roadmap as the agreed upon action plan and

this reduces the stress on the strategic practitioner

Measuring Value and Assessing Maturity

The next set of steps will help the strategic practitioner measure the maturity and value delivered

by their Strategic Practice. The example used below is the development of an Enterprise

Architecture practice. You will see all 5 levels with their attributes. Completed attributes are

shaded green, underway attributes are shaded yellow and planned attributes have no shading.


Figure 4: Measuring the Value – Level 1


Measuring the Value – Level 1

Level 1 – EA Process Informal

EA ad hoc for architecture domainsArchitecture planning/implementation donein silos

EA documents and standards created locallyLack of an integrated architecture,

standardized

Technology requirements determineimplementation strategy

Technology decisions are based on existingvendor requirements

Lack of IT Service Culture Firefighting or reactive mode

Business needs do not drive technologyadoption Minimal links to business strategy

Possible Score:5 Actual Score:5




Level 2 – EA Process Development

Adopt EA Framework Selected Zachman Framework

EA Guiding Principles and Standards Developed

Create EA guiding principles for making technology decisions

EA roles and responsibilities developed

Articulated roles in various governance groups and responsibilities for architecture changes

Explicit links to BCIT Strategy IT Projects support a strategic initiative

EA Artifact DevelopmentCreate and publish documents and standards

based on guiding principles

EA documents centralizedCreated a web place with doc repository and

blog

Possible Score: 6 Actual Score: 6




Measuring the Value – Level 3Level 3 – EA Process Defined

EA Guiding Principles and Standards PublishedPublish EA guiding principles for making technology decisions

EA roles integrated into IT Services processes EA Approval in PM and ChgM

EA Process Communicated Make EA presentations internally and externally

Enterprise Architect Manages DocumentsEnterprise Architect responsible for evolving documents

Senior Mgmt support and endorse EA Senior Mgmt make decisions using EA principles

Explicit EA governance for IT Services technology purchases based on standards

IT Services will ensure technology purchases from their budget meet EA standards

Define and Capture EA Metrics Publish current EA metrics and identify target metrics

Build EA Documents Domain Architects develop current state documents

Possible Score: 8 Actual Score: 5.5




Level 4 – EA Process Managed

EA Guiding Principles and Standards Embedded into Institutional Culture

Clients leverage EA documents to plan and implement technology

BCIT Capital Plan adjusted based on EA principles Operational Planning and Budget Requests rely on EA

Senior Mgmt understand and use EASenior Mgmt present institutional strategy (internal & external) using EA

Domain Architects Manage Documents Domain Architects responsible for currency of documents

Deviations from EA Standards require an Approved WaiverIT Services Mgmt must approve a deviation from EA standards

Explicit EA governance for all BCIT technology purchases based on standards

IT Services will ensure BCIT technology purchases meet EA standards

Conduct EA Metric Gap Analysis Generate projects that move EA to target metric






Level 5 – EA Process Optimized

EA integrated into the education, research and business of BCIT EA Documents used by every decision maker

Explicit governance of technology purchases using EA standards & waivers

Senior Mgmt must approve a deviation from EA standards

EA metrics are the authoritative source to improve BCIT using technology

Senior Mgmt use EA dashboard to understand current and projected technology needs

EA drives Strategic and Operational Budget Planning

Budgets are approved based on EA identified needs instead of a bidding process

Technology investments optimized by adhering to Institutional EA process

No unplanned technology investments made at BCIT



Now that each level has been scored a summary of the process maturity can be communicated.

Figure 9: Measuring the Value – Summary


Measuring the Value – Where are we?

EnterpriseArchitectureCMM Summary 1 2 3 4 5 T

ota

l

To

tal

as of March 2008 Pla

n

Act

ual

Pla

n

Act

ual

Pla

n

Act

ual

Pla

n

Act

ual

Pla

n

Act

ual

Pla

n

Act

ual

EnterpriseArchitecture 5 5 6 6 8 5.5 7 1.5 5 0.5 31 18.5


Examples of Other Strategic Practice Capability Maturity Models – Figures 10-12


CMM – Project Management

Time

Val

ue

Level #

Descript.

Attributes

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5

CentreOf

Excellence

ProjectControl

ResourceControl

ProcessControl

ProjectGuidance

• Identifies and developstemplates & processes

• Recommendsmetrics

• Investigates best practices

• Proposes governance &structure

Level 1 + ……• Implements processes

• Develops andprovides

training to staff• Managesprocesses

• Providesguidance todept. PM’s

• Reviewsprocess effect-iveness and

adjusts/adapts

Level 2 + ……• Small Team offocused PM’s

• PM’s allocatedout to resourceprojects

• Requires somematrix mgnt

• Integrates central PM’swith other departmental PM’s for crosstraining

• Increases standardizationin process & Methodology

Level 3 + ……• Formalize the Office of PM

• PMO is a Sr.member of the department

• Participates instrategic planning

• Has tactical &strategicplanning staffas part of portfolio

• Involved in making projectselections as part of the governance ofIT.

Level 4 + ……• Continuouslyseeking improvements

• Take process& methodologyout to other areas of the institute

• Participates atan Institutionallevel

• Adds value to other Institutedepartmentsby sharing processes and methodology

• Finds ways toapply skills to strategic valueof BCIT

FutureValueSPCMMMature



CMM – Business Architecture

Time

Val

ue


Descript.

Attributes

BA ProcessOptimized

BA ProcessManaged

BA ProcessRepeatable

BA ProcessDefined

BA ProcessInitial

Awareness

• BA investigatead hoc characteristics

• BA documentsand models current process

• support client base within current capacityand availableinfrastructure

Level 1 + ……• Implements BAframework

• Identify proposed BAprocess

• BA document“what is or has worked in the past”

• ID root causes• Prepare “Bus-iness require-ments” doc’nt.

Level 2 + ……• BA Processes communicated

• Solutiondevelopment

• BA documentsvision & scope

• Model the As-Isstate

• BA collaborateswith client and PM to set priority & effort

• BA creates a ‘quantified’ process impr’vtarget state.

Level 3 + ……• BA creates & documents ‘usecases’

• BA baseline &metricsdocumented

• BA facilitatesmodeling future state with clients

• PM directly involved in BA review

• BA capturesreq. policies &procedures

• BA identifies resource &training needs

Level 4 + ……• BA innovates

and pro-actively seeks process imprv.

• BA & processimprovement becomeinherent in all business design

• BA method’gycontinuouslyimproved

• BA & ProcessImprovement metrics std’zedand measured at an orgn’l level



CMM – IT Security

Time

Val

ue


Descript.

Attributes

Sec ProcessProactive

Sec ProcessPreventative

Sec ProcessReactive

Sec ProcessMonitoring

Sec ProcessNot

Coordinated

• Sec Risks notconsidered

• No Awarenessof sec incidents

• No Coord. Security Plan

• Lack of policies• No training plan

Level 1 + ……• App Owners

set security• System based

monitoring• Create Base

Network Arch• Sec Docs

stored locally• Training as

Requested

Level 2 + ……• Reactive RiskAssessment

• Common Log& Forensics

• NW Arch chgsafter incident

• Reactive ProcCreation

• Reactive Training

Level 3 + ……• Perform Vuln.

Assessments• ITS Incident

Response Team• Formal Ent.

Security Arch• Coord policy,

procs & stds• Create Security

Website &Presentations

Level 4 + ……• BCIT Sec Risks Mitigated

• BCIT IncidentResponse Team

• BCIT SecurityArchitectureImplemented

• TrainingBCIT inbest securitypractices proactively



Measuring the Value of a Team of Strategic Practitioners

We used this cumulative scoresheet to demonstrate the combined maturity of all our Strategic

Practices and therefore the maturity of our Strategic Practice group to bring value to our

organization.

Figure 13: Measuring the Value – Summary of Several Strategic Practices


Measuring the Value


Strategic Practices CMM Summary 1 2 3 4 5 Total

as of March 2007 Plan Actual Plan Actual Plan Actual Plan Actual Plan Actual Plan Actual

Business Architecture 5 5 4 2.5 8 4.5 6 2.5 4 0 27 14.5

Business Continuity

Enterprise Architecture 5 5 6 6 8 5.5 7 1 5 0.5 31 18

Project Management

Security 5 5 5 5 5 4.5 5 2.5 5 0 25 17

Total 15 15 15 13.5 21 14.5 18 6 14 0.5 83 49.5

Discussion of Motivational Theories There are several motivational theories that support the use of this model to help motivate

strategic practitioners to create and develop their strategic practices. As I read Edward Deci’s

book “Why We Do What We Do”, I found much of what he explores in Part One “The

Importance of Autonomy and Competence” directly related to the successes we encountered by


taking a Capability Maturity Model approach. Specifically, Deci’s chapters on the need for

Personal Autonomy and Engaging the World with a Sense of Competence confirm our approach

to building and using the Capability Maturity Model. Next, I will use Tosti and O’Brien’s Ten

Types of Job Reinforcers Taxonomy to analyze the Strategic Practice Capability Maturity

Model. Finally, I will use Mumford’s Needs to demonstrate why the Strategic Practice

Capability Maturity Model works as a motivational model.

Personal Autonomy

Deci’s book, chapter 3 contains many ideas about personal autonomy. I found that several ideas

directly relate to the success of using a Capability Maturity Model approach. Deci writes about

the intrinsic need for people to feel like they have some control on the work they do. (Deci p.30)

My manager asked me to create and communicate a CMM for Enterprise Architecture. This

allowed me to be in control of the work I was assigned to and made it feel like it was my own.

Intrinsic motivation and autonomy are esteem needs as defined by Maslow and can be as strong

as Maslow’s physiological needs. Giving people a choice on how to accomplish a goal makes all

the difference in their feelings of autonomy and motivation. (Deci p.34) The final idea in the

chapter explores Autonomy support which is the opposite of control. This means taking the

person’s perspective by encouraging self initiation, experimentation and responsibility. (Deci

p.42) By encouraging a collaborative process for building the CMM, we respect the

contributions of individuals to a common goal. deCharms’ model of “plan-choose-act-take

responsibility” fits very well with our approach of using the Strategic Practice CMM and directly

supports personal causation. (Deci p.30)


Sense of Competence

In chapter 5 of Deci’s book, he explores the theme of competence. He provides a term that is

new to me – instrumentalities. Deci defines instrumentalities as linkages between people’s

behavior and their desired outcomes. (Deci p.57) By putting linkages into the system of work,

instrumentalities can motivate people’s achievement. The Capability Maturity Model is such an

instrumentality. It provides a clear linkage of what the Strategic Practitioner must accomplish in

order to mature the practice they are tasked to implement. This is not the full picture because

instrumentalities are not enough to ensure a high level of productive involvement. (Dec p.63)

People need to have a level of confidence in their skills in order to be successful. Deci

references the work of James Connell and Ellen Skinner; people need to have both the strategies

and capacities for attaining desired outcomes. (Deci p.64) The Capability Maturity Model

provides both strategies and capacities for the Strategic Practitioner. When working on a multi-

year process to develop and implement a strategic practice, it is very easy to lose focus on the

end goals. I use the model to re-focus my efforts in such situations for myself and other strategic

practitioners. I have a mantra I use with my team when they come to me for advice about

advancing their practice – “Look at your CMM”. It is amazing the difference in the person’s

attitude and motivation after we sit together and review their accomplishments with the CMM.

We start with what they have completed and turn that cell green in the model. Next we look at

what is underway and turn those cells yellow. Now instead of looking at black and white model,

there is a color coded indication of progress and accomplishment. Robert White wrote about

“The Concept of Competence”. He argues that the people desire to feel competent in their

environment and should be thought of as a fundamental human need. (Deci p.65). By building

their Strategic Practice CMM, confirming its contents with their manager and peers, the Strategic


Practitioner develops a strong sense of the challenges they face and their capability to

competently tackle them.

Tosti and O’Brien – Ten Types of On the Job Reinforcers

Tosti and O’Brien published a short article in the NSPI Journal in 1978 listing a taxonomy of

On-the-Job Reinforcers. The table below describes each reinforcer and how the Strategic

Practice CMM relates to it.

Analysis of Strategic Practice CMM using Tosti and O’Brien (1978)

Reinforcer Type Reinforcer Description Strategic Practice CMM - Benefits Recognition Praise, awards, certification of

accomplishment, formal public acknowledgement, etc

Model can be published for management, peers and customers to see accomplishments

Tangible Rewards Cash bonuses, commissions profit sharing, etc

Strategic Practitioner can be measured on the achievements recorded in the CMM and depending on the organization receive rewards. In our organization, an intermediate systems analyst used the CMM as evidence of working at a senior level and had their job reclassified to a senior level with increased pay.

Job Tasks Assignment of new duties, vertical redesign of present job, opportunity for advanced training, etc

The Strategic Practice CMM is fundamentally a model to help build a new practice. It inherently captures the activities required to implement a new practice.

Job Responsibilities Opportunity for more self management, more power to decide/implement, more frequent participation in decision making, given the opportunity to select goals and targets, etc

This is almost a perfect fit for the Strategic Practice CMM approach. Please referring to the building the model section of this paper.

Status Indicators Invitation to “high level” meetings, a new title, placed in a special category, etc

Another good fit. I wrote another blog post on what a Strategic Practitioner is http://leodesousa.ca/2010/02/enterprise-architects-what-attributes-do-you-look-for/

Incentive Feedback Increased knowledge of quantitative outputs, graphs of progress, receiving knowledge of individual performance, etc

The Strategic Practice CMM directly provided this reinforcer by providing a method to measure and show value. Refer to the Measuring Value section of this paper.


Personal Activities Doing “screw off” behaviors at work, etc

Not applicable to the Strategic Practice CMM

Social Activities Talking with fellow employees, “Shooting the breeze” with the boss, etc

The Strategic Practitioner can use the CMM as a discussion tool to gather feedback and communicate direction to colleagues and management.

Relief from Adversive Policies or Procedures

Exempt from time clocks, company policies, etc


Relief from Adversive Work Environment

Better lighting, office, location etc


Mumford’s Needs for Job Satisfaction

Mumford (1991) wrote about five employee needs (Chen 2010):

• Knowledge - need to fully use skills and learn new things;

• Psychological - need for recognition, status, responsibility, and advancement;

• Support/control/efficiency - need for support staff, a fair pay structure, and

encouragement from supervisors;

• Task - need to use a variety of skills, have autonomy, and get feedback;

• Ethical/moral, need for fair treatment and communication about important decisions

The Strategic Practice Capability Maturity Model addresses 4 of Mumford’s Needs. The model

does not address ethical and moral needs although it does contribute to communication about

important decisions. The task need is addressed by allowing the Strategic Practitioner to build

their model and articulate the attributes of each level of maturity. This implies the Strategic

Practitioner has the autonomy to use a variety of skills and techniques. The support need is

satisfied by using the Strategic Practice CMM to communicate the direction (e.g. roadmap) for

the maturation of a practice with colleagues and management. The psychological need can be

fulfilled by using the model to show progress towards a goal by measuring progress. Positive

progress provides a manager the option to reward and acknowledge the Strategic Practitioner.


Addressing the knowledge need is why we created the model. When a person is faced with

doing something new, particularly when the task is large and requires a long time to implement,

the Strategic Practice Capability Maturity Model provides a roadmap with incremental steps to

ensure success.

Conclusions We decided to adapt the Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute Capability Maturity

Model Integration methodology and used it to develop a plan and roadmap to mature the

creation of an Enterprise Architecture Strategic Practice at the British Columbia Institute of

Technology. In the years since we created this approach, it has been applied to other

Strategic Practices like Project Management, Business Architecture and IT Security. Based

on the comments and requests for more detailed information about our approach, we believe

this technique has broad applicability in many disciplines and organizations. A primary

contributor to the success of this approach is the motivational aspects of allowing a Strategic

practitioner to:

• Describe the maturity of their Strategic Practice using levels and attributes

• Plan and creates a roadmap for incrementally maturing a process

• Communicate a plan to management, colleagues and clients of the Strategic

Practice

• Motivates the Strategic Practitioner to develop and mature their Strategic Practice

by providing a vehicle for personal autonomy, sense of competence, on-the-job

reinforcers and a focus for job needs of knowledge, psychological, support and

tasks


References Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute (2010). Capability Maturity Model Integration. http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/ Chen, Gina Marie (2010). Mumford’s Needs. Motivation at a Glance. IST 617 Course Assignment, iSchool, Syracuse University de Sousa, Leo (2007). Enterprise Architecture in Higher Education. http://leodesousa.ca/?s=cmm Deci, Edward L. (1995). Why We Do What We Do: Understanding Self Motivation. Penguin Books Hodges, Charles B. (2004). Designing to Motivate: Motivational Techniques to Incorporate into E-Learning Experiences. The Journal of Interactive Online Learning. Volume 2, Number 3. http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/showissue.cfm?volID=2&IssueID=8 Leganza, Gene (2009). Babies, Bath Water, And Enterprise Architecture Maturity Models. Forrester.com. http://blogs.forrester.com/gene_leganza/09-09-10-babies_bath_water_and_enterprise_architecture_maturity_models Struebel, Ute. (2008). CMMi meets ITIL. Presented at the 2008 European SEPG https://bscw.sei.cmu.edu/pub/bscw.cgi/d689601/Streubel%20three%20cases%20ITIL%20and%20CMMI-SVC%20B.pdf

Sun, Rui and Shi, Jintao (2010). Research on Capability Maturity Model for Organizational Innovation Management: Focus on Intellectual Capital. http://www.seiofbluemountain.com/upload/product/200911/2007qyczhy3z3a3.pdf Tosti, Donald T. and O’Brien, Anne T. (1978). Ten Types of On-the-Job Reinforcers: A Taxonomy. National Society for Performance and Instruction Journal.

http://www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/

http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/showissue.cfm?volID=2&IssueID=8

http://www.seiofbluemountain.com/upload/product/200911/2007qyczhy3z3a3.pdf

Motivating Strategic Practice Development Using CMM

Business

strategic practice teamwas

strategic practice sp

level model

strategic planning

cmm plan

strategic practitioners

new practice

ea cmm