Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed

Foreword by Arthur Pyster

It is hard to argue against being agile and equally hard to disdain having discipline. The challenge is finding the right mix of agility and discipline. Many organizations have made great strides in productivity, predictability, quality, and cost using CMM-based process improvement—an approach that fosters disciplined processes. I have helped dozens of organizations make those strides using the Software CMM, the Systems Engineering CMM, and most recently, the CMM Integration. When properly applied, CMM-based process improvement works well. Of course, I have also seen organizations use the CMM to create stifling processes. Any tool can be misused.

For the past six years, I have worked at the Federal Aviation Administration ...