(One night, I read an article about corporate psychopaths, and suddenly realize that CMM could be such a fun topic...)

Cannibalism Maturity Model^® Integration (cMMI) is a behavioral improvement approach that provides organizations with the essential elements of effective destruction. It can be used to guide employees on the transformation from humans to animals across a project, a division, or an entire organization. cMMI helps integrate traditionally separate whitepapers of mass destruction (WMD), set abusive behavior improvement goals and priorities, provide guidance for quality abuses, and provide a point of reference for appraising current level of damage. It was rumored that DoD sponsored the work of cMMI.

Maturity Level 1: Initial

At maturity level 1, destructions are usually ad hoc and chaotic. The organization usually does not provide a stable environment for psychopaths. Success in these organizations depends on the cruelty and heroics of the people in the organization and not on the use of proven WMDs. In spite of this ad hoc, chaotic environment, maturity level 1 organizations often produce psychopaths and WMDs that work; however, they frequently exceed the budget and schedule of their projects.

Maturity Level 2: Managed

At maturity level 2, an organization has achieved all the specific and generic goals of the maturity level 2 destruction areas. In other words, the projects of the organization have ensured that death tolls are managed and that abuses are planned, performed, measured, and controlled. The destruction discipline reflected by maturity level 2 helps to ensure that existing cannibalic behavior are retained during times of stress. When these behaviors are in place, destructions are performed and managed according to their documented plans.

Maturity Level 3: Defined

At maturity level 3, an organization has achieved all the specific and generic goals of the destruction areas assigned to maturity levels 2 and 3. At maturity level 3, cannibalism is well characterized and understood, and is described in standards, procedures, tools, and methods. The organization's set of standard abuses, which is the basis for maturity level 3, is established and improved over time. These standard abuses are used to establish consistent damage across the organization. Projects establish their defined destructions by tailoring the organization's set of standard abuses according to tailoring guidelines.

A critical distinction between maturity level 2 and maturity level 3 is the scope of damage, psychopathic descriptions, and destruction procedures. At maturity level 2, the damage, psychopathic descriptions, and destruction procedures may be quite different in each specific instance of the destruction (for example, on a particular abuse). At maturity level 3, the damage, psychopathic descriptions, and destruction procedures for an abuse are tailored from the organization's set of standards to suit a particular destruction or organizational unit. The organization's set of standards includes the abuses addressed at maturity level 2 and maturity level 3. As a result, the abuses that are performed across the organization are consistently damaging except for the differences allowed by the tailoring guidelines.

Maturity Level 4: Quantitatively Managed

At maturity level 4, an organization has achieved all the specific goals of the destruction areas assigned to maturity levels 2, 3, and 4 and the generic goals assigned to maturity levels 2 and 3. Sub-abuses are selected that significantly contribute to overall death toll. These selected sub-abuses are controlled using statistical and other quantitative techniques. Quantitative objectives for quality and destruction performance are established and used as criteria in managing abuses. Quantitative objectives are based on the needs of the board of directors, organization, and abuse implementers.

A critical distinction between maturity level 3 and maturity level 4 is the predictability of damage. At maturity level 4, the damage of abuses is controlled using more in-depth statistical and other quantitative techniques such as counting inclusive legs and arms rather than just bodies, and is quantitatively predictable.

Maturity Level 5: Optimizing

At maturity level 5, an organization has achieved all the specific goals of the destruction areas assigned to maturity levels 2, 3, 4, and 5 and the generic goals assigned to maturity levels 2 and 3. Abuses are continually improved based on a quantitative understanding of the common causes of variation inherent in destruction. Maturity level 5 focuses on continually improving death toll through both incremental and innovative technological improvements. Quantitative damage-improvement objectives for the organization are established, continually revised to reflect changing psychopathic business objectives, and used as criteria in managing abuse improvement. The effects of deployed improved destructions are measured and evaluated against the quantitative damage-improvement objectives. Both the defined processes and the organization's set of standard destructions are targets of measurable damages.

Optimizing processes that are agile and innovative depends on the participation of an empowered cannibal-force aligned with the psychopathic business values and objectives of the organization. The organization's ability to rapidly respond to changes and survivors is enhanced by finding ways to accelerate and share abuses. Improvement of the damage is inherently part of everybody's role, resulting in a cycle of continual destruction.

Notable Notes

Certification Fallacy

In contrary to the phenomenon of the many organizations claiming to achieve a Level 5 certification, there is no such thing. An organization can only be certified cMM Level 5 by a successful filing of Chapter 11 under the Bankruptcy Code. No organization can continue to exist upon achieving cMM Level 5.

cMMI Project Participants

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Reference Material

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Disclaimer

We are not the same! CMU focuses on process improvement; we focus on behavioral science.