Kanban Maturity Model KMM
Kanban Maturity Model KMM
Kanban Maturity Model KMM
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Frank Schultheiss
Capgemini
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All content following this page was uploaded by Frank Schultheiss on 11 February 2018.
2. December 2017
Translating the Kanban Maturity Model with “Maturity Model” would be pretty much
understatement. It is much more than that: a reference model. In fact, it’s a framework that
makes organizations more agile and adaptable. It provides a roadmap that gradually
enhances the evolutionary capacity of organizations, ensuring long-term survival. David J.
Anderson presented the new Kanban Maturity Model at the Lean Kanban conference
2017 and this article will analyze how it works.
Kanban in 3 sentences
Kanban consists of four principles and six practices that make organizations better in
evolutionary steps. The goal is to optimize the flow: the work to be done should flow better
through processes. If the work goes well, it will not get stuck. The results become
predictable and the duration from start to finish is shorter.
Examples of maturity models (Figure 2) are Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) or
SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability).
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The exact description of the specific levels creates a roadmap: it is possible to identify
which activities are necessary to reach the next level. Thus, the strength of the model is not
the assessment “Where do we stand?”, but the integrated roadmap “What we need to do to
reach the next level of maturity”.
The following illustration shows the levels of the KMM. At level 0, the above mentioned
abilities are virtually nonexistent. At the highest level 6, they are practiced to perfection.
Kanaban Practices
The table below (Figure 4) shows a detailed overview of the structure and elements of the
KMM:
The Core practices allow organization to fully meet the criteria for the corresponding
maturity level. The Transition practices can be introduced with little or no resistance when
an organization is willing to reach higher maturity. However, having in place these practices
only is not sufficient for achieving the maturity level.
As with skiing, where a certain sequence of practices leads to faster learning success: first
the snow plow and then turns, parallel swing, slalom, driving in the deep snow and only
then heli skiing.
As with this analogy, the KMM would fail to attempt the 6th level practices from the first
level immediately. Through the Transition Layer, the KMM provides guidance and action
options for the next steps to improve, which, in terms of difficulty, match the current
capabilities of the organization.
Fig. 5: Full Kanban Maturity Model KMM (Source: Anderson, D. 2017, Lean Kanban Inc.)
1. Fragil: Level 0 – 2
2. Stabil: Level 3
3. Robust: Level 4-5
4. Antifragil: Level 6
The following figure 6 shows the advantages of the levels of the KMM:
KMM in practice
In practice, the KMM works as follows: In the company, the way the teams work is
analyzed. Depending on which practices are used and what results are achieved, the
corresponding level is determined. The next step is to use the KMM to derive the practices
that will take the team or organization to the next level. The Kanban Maturity Model shows
on the one hand how the current skills can be assessed and on the other hand the concrete
next steps to get better.
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Improvement always means change. The KMM’s strength is in identifying the path to
successful change. For the Agile Innovation Framework, KMM is a kind of operating system
for continuous improvement.
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