1.4.1 Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

Abstract

Downsizing, and consolidation of previously independent companies, has produced a clash of cultures in many companies. The problem is exacerbated by "home-grown" product development cultures that have been around for decades and often fail to adequately integrate new disciplines such as software engineering and systems engineering.Over the years, the pace and complexity of technological development has increased. Mergers have brought together more companies with differing processes. New standards like the Software-Capability Maturity Model® (SW-CMM®) and Capability Maturity Model Integration® (CMMI®) have been introduced. All these changes have increased the need for developing and instituting new, integrated, and more repeatable engineering processes. Methods of introducing, and gaining acceptance of, these new processes are becoming very important to the continued competitiveness of many companies.At issue is how best to get a diverse workforce to work together to achieve extraordinary goals.Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (LMMFC), faced with integrating two former competitors, embarked in 1999 on a course to develop a common product development culture. A primary forcing function was the use of Carnegie Mellon University's Capability Maturity Model-Integration (CMMI®) standard. The resulting new processes are enabling employees to achieve higher goals --by increasing productivity, maximizing use of information, using proven simplified processes, increasing re-use, and decreasing re-work. Results to date indicate a "One Company, One Team" mentality is rapidly becoming the norm at LMMFC.