QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

K A N B A N M A T U R I T Y M O D E L

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE

1ST AND THE 2ND EDITION OF THE BOOK?

The first Kanban Maturity Model book, issued in 2018, was the “beta” release. It has about 200 pages and

was mostly based on experience, work with clients and personal vision of the authors – David J. Anderson

and Teodora Bozheva. Even having their tremendous experience, they felt the need to test the concept of

the model. From the time when the 1st edition was issued, the authors spent 4 years refining, developing

and testing the model on the market.

The authors had two key feedback loops – the beta program, where Teodora worked with Consultants and

their clients; and the training programs, that Teodora and David didn`t stop to provide to their students.

That helped them to understand what was missing in the 1st edition of the book, what additional

guidance is needed to make the individual coaches successful and the organizations to get the benefit

out of KMM.

The KMM 1.2 features over 175 new illustrations, 8 infographics, and maps more than 150 specific

practices in a total of 28 chapters and appendices on over 500 pages.

HOW WAS THE
MODEL VALIDATED
WITH THE BETA
PROGRAM?

During the beta program 12

experienced Kanban coaches were

using the Model it in the organizations

they are working with. Teodora and her

team were collecting their experience

and observations. This insights were

used later in the book to better

describe the practices and the cultural

value, that are needed to successfully

run changes in business; to define

better the outcomes that organizations

observe and, the most important, to

identify the formula of success which

is now defined as an Evolutionary

Change Model.

The beta program ran for more than a year from April 2018 till September-

October 2019. The Model was tested in a very wide range of companies by

size and industry in different countries like US, India, Spain, Germany and

even Ukraine. In was applied in 2 American banks, large pharmaceutical

company, two tech. companies and several software development companies.

When the Model was applied in real life, it helped to see how it works. How

the culture can be developed through the practices and when what are the

benefits we are delivering, when it comes to reporting to the senior

management.
 WHAT`S NEW IN
THE 2ND
EDITION OF THE
KMM BOOK?

It is the whole new book with

tremendous amount of new

(addition) material. The authors

have completely rewritten the

Practices section. #KMM has a

very deep description of the

values that need to be

introduced in the organization

to succeed with agile initiatives

and transformations.

THERE IS A GUIDANCE ON HOW TO USE VALUES TO DRIVE SUCCESSFULLY THE

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES AND THE MOST IMPORTANT, AND HOW TO USE THE
PRACTICES TO STRENGTHEN THESE VALUES, SO THE CULTURE DOESN`T GO BACK
IN ORGANIZATIONS.

The 2nd edition includes an extensive guidance on defining and measuring

business outcomes, leading the organizations.

Readers will also find a lot of new insights on the human condition and

understanding empathy, including references to neuroscience and

architecture of the brain, and the sociology and the culture of organizations.

Readers are going to learn how to see things in a different way. And for

those, who like to see mathematical proofs, there will be lots of it regarding

the cost of delay, triage, and classes of service. Several practices related to

project, program and portfolio management were removed from the KMM

book with the intent to prepare a separate KMM extension for PPPM.
FOR THOSE, WHO READ
THE 1ST EDITION – IS
THERE ANY WAY TO
QUICKLY CATCH UP
WITH THE 2ND EDITION
UPDATES? ANY FAST-
MIGRATION GUIDE?

No. The progress that was made

from version 1 till the version 2 is too

big, so there is no fast guide on how

to update the knowledge about the

Model. You need to either read the

2nd edition of KMM book or take the

KMM training.

WERE THE LEVELS

RE-WRITTEN?
The meaning of the levels and the core

definition of the model has not changed

from the 1st edition, but some names of

the levels were. The reason for that is to

focus on the outcomes, to make them

more meaningful for business executives

and people who make the strategic

decisions in companies. David and

Teodora have expanded the

understanding of the Culture and the

Values that contribute to the Culture at

different levels. Therefore, now the

levels` definitions are more reach in a

cultural sense.
WHO IS THIS
BOOK FOR?

KMM will be useful for different

recipients: first – for Kanban Coaches,

who want to succeed with the

companies they are working with.

Coaches and Consultants will find

practices and values that will help

them to bring benefits to

organizations. The most value for the

Coaches is to use KMM as a consultant

playbook. They will be able to

understand where the organization is,

where it wants to be and to select

appropriate practices, overcome

barriers to adoption, and how to cope

with resistance.

Second – KMM will help Kanban practitioners, that can use it as a reference,

the catalogue of descriptions what is what and how to implement it. Like if

you have questions about managing flow – you will find a whole chapter

about it, that potentially could be an extensive mini book on the topic.

And the third – for middle level managers or product managers, officers,

services, etc. In KMM book they`ll find practices that will help them to

introduce the customer focus, the service-orientation in their companies.

There are also guidelines for executive leaders. The successful organizational

changes must be led with values, so this book has a lot of information and

guidance on how to introduce and use the values to drive an organization.

THE KMM REMINDS
CMMI (THE CAPABILITY
MATURITY MODEL
INTEGRATION) AND
THERE ARE A LOT OF
COMPANIES, THAT USE
CMMI JUST BECAUSE
THEY ARE INTERESTED
IN ITS CERTIFICATION.
MAY IT HAPPEN THE
SAME WITH KMM?

This is not the problem of the Model; this is the problem of how it is used in

the organisations. Definitely, David and Teodora do not want to encourage

such usage of the KMM and they are not thinking about developing this kind

of certification. KMM is a model for improving the organization in its agility.

The authors also avoided that problem with the definition of the levels.

The levels are based on the outcomes. If you cannot observe the outcome,

you don`t achieve the level. It`s not the simple case of going through some list

of practices and checking them off when implemented. If the outcomes are

not observable, you have not achieved the level. CMMI was driven by

governments who were trying to validate vendors competency. The focus on

practice adoption rather than delivered outcomes was the mistake and the

KMM has it fixed.

 WHAT IS THE
DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN CMMI
AND KMM?

The KMM is built on several

things, that were developed

before it, CMMI is one of them.

Another heavy influence for

KMM is Jerry Weinberg's

maturity model from his Quality

Software Management from the

1991. And the CMMI, of course,

was built itself on Phil Crosby`s

“Quality Management Maturity

Grid”.

IN MANY WAYS THE MEANINGS OF KMM LEVELS ARE COMPARABLE WITH CMMI
OR JERRY`S MEANINGS OF THE LEVELS.

Coming out after almost 30 years later, KMM had an opportunity to express

those things better, to focus more on outcomes, an organizational culture and

not just a practice. Therefore, the meanings of the levels are level 0 – is

almost the same as Jerry Weinberg's, meanwhile the meanings of levels

1,2,3,4,5 are very similar to the original intent of CMMI authors. KMM also

introduced the level 6, which is something that was not included in the CMMI,

although its aspects were included in Jerry`s level 5.

Companies, that are using CMMI can use KMM and they will only benefit from

it. With all the practices that KMM has, they will be able to make their

processes more efficient, less bureaucratic, faster, easier to understand and

easier to define. There are only benefits in using the models together.
IS THE KMM AND
KANBAN FOR IT ONLY?

Kanban is an evolutionary path to agility. As

it was mentioned before, during the beta

program the Model was tested in a very

wide range of companies by size and

industry in different countries. In was

applied in banks, large pharmaceutical

company, several tech companies.

Moreover, we have various case studies

from companies of non-IT industry, such as

banks, insurance, industrial companies.

Besides, half of the people in the world,

that take the trainings, are not from an IT-

sector. There are law firms, advertising

agencies and supermarket chains. People

adopt Kanban in many different areas.

WILL THERE BE AN
E-BOOK OF THE
2ND EDITION OF
THE BOOK?
KMM is meant to be used as a tool, as

guidance and reference. It is hard to

imagine people sitting on the meetings

and trying to scroll down thought the e-

book version to find the proper

guidance.

That is why the decision was made not

to support the kindle and ebook, but to

create a kmm.plus platform, that allows

to read the book online and gives you

additional benefits.
DO I NEED TO
READ THE 2ND
EDITION OF THE
KMM BOOK
SEQUENTIALLY?
No, it doesn`t have to be read

sequentially. The "Practice" section is

intended to be a reference. However,

the other three main sections:

"Outcomes", "Culture", "Managed

Evolution" stand on their own and

could be published as separate books,

connected with the same topic. They

are all readable separately.

For instance, you could read first three chapters describing the maturity

levels, then "Culture", and then you could already start using posters, which

are all available on kmm.plus, the new KMM educational platform. The posters

perfectly illustrate the 3 pillars of the Model and the aspects you can observe

as a characteristic of your organization. Then you can decide which practices

may help, explore them, and read chapters 5, 6 and 8 about culture.
 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
K A N B A N M A T U R I T Y M O D E L

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