The model
Maturity is a change in management behavior.
The model describes a suggested developmental path. Organizations can show characteristics of several levels at once. Maturity should not be inferred from the presence of dashboards, ceremonies, or tools alone.
Five levels
From motion to learning.
Activity Driven
Management attention centers on tasks, milestones, utilization, and completion.
- Success is described through output.
- Plans are treated primarily as commitments.
- Reviews emphasize status.
Metrics Driven
Teams collect more measures, but signals may remain disconnected from decisions or value.
- Dashboards are common.
- Local metrics can compete.
- Reporting volume can exceed learning value.
Evidence Driven
Evidence increasingly validates beliefs and influences choices.
- Bets become explicit.
- Experiments generate relevant evidence.
- Reviews ask what evidence means.
Outcome Driven
Outcomes orient investment, engineering, leadership attention, and accountability.
- Value and outcome movement guide priorities.
- Engineering measures contribution through value, velocity, quality, and trust.
- Decision Center connects multiple domains.
Learning Centered
Learning and adaptation operate as durable organizational capabilities.
- Teams learn through continuous loops.
- Evidence changes resource allocation and direction.
- Learning transfers across boundaries and cycles.
How progress happens
Advance through better decisions, not labels.
Clarify
Define the outcome and the decision that needs better evidence.
Bound
Place a manageable bet rather than launch a broad transformation.
Observe
Use customer, business, engineering, and organizational signals.
Adapt
Change behavior, investment, or direction based on learning.
How to use it
Use maturity as a conversation, not a scorecard.
Discuss the behaviors that are observable today, select one transition that matters, and use the playbook to structure the next adoption cycle.