Maturity Progression Strategies

Organizations can choose different strategies for advancing maturity across domains and layers. Each strategy has trade-offs between speed, risk, resources, and organizational alignment.

Overview

Strategy	Approach	Speed	Risk	Resources
Spike	One area to M5, others at M2	Fast (focused)	Higher	Concentrated
Wave	All areas together (2→3→4→5)	Slower	Lower	Distributed
Targeted	Priority to M4, others to M3	Moderate	Moderate	Balanced
Foundation First	All to M3, then selective	Slower initially	Lowest	Front-loaded

Strategy 1: Spike

Description: Advance one critical capability to Level 5 (Optimizing) while maintaining other areas at Level 2 (Basic).

                M5  ████████████████████  ← Critical Area
                M4
                M3
                M2  ████  ████  ████  ████  ← Other Areas
                M1
                    Area1 Area2 Area3 Area4

When to Use

Competitive differentiation requires excellence in a specific area
One capability is on the critical path for business success
Need to demonstrate "what great looks like" to the organization
Executive mandate for a specific initiative (e.g., "security first")

Pros

Rapid excellence in the most important area
Creates champions who can help other teams later
Demonstrates value of maturity investment quickly
Focused resources maximize impact

Cons

Organizational imbalance may cause friction
Dependencies unmet when advanced area needs immature inputs
Isolated excellence doesn't lift overall capability
Burnout risk on the spiked team

Example

A fintech company spikes Security to Level 5:

Domain	Layer	Current	Target	Rationale
Security	Code	M2	M5	Regulatory requirement
Security	Runtime	M2	M5	Customer trust
Operations	Runtime	M2	M2	Maintain baseline
Quality	Code	M2	M2	Maintain baseline

Risk Mitigation

Ensure M2 baseline is truly stable before spiking
Plan knowledge transfer from spike team to others
Set timeline for bringing other areas to M3

Strategy 2: Wave

Description: Advance all areas together through each maturity level: M2 → M3 → M4 → M5.

    Wave 1: All to M2    Wave 2: All to M3    Wave 3: All to M4

    M5                   M5                   M5
    M4                   M4                   M4  ████████████████
    M3                   M3  ████████████████ M3
    M2  ████████████████ M2                   M2
    M1                   M1                   M1

When to Use

Organization values consistency and fairness across teams
Regulatory or compliance requirements apply uniformly
Interconnected systems require balanced capabilities
Risk tolerance is low

Pros

Balanced growth across the organization
Shared learning as teams progress together
No capability gaps between areas
Organizational alignment and culture building

Cons

Slower to show excellence in any single area
Coordination overhead across many teams
Lowest common denominator may slow fast teams
Resource contention when all teams need similar skills

Example

A healthcare company uses Wave strategy for compliance:

Phase	Duration	All Domains/Layers Target
Q1-Q2	6 months	All to M2 (Basic)
Q3-Q4	6 months	All to M3 (Defined)
Year 2 H1	6 months	All to M4 (Managed)
Year 2 H2	6 months	All to M5 (Optimizing)

Risk Mitigation

Allow some flexibility for teams that are ready to advance
Define clear "wave completion" criteria before advancing
Create peer support networks across teams at same level

Strategy 3: Targeted

Description: Advance priority areas to Level 4 (Managed) while bringing others to Level 3 (Defined).

                M5
                M4  ████████████  ← Priority Areas
                M3  ████  ████  ████  ← Supporting Areas
                M2
                M1
                    Pri1  Pri2  Sup1  Sup2

When to Use

Clear strategic priorities exist
Resources are constrained
Some areas have higher business impact than others
Need balance between excellence and foundation

Pros

Strategic focus on what matters most
Pragmatic allocation of limited resources
Foundation built across all areas (M3)
Flexibility to adjust priorities

Cons

Requires clear prioritization (may be politically difficult)
Some teams may feel deprioritized
M3 areas may stagnate without advancement path

Example

An e-commerce company targets customer-facing capabilities:

Area	Priority	Target	Rationale
Operations/Runtime	High	M4	Customer experience
Operations/Response	High	M4	Incident impact
Security/Runtime	High	M4	Trust and compliance
Quality/Test	Medium	M3	Foundation
Security/Code	Medium	M3	Foundation
Operations/Build	Medium	M3	Foundation

Risk Mitigation

Communicate prioritization criteria transparently
Create advancement path for M3 areas
Review priorities quarterly

Strategy 4: Foundation First

Description: Bring all areas to Level 3 (Defined) first, then selectively advance based on business value.

    Phase 1: Foundation          Phase 2: Selective Advancement

    M5                           M5  ████
    M4                           M4  ████  ████
    M3  ████████████████████     M3  ████  ████  ████  ████
    M2                           M2
    M1                           M1

When to Use

Large organization with inconsistent practices
M&A integration requiring standardization
Technical debt creates unpredictable outcomes
Need to establish baseline before optimizing

Pros

Consistent baseline across organization
Reduces variability and risk
Builds organizational capability broadly
Informed decisions about where to invest further

Cons

Delays competitive advantages from advanced maturity
May frustrate high-performers who want to advance
Front-loaded investment before seeing differentiation

Example

A company post-acquisition standardizes first:

Phase	Focus	Target	Duration
1	Foundation	All areas to M3	12 months
2a	Differentiate	Security to M4	6 months
2b	Differentiate	Operations/Runtime to M4	6 months
3	Optimize	Selected areas to M5	12 months

Risk Mitigation

Set clear timeline for Phase 2 to maintain momentum
Identify and protect high-performing pockets
Celebrate M3 achievements to maintain morale

Decision Matrix

Use this matrix to select the appropriate strategy:

Factor	Spike	Wave	Targeted	Foundation
Time pressure	High	Low	Medium	Low
Resource constraints	High	Low	Medium	Medium
Risk tolerance	High	Low	Medium	Low
Organizational consistency	Low priority	High priority	Medium	High priority
Clear priorities	Yes	Not needed	Yes	Not needed
Regulatory pressure	Specific area	Uniform	Mixed	Uniform
Current state	Some areas strong	Uniform low	Mixed	Uniform low

Decision Flow

START
  │
  ├─► Is there a critical area that MUST be excellent?
  │     │
  │     ├─► YES: Consider SPIKE
  │     │
  │     └─► NO: Continue
  │
  ├─► Is the current state highly inconsistent?
  │     │
  │     ├─► YES: Consider FOUNDATION FIRST
  │     │
  │     └─► NO: Continue
  │
  ├─► Are resources constrained with clear priorities?
  │     │
  │     ├─► YES: Consider TARGETED
  │     │
  │     └─► NO: Consider WAVE
  │
  END

Hybrid Approaches

Organizations often combine strategies:

Spike + Wave

Spike one critical area to M4
Wave all areas to M3
Continue advancing the spiked area to M5
Wave remaining areas to M4

Foundation + Targeted

Foundation: All areas to M3
Targeted: Priority areas to M4
Selective: Highest-value area to M5

Progressive Targeting

Start with 2 priority areas to M4
Add 2 more areas to M4 each quarter
Eventually all areas at M4, select few to M5

Measuring Progress

Regardless of strategy, track:

Metric	Description	Frequency
Maturity Score	Current level per area	Monthly
Level Transitions	Areas that moved up	Quarterly
SLO Compliance	% of SLOs met	Weekly
Initiative Completion	Projects done vs planned	Monthly
Time in Level	Months at current level	Quarterly

Common Pitfalls

1. Strategy Drift

Starting with one strategy but drifting to another without intentional decision.

Mitigation: Quarterly strategy review, document strategy choice

2. Premature Advancement

Advancing to next level before current level is stable.

Mitigation: Define clear level completion criteria, require sign-off

3. Ignoring Dependencies

Advancing one area that depends on immature inputs.

Mitigation: Map dependencies, coordinate advancement

4. Resource Starvation

Spreading resources too thin across all areas.

Mitigation: Match strategy to available resources, prioritize

5. Measurement Theater

Claiming level advancement without real capability improvement.

Mitigation: Require SLO compliance for level claims, audit

Next Steps

Assess current state across all domains and layers
Identify constraints (resources, time, priorities)
Select strategy using decision matrix
Define phase targets with timelines
Communicate strategy to all stakeholders
Track progress with consistent metrics