What are the stages of capability maturity?

A capability maturity model sets out the stages a business capability moves through. Here there are five: lagging, basic, competent, advanced and leading. At the lowest stage, results depend on whoever happens to be involved. At the highest, the capability improves itself, and competitors find it hard to copy.

Each stage is described by what can be seen in the business. A Stages of Excellence assessment sets one observable sentence per stage for each practice, and the respondent picks the one closest to what happens.

The five stages

• Lagging. Practices are ad hoc and reactive. Outcomes depend on whoever happens to be involved.
• Basic. Some rules and habits exist, but people apply them unevenly and bypass them easily.
• Competent. Practices are defined, written down and mostly followed. The essentials are under control.
• Advanced. Practices are measured and actively managed. Changes follow the evidence.
• Leading. The capability compounds. It improves itself, and competitors find it hard to copy.

The top stage is not the right target for every practice in every business. Some practices only need to be sound, and the effort is better spent where a stage move changes the result.

The stages in each area

Each area sets out the same five stages in its own terms:

• The stages in pricing
• The stages in strategy
• The stages in sales
• The stages in an operating model
• The stages in KPIs and incentives
• The stages in a transformation

Where the stages come from

The format descends from Philip Crosby's Quality Management Maturity Grid (1979) and the capability maturity models developed in the 1990s. Practitioners later adapted it for strategy and commercial topics.

See where your business stands: the health checks take about ten minutes each.