“Oceans of data, rivers of information, pools of knowledge and drops of wisdom” - Dr Maarten Stapper 2011,
The Maturity Concept has the potential to focus the mind in any activity, toward moving from a state of disorganisation and mediocrity to a better state of organisation and quality. At its heart, the characteristics and behaviours that underpin a disorganised immature state are identified and articulated, then the mind is lifted toward the characteristics and behaviours that will result in high quality outcomes. Progressively improving your life, home, environment, business, or other activity can be aided by this concept because it first provides an opportunity for an examination of the poor state your activity currently experiences, then encourages effort into longer term goal setting, improved practices and learning across the board. Maturity, quality and effectiveness are closely linked.
Quality and Maturity
The focus on quality in manufacture arose around the time of the Second World War and was central to the success of the reformation of Japanese industry in moving from very poor quality products to very high quality within a few years. Attention to the factors leading to tasks being performed correctly in the first place was a key element. Dr W. Edwards Deming identified the importance of making all involved in a project successful as an approach to improving quality. This included customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, community, and environment. Philip Crosby developed his 5 level “Quality Management Maturity Grid” around 1980 and this was refined to the Capability Maturity Model by the Software Engineering Institute in the United States to improve military software. I was introduced to this model some 10 years ago and felt that the real value is found when the concept is used to extend thoughts towards aspiration and long term vision. However, it is important to be prepared to adjust that vision as your knowledge develops.
Business Maturity
Uncomplicated business is ideally suited to the maturity concept because there is so much room for improvement across businesses in general. In a recent article “The Top Reasons for Business Failure” by Cara Walters, most small business failures were attributed to inexperienced management, an inability to manage costs, poor business models and a lack of capital. A colleague associated with the financial industry quoted a figure of 93% of businesses functioning at a very low level of Maturity in a “command and control” style of management.
The base Maturity Level 1 is characterised by disorganisation and typical behaviours include, blame, secrecy, beat the competition, cutting costs, a focus on personal promotion, lack of concern for other’s welfare, very short term goals, unmotivated people, encouraging litigation, and reacting to the unexpected. It is clear that there is little appreciation of the business system as a whole or of how the components interact.
By contrast, an organisation at the highest Maturity Level 5 is characterised by a focus on quality and making all involved successful (customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, community, and environment). There is a philosophy of openness and sharing information, concern for the community at large and understanding fully where one fits into the surroundings. The organisation will have integrated data and information systems allowing appropriate decision making at all levels. There will be a focus on building knowledge to benefit all. An organisation at this level of maturity is positioned to respond to change at an appropriate rate and will also bring customers, suppliers, employees and the community along with them. It is utopia that we hardly dare to aspire to.
Maturity Levels 2 to 4 represent intermediate phases of mediocrity and can be used to provide guidance on progress toward an ideal.
It is relatively easy to establish descriptors for Maturity Level 1 as examples and experience is not difficult to find. When I was a participant in the Co-operative Research Centre for Integrated Engineering Asset Management from 2003 to 2005, industry participants agreed that most businesses, even big businesses, struggle to reach Maturity Level 1. Our government is no exception when you observe the behaviour of opposing parties. It is absolutely amazing that effective governance is conducted in this environment and it says much for the resilience of the human spirit.
It is much more difficult to establish descriptors at Maturity Level 5 as these should be aspirations beyond best practice and may well need vision beyond present wisdom. As experience builds through improvement up the maturity scale, it is very likely that the vision underpinning Maturity Level 5 will change. A close examination of Miessence indicates that this company is an excellent example of a small to medium enterprise that is well advanced toward Maturity Level 5. The business was based initially on one of the founders being unable to source skin care products for her family that were not petrochemical based and she knew that exposure to synthetic chemical ingredients was a potential cause of the growing level of allergies and disease now being experienced by the community. The company was built on sustainability principles throughout the business. At the financial fundamentals, growth was constrained to build a debt free company. The whole business was built on the credibility of a certified organic supply, manufacturing and distribution chain. The network marketing business model was constructed to ensure a supportive community devoted to both benefiting and contributing to knowledge of better health and wellbeing available from an organic lifestyle. The model also ensured that participants equitably shared in the financial rewards. The on-line network shopping system provided not only a brilliant ordering and distribution system at a reasonable cost, but gave access to accumulating knowledge. The integrity is so high that all ingredients used are listed together with relevant properties. The carbon negative status of Miessence through Greenpower and Greenfleet underpins the fundamental philosophy of sustainability.
Seeking to achieve the highest quality should be a key objective in all we do to become fully effective over the long term. The key to maturity grid development is having the insight, through the work of others, to define the characteristics and behaviours necessary to achieve this Level 5 on the maturity scale. The effort in defining this highest level will be rewarded with a better view of where you are heading. It is likely that this vision will change with experience.
Maturity Grid
Many schemes proposed to achieve quality and maturity use a grid or matrix to assist with visualization of progress. A variety of terms is used to create an impression of the level of maturity achieved. 
Table 1 - Terms commonly used to assist the impression of maturity level
The first step is to define the key indicators essential to the function, business or activity where improvement is required. These are then listed the left column of the grid shown in Table 2.
Table 2 - Maturity grid showing sample key indicators in left column and maturity levels along the top. The language appropriate to each category is indicated. An example of problem handling is used as an illustration.
The indicators in Table 2 are generic, but can be used as a guide to the specific activity or system of interest to you. The example of “Problem Handling” at the bottom of Table 2 is used as an illustration of articulating an impression of status at each maturity level
Maturity and Sustainability
The maturity concept has relevance to sustainability through its potential to lift our aspirations toward a vision of what is really needed to reduce our footprint on the Earth.
