DASSM Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) Exam Questions and Answers

A complex adaptive system (CAS) is characterized by the property that understanding the individual components does not lead to a perfect understanding of the entire system's behavior. This is because CAS are dynamic networks of interactions where the behavior of the whole system emerges from the interactions among its parts. Option A describes a process but does not capture the essence of complexity. Option C suggests a deterministic algorithm, which is not accurate for describing CAS. Option D touches on evolving ways of working, but it does not correctly define the nature of CAS in the context of complexity theory.

The primary function of the "Business Operations" process blade in Disciplined Agile is to provide ongoing support and services to customers and ensure that products function smoothly post-deployment. This involves managing customer relationships, handling support requests, andmaintaining operational stability. Options such as "B. To monitor the competitive landscape" and "D. To ensure cash flow in the organization" do not align with the core function of Business Operations. "C. To monitor and guide teams to remove barriers" is more aligned with the roles of leadership and governance. Hence, "A. To provide services to customers and support your products" is the correct answer.

The main role of the team lead in Disciplined Agile is toensure that the team builds the product right. This involves guiding the team to follow the appropriate practices, ensuring high-quality standards, and removing any impediments that could affect the development process. The team lead facilitates the team’s work, helps them adhere to their chosen way of working, and ensures that the product meets the necessary quality standards and fulfills customer requirements. While other roles, such as product owner or architect, might focus more on defining the right product or coordinating efforts, the team lead's primary responsibility is to ensure proper execution and adherence to quality practices.

The responsibility for choosing the team's lifecycle in Disciplined Agile (DA)depends on the context. DA promotes a context-driven approach where decisions are made based on the specific needs, objectives, and constraints of the team and the organization. In some cases, the team itself may choose the lifecycle that best fits its way of working. In other scenarios, the decision could be influenced by an Agile coach, team manager, or organizational guidelines. Therefore, it is not a one-size-fits-all answer, and the context determines who is best suited to make this decision.

One of the promises of Disciplined Agile (DA) is to ensure psychological safety, which means creating an environment where team members feel safe to express their ideas, take risks, and admit mistakes without fear of criticism or retaliation. Psychological safety allows teams to collaborate more effectively, innovate, and learn from their experiences. Option A (providing a hygienic work environment) refers to physical safety, while Options C (never criticizing) and D (providing counseling) do not accurately capture the essence of psychological safety as promoted in DA.

During the Inception stage of a Disciplined Agile project, the team typically focuses on defining the project's vision, goals, and scope, as well as identifying high-level architecture and a test strategy. The deployment strategy, which details how the product will be released to the users, is generally determined later in the project when more is known about the product's architecture and functionality. Therefore, "B. Deployment strategy" is the correct answer, as it may not be decided during the Inception stage.

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In Disciplined Agile, "Team Estimation" is a collaborative process where the team members estimate the effort or size of user stories. The process typically involves first determining the relative size or complexity of each story by comparing them against one another. After this comparative sizing, numerical values (such as story points) are assigned based on the team's estimation scale. This method promotes group discussion, consensus, and a shared understanding of the work involved in each story, enhancing estimation accuracy and team alignment.

Options B, C, and D do not accurately describe the "Team Estimation" process as practiced in Disciplined Agile. Team Estimation focuses on assessing the relative size of work items rather than prioritization (Option B), defining criteria (Option C), or role assignment (Option D).

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

The Kaizen feedback loop, which is an important concept in Lean and Agile practices, can be summarized as "Plan, Do, Study, Act" (PDSA). This cycle is fundamental to continuous improvement (Kaizen) and is used to iteratively improve processes and products. "Plan" involves identifying a goal or a change to implement; "Do" means implementing the change; "Study" refers to analyzing the results and understanding the impact of the change; and "Act" is about making necessary adjustments or standardizing the change if it is successful. Options A, B, and C do not accurately reflect the PDSA cycle as recognized in Disciplined Agile and Lean methodologies.

User stories are a key component in Agile practices, including the Disciplined Agile (DA) framework. They are typically described by the acronym INVEST, which stands for:

Independent: User stories should be self-contained, so they do not overlap with others.

Negotiable: User stories are not contracts; they should leave room for discussion and refinement.

Valuable: Each user story must deliver value to the end user or customer.

Estimable: A good user story can be estimated in terms of the effort required to complete it.

Small: User stories should be small enough to be completed within a single iteration.

Testable: A user story must be testable, meaning it should be possible to determine whether the user story has been completed successfully.

Based on the INVEST criteria, "Achievable" is not a recognized feature of a user story. While achieving a user story is an implicit goal, it is not explicitly mentioned in the standard definition or characteristics used in Agile frameworks such as Disciplined Agile. The features that are essential to a user story are "Negotiable," "Estimable," and "Testable," as they ensure the story is clearly defined, measurable, and valuable to the user.

References:

Disciplined Agile Delivery: A Practitioner's Guide to Agile Software Delivery in the Enterprise, Scott Ambler & Mark Lines.

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) and Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) training materials.

The Lean life-cycle model is based on a continuous flow of work. In Disciplined Agile, Lean focuses on minimizing waste, delivering value continuously, and optimizing the entire value stream. Unlike other models like Waterfall, which follow a sequential approach, or Agile models, which may focus on iterative increments, Lean emphasizes a smooth, steady flow of value to the customer. Continuous Delivery Agile also involves a continuous flow, but "Lean" specifically is the framework built around this concept. Therefore, "D. Lean" is the correct answer.

According to Disciplined Agile (DA) principles, the maximum frequency of delivering a valuable solution is "several times a day." This reflects a highly agile and responsive way of working, where teams aim to continuously integrate, test, and deliver small increments of value as quickly as possible. Options B, C, and D suggest less frequent delivery, which would not align with DA’s emphasis on maximizing the flow of value delivery to customers.

In the Disciplined Agile (DA) approach, the role of a team lead, such as a Scrum Master or Agile Coach, includes supporting team members and helping them overcome obstacles. Option B reflects this mindset: having a conversation with the team member to understand the root causes of their struggle and collaboratively seeking solutions. This approach aligns with agile principles of servant leadership, empathy, and collaboration. It encourages open communication, trust-building, and personal development, which are core to maintaining a high-performing and motivated team.

Providing time management training (Option A), holding a one-on-one meeting focused on failures (Option C), or redistributing work without addressing underlying issues (Option D) are less aligned with the values of Disciplined Agile, as they do not directly address the specific impediments faced by the team member or promote a supportive and growth-oriented team culture.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI

For an Agile or Lean project team, the aim of the Transition phase is to ensure that the solution is ready to be released to stakeholders and then appropriately manage its release. The Transitionphase involves finalizing the work, preparing for deployment, and ensuring that all aspects of the solution meet the necessary quality standards for delivery. While testing (A), communicating the release (B), and applying continuous deployment practices (C) are important activities, the primary aim of the Transition phase is to make sure that the solution is ready for release and to handle the release effectively.

Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) defines a delivery life cycle consisting of three phases: Inception, Construction, and Transition. Inception focuses on initial project planning, stakeholder alignment, and getting the team ready to work. Construction is the phase where the team builds the solution in iterations, delivering incremental value. Transition involves preparing the solutionfor release, including final testing, deployment, and user training. The other options (A, B, C) do not accurately reflect the terminology and phases used in the DAD life cycle.

The primary role of the Product Owner in Disciplined Agile is to "build the right product." This means the Product Owner is responsible for defining and prioritizing the product backlog, ensuring that the development team works on features that deliver the most value to the stakeholders and align with the business objectives. The Product Owner acts as the voice of the customer, making critical decisions about the product's direction, features, and functionality. The other options (B, C, and D) may involve activities related to product development, but they do not encompass the core responsibility of building the right product.

It is false to say that if you are following Scrum, you cannot use Disciplined Agile (DA). DA is a toolkit that allows teams to adopt and tailor practices from multiple frameworks, including Scrum. DA is designed to complement existing agile frameworks by providing additional flexibility and guidance to improve team processes and outcomes. Therefore, Scrum and DA can be used together effectively.

When tailoring an agile strategy within the Disciplined Agile (DA) framework, the two process goals that require the most effort are"Align with Enterprise Direction"and"Explore Scope."These goals are critical because they provide a foundational understanding and alignment with both the organization's strategic objectives and the specific scope of the project or product being developed.

Align with Enterprise Direction:

Effort Required: Tailoring an agile strategy requires significant effort to ensure alignment with the overall enterprise direction, including strategic goals, corporate culture, compliance requirements, and governance policies. This involves understanding and integrating the broader organizational objectives into the team’s way of working (WoW).

Why It Is Important: Ensuring alignment with the enterprise direction is vital for maintaining consistency across different teams and departments and for achieving long-term organizational goals. It helps in leveraging shared resources, standards, and practices, reducing risks, and fostering collaboration.

Disciplined Agile Context: In the DA toolkit, "Align with Enterprise Direction" ensures that teams are not working in silos but are contributing to the broader organizational strategy and that their actions support the enterprise’s vision and values.

Explore Scope:

Effort Required: Exploring the scope involves understanding the breadth and depth of the problem space, gathering requirements, and defining what needs to be built. This can be a complex and time-consuming effort because it requires collaboration with multiple stakeholders, eliciting requirements, and managing changes.

Why It Is Important: This process goal helps ensure that the team understands the scope of the work to be done and aligns its efforts accordingly. It involves prioritizing features, defining acceptance criteria, and creating a shared understanding among all stakeholders.

Disciplined Agile Context: "Explore Scope" in the DA framework is critical because it lays the foundation for what the team will work on. It helps manage stakeholder expectations, prioritize work, and align deliverables with customer needs and organizational objectives.

Contrasting Incorrect Options:

A. Improve Quality: While improving quality is essential in any agile strategy, it typically involves applying established practices such as Test-Driven Development (TDD), Continuous Integration (CI), and automated testing, which may not require as much initial effort compared to aligning with enterprise direction or exploring scope.

D. Address Changing Stakeholder Needs: Addressing changing stakeholder needs is part of the agile process, but the effort involved depends on how frequently and significantly those needs change. This goal is more of an ongoing activity rather than an initial effort required for tailoring an agile strategy.

The desire of senior management to evolve an organization to be more responsive to changes in the marketplace or environment is best captured by the concept ofBusiness Agility. Business agility refers to the ability of an organization to adapt quickly and effectively to market changes, customer demands, and emerging opportunities, all while maintaining a focus on delivering value. Disciplined Agile promotes business agility by providing a toolkit that helps organizations navigate their unique challenges and choose the best practices to enhance responsiveness and adaptability across all levels of the organization.

The primary advantage of using design thinking, according to DA guidelines, is that it promotes customer empathy and appropriate solutions. Design thinking focuses on understanding the user's needs and creating solutions that are tailored to those needs. Options A, C, and D are not accurate descriptions of design thinking's primary benefit; rather, they reflect misconceptions or partial truths.

The primary role of the Product Owner in Disciplined Agile is to ensure that the team builds the right product. This includes defining and prioritizing the product backlog, making decisions on behalf of stakeholders, and ensuring that the team understands the product vision and customer needs. Options A (coordinate the product), B (organize the product team), and C (inspect the product) are aspects of the Product Owner's responsibilities, but they do not capture the overarching goal of delivering the right product to meet customer needs.

Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) is a four-step iterative process used for continuous improvement. It helps teams to better understand the effectiveness of their actions and identify opportunities for improvement. The cycle involves planning an action (Plan), executing it (Do), studying the results (Study), and acting on what is learned (Act). While reflecting on whether the team is working on the correct things (B) or improving plans (C) are parts of continuous improvement, PDSAis primarily aimed at understanding and improving the results of actions. Option D (providing justification when something goes wrong) is not the purpose of PDSA.

In Disciplined Agile (DA), the "Specialist" is considered a supporting role. Specialists possess expertise in specific areas (e.g., security, database management) and are brought in as needed to support the primary delivery team. The supporting roles are not part of the core team but contribute specialized skills and knowledge when required.

Options A (Stakeholder), B (Team Lead), and D (Architecture Owner) are not supporting roles. Stakeholders represent end-users or business interests, while Team Leads and Architecture Owners are considered primary roles within a DA team.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

The Lean governance mindset in the Disciplined Agile framework promotes principles that help teams align their work with organizational objectives while maintaining agility and responsiveness. Key elements of a Lean governance mindset include promoting transparency (B), being servant leaders (C), learning continuously (D), and leading by example (E). These elements encourage a culture where leaders support teams, foster openness and trust, and model the behaviors they want to see in others.

However, "letting the team manage the risks" (A) is not part of a Lean governance mindset. While teams are encouraged to take ownership of their work, risk management is typically a shared responsibility that involves collaboration between the team and the broader organization. In Lean governance, risks are managed in a way that aligns with the organization's overall risk tolerance and strategic objectives, rather than leaving risk management solely to the team.

This understanding aligns with the Disciplined Agile approach, which emphasizes governance as an ongoing process that integrates learning, leadership, and transparency.

The best way to eliminate waste in Disciplined Agile is to "eliminate delays in workflow and feedback." Lean principles focus on removing any non-value-added activities (waste) to improve efficiency. By minimizing delays, teams can ensure a smoother flow of work and faster feedback loops, which helps to identify and resolve issues quickly and reduces the time taken to deliver value to customers. While making sure each step is done as quickly as possible (A) or correctly(D) and ensuring people know their job (B) are important, they are not the primary method of eliminating waste according to Lean principles.

In the "Team Estimation" technique, you know you are finished estimating user stories whenthere are no more user stories left to estimate, and no team member wishes to move a card. This method relies on a collaborative, consensus-based approach where team members discuss and move cards (representing user stories) until everyone agrees on their relative sizes or effort. Onceall user stories are estimated and no further adjustments are proposed, the estimation process is considered complete. Time spent or product owner involvement is secondary to achieving team consensus on the estimates.

According to the I.N.V.E.S.T. mnemonic, a good user story should be:

Independent:Can be developed and delivered without dependencies on other stories.

Negotiable:Flexible in details and open to discussion.

Valuable:Must deliver value to the customer or end-user.

Estimable:Can be estimated to gauge effort required.

Small:Sized appropriately to be completed within an iteration.

Testable:Should have clear criteria to determine whether the story is complete.

"Valuable" is a key characteristic that ensures the user story contributes to the product's value. Options A (Incremental), C (Tangible), and D (Satisfactory) are not part of the I.N.V.E.S.T. mnemonic.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

In Disciplined Agile, the responsibility for determining the "Way of Working" (WoW) falls primarily on the team members. Disciplined Agile promotes a self-organizing team structure, where team members collaboratively decide on the practices and processes they will use, tailored to their unique context. While roles such as the Product Owner or Team Lead may provide input or guidance, the decision is ultimately a team-driven process. This approach empowers teams to choose the most effective ways of working to meet their goals. Thus, "B. Team members" is the correct answer.

The concept ofLeanwas developed around eliminating three types of deviations or "wastes" (known as Muda, Mura, and Muri) that result in inefficient allocation ofresources. These deviations are:

Muda (Waste):Activities that do not add value to the customer.

Mura (Variability):Irregularities in production that cause delays, excess inventory, and inefficiencies.

Muri (Overburden):Overloading resources, whether human or mechanical, leading to errors, fatigue, and breakdowns.

Lean aims to optimize the use of resources by reducing waste, ensuring consistency, and avoiding overburdening. Options B (Meetings), C (Deadlines), and D (Data) do not align with the Lean philosophy's primary focus on resource efficiency.

References:

"Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation," James P. Womack & Daniel T. Jones.

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

TheProduct backlogis the artifact that collects all the work flowing to the team. It contains a prioritized list of user stories, tasks, enhancements, bug fixes, and other work items that represent the overall scope of the product development effort. The Product Owner manages the backlog, ensuring it is continuously refined and updated to reflect changing priorities and requirements. The iteration backlog (option B) is a subset of the product backlog items that the team commits to delivering in a single iteration, while the business backlog and release roadmap are not typically used to collect all work items for a team.

In the Disciplined Agile (DA) framework, the architecture of a product is typically proven during the Elaboration phase. This phase focuses on validating the architecture of the solution, mitigating technical risks, and establishing a firm foundation for the project's future iterations. During Elaboration, teams work on refining the architecture, ensuring that it can support future development and will meet the project's quality requirements. The construction phase builds upon this established architecture, and by the Inception phase, the initial vision and feasibility are already defined but not yet validated. Therefore, "A. Elaboration" is the correct answer as it is the phase where architecture is thoroughly proven and refined.

In the Disciplined Agile framework, a "process blade" represents an organizational capability that addresses a specific need or problem within an organization. Process blades provide guidance on how to effectively implement a particular capability (such as finance, governance, or portfolio management) in a context-sensitive manner. They are not meetings (Option A), specificgoals or visions (Option C), or cross-functional teams (Option D); instead, they are resources or guidelines that help the organization improve its processes and capabilities.

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Even when a project follows a Scrum or Agile lifecycle, it still needs the Inception, Construction, or Transition phases as described in Disciplined Agile (DA). These phases provide a structured approach to project delivery. The "Inception" phase involves initial planning and alignment, "Construction" focuses on iterative development, and "Transition" ensures the final product is ready for release. While Scrum and Agile frameworks focus on iterative and incremental development, DA uses these phases to ensure a comprehensive approach to project management.

An important part of improving the Way of Working (WoW) for a team is to continuously evolve and adapt processes, tools, and practices to better fit the team's needs and context. "Stick to a method once you discover it" contradicts the Disciplined Agile principle of continuous improvement. Instead, teams are encouraged to always try to get better (C), do the best they can (A), and start where they are (D) while continuously exploring new and more effective ways of working. Thus, Option B is not an important part of improving the WoW.

The purpose of an iteration retrospective in Disciplined Agile (DA) is to reflect on the recent iteration and identify areas of improvement, successes, and challenges. The retrospective allows the team to transfer knowledge, insights, and process improvements to subsequent iterations, fostering continuous improvement. This helps the team become more effective and efficient over time.

Option B relates to a daily stand-up, Option C involves iteration planning, and Option D pertains to an iteration review or demo, not a retrospective.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

One of the significant changes in finance processes within Agile teams is that teams are typically given a definite budget to manage. In an Agile environment, teams are empowered to make decisions and manage their finances within the constraints of their allocated budget. This approach ensures better control over expenditures and accountability. Option A (less oversight), C (structured around functions), and D (not needing to monitor cash flows) do not accurately describe changes in financial management in agile teams.

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True: A value stream does indeed begin and end with a customer. In Disciplined Agile, a value stream represents the sequence of activities an organization undertakes to deliver a product or service that is of value to a customer. It starts with a customer need or demand and ends with the delivery of value to that customer. The focus on value streams helps organizations optimize the flow of value, reduce waste, and enhance customer satisfaction by aligning all activities around delivering what the customer truly needs.

It is false to say that Disciplined Agile (DA) roles cover all possible roles in an organization. DA defines a set of primary roles (such as Team Lead, Product Owner, and Architecture Owner) and supporting roles for agile delivery teams. However, it does not prescribe all roles that might exist in an organization, such as executive leadership or specialized departments outside the agile delivery context.

The principle "Organize around products/services" meansbuilding dedicated cross-functional teams focused on customer offerings. This approach ensures that teams are aligned directly with the delivery of customer value, with all the necessary skills to deliver a complete product or service. This organization enhances focus, collaboration, and efficiency, driving greater value delivery to customers.

Option A (asking customers to pick from available products) does not reflect this principle, and Option C (project teams being best equipped) does not align with the DA emphasis on long-standing, product-focused teams over temporary project teams.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

The primary advantage of breaking a project into phases is that it enables teams to focus on critical themes and ease of governance. Phases provide a structure to manage complex projects by focusing on specific objectives or deliverables at each stage, facilitating better planning, monitoring, and control. This approach also makes it easier to align with governance requirements and tomake course corrections based on learnings from earlier phases. Options A, B, and C do not capture the strategic and governance benefits provided by phased approaches.

TheProduct Backlogis the artifact that collects all the work flowing to the team in Agile practices, including Disciplined Agile (DA). It is an ordered list of everything that might be needed in the product, serving as the single source of work undertaken by the team. This backlog includes user stories, features, enhancements, bug fixes, and technical tasks. It is prioritized by the Product Owner to ensure that the team works on the most valuable items first.

Options B (Business backlog) is not a standard Agile artifact. Option C (Iteration backlog) is a subset of the Product Backlog, containing items chosen for the current iteration. Option D (Release roadmap) is a higher-level plan for future releases, not a collection of all work items.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

A disadvantage of having afeature team(as opposed to component teams) is thetemptation to build everything from scratch. Feature teams are cross-functional teams that handle all aspects of delivering a customer-centric feature from end to end. This can sometimes lead to duplication of effort or reinventing existing components instead of reusing them, especially if the team lacks visibility or understanding of existing solutions.

Options A, B, and C are actually advantages of feature teams: they deliver complete features, reduce hand-offs, and require cross-functional skills.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

In Disciplined Agile, the daily huddle or daily stand-up is referred to as a "coordination meeting." The purpose of this meeting is to allow the team members to coordinate their work, identify any impediments, and align their activities to meet the team’s goals. This term emphasizes the focus on coordinating efforts rather than simply following a ritual. Unlike a "daily meeting" (A), "Scrum meeting" (C), or "Sprint review" (D), the coordination meeting is specifically about the daily alignment and coordination, not about reviewing or planning the work in detail.

A team should consider entering the transition phase when the product meets all stakeholder expectations. In Disciplined Agile, the transition phase involves finalizing the product or solution for release. This phase is initiated when the product is deemed ready and all necessary criteria, including stakeholder expectations, have been fulfilled. Options A (new MBI developed), C (operational teams ready), and D (MVP ready) may be relevant in other contexts but do not specifically trigger the transition phase.

Reducing work-in-progress (WIP)is intended to increase focus, reduce lead time, and create a greater incentive to prioritize. It helps teams deliver value more quickly and efficiently by concentrating on fewer items at a time, minimizing context-switching, and reducing the chances of burnout.Option A isnota benefit of reducing WIP, as reducing WIP discourages multi-tasking between many high-priority items. In fact, reducing WIP aims to prevent multi-tasking, which is often counterproductive.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

In the Disciplined Agile framework, the principle of "Context Counts" emphasizes the importance of tailoring practices to fit the specific situation or context of the team. In this scenario,the team decided to skip the daily standup meetings because they were co-located, and the meetings were not adding value. This is an example of making a context-specific decision based on the team's unique circumstances, which aligns with the DA principle of "Context Counts." Options A (Being awesome), B (Enterprise awareness), and D (Choice is good) do not accurately capture the rationale behind the decision to modify the practice based on context.

The "Plan the Release" process goal in Disciplined Agile is most likely to offer potential techniques for providing a cost estimate for the project while recognizing that requirements will evolve over time. This goal involves determining the scope of the release, estimating the effort and cost, and planning for future iterations. It accounts for the fact that Agile teams work in environments of uncertainty and helps them create realistic plans that can adapt as requirements change. Options A (Project Management), C (Explore Scope), and D (Address Changing Stakeholder Needs) are relevant for Agile projects, but "Plan the Release" specifically focuses on creating estimates and planning in an Agile context.

Lean governance practices, as described in the PMI Disciplined Agile (DA) framework, focus on enabling teams to deliver value in a lean, efficient manner. This involves creating business value regularly (Option A), empowering the team (Option C), providing appropriate Return on Investment (RoI) (Option D), and presenting accurate and timely information (Option E). However, "Directing the team with clear tasks" (Option B) contradicts the lean governance principles, which emphasize empowering teams to make decisions and self-organize rather than being directed. Therefore, directing the team with clear tasks is not a lean governance practice.

Disciplined Agile (DA) provides a robust foundation for business agility by offering a flexible and comprehensive toolkit that allows organizations to tailor their Agile practices to their specific context. Two key ways DA achieves this are:

Provides guidance to streamline processes in a context-sensitive manner:DA emphasizes tailoring Agile practices to the organization's unique context, recognizing that one size does not fit all. It provides guidance on how to optimize processes based on specific needs and constraints.

Describes the trade-offs associated with a range of options:DA offers a variety of strategies and practices for teams to choose from and provides insights into the trade-offs of each choice. This enables teams to make informed decisions that best suit their goals and organizational context.

Options A, C, and E do not directly describe how DA provides a foundation for business agility. While DA encourages adherence to standards and fostering team joy, its core contribution lies in its flexibility and practical guidance.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

The FLOW view in Disciplined Agile does not mean that there are no starts and stops in any DA project. Rather, it emphasizes optimizing the flow of work through the system by minimizing delays, reducing bottlenecks, and removing unnecessary handoffs. However, starts and stops may still exist due to various factors such as dependencies, changing priorities, or external constraints.

Guided continuous improvementextends the Kaizen loop strategy by providing structured, context-specific guidance to teams on how to identify and implement techniques likely to be effective for their unique circumstances. This method emphasizes learning from experience, adjusting practices based on outcomes, and aligning improvements with the organization's goals, enhancing the team's ability to adapt and improve continuously.

Options A (Cross-team learning), C (Explicit workflow policies), and D (Communities of Practice) are valuable for learning and improvement but do not specifically focus on providing guided, context-sensitive strategies for improvement.

References:

PMI’s Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) curriculum materials.

"Choose Your WoW! A Disciplined Agile Delivery Handbook for Optimizing Your Way of Working (WoW)", PMI.

The primary advantage of working in an Agile team, according to the PMI Disciplined Agile framework, is the ability to quickly adapt to changing customer needs (Option C). Agile teams emphasize flexibility, responsiveness, and continuous improvement, enabling them to respond effectively to feedback and evolving requirements. Options A, B, and D do not reflect the core value proposition of Agile. While agile teams may aim for timely delivery, specialization, andreduced customer intervention, their core strength lies in adaptability and responsiveness to change, ensuring that the product remains aligned with customer needs.

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The correct answer isC. Accelerate value delivery. In the Disciplined Agile (DA) framework, the process goal"Accelerate value delivery"typically requires significant tailoring to suit the specific needs, context, and constraints of the team and the organization.

What is "Accelerate Value Delivery"?

The process goal"Accelerate value delivery"focuses on optimizing the flow of work and reducing delays in delivering valuable outcomes to customers. This goal encompasses various practices and techniques such as reducing batch sizes, implementing continuous integration and delivery, enhancing team collaboration, removing bottlenecks, and improving overall efficiency in delivering products or services.

Achieving this goal requires careful consideration of the team's context, technology stack, existing workflows, and the organization's unique challenges and constraints. As a result, "Accelerate value delivery" is highly tailored to ensure that the selected practices are effective in a specific environment.

Why "Accelerate Value Delivery" Requires a Lot of Tailoring:

Tailoring is necessary because different teams and organizations have varying capabilities, maturity levels, cultural norms, and existing processes. For example, one team might need to focus on improving their DevOps practices, while another may need to address process inefficiencies or enhance cross-functional collaboration.

In Disciplined Agile, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to accelerating value delivery. Teams are encouraged to choose from a range of strategies and techniques that best suit their particular circumstances. This flexibility means that teams must continually assess and adapt their approaches to achieve optimal results, which requires significant customization and tailoring.

Why the Other Options Are Not Correct:

A. Form team:While forming a team may require some tailoring based on the project's needs and team composition, it is generally a more straightforward process with less variation in how it is executed compared to accelerating value delivery.

B. Prove architecture early:This process goal typically involves establishing the technical foundation of the solution early in the project. While it may require some adaptation based on the project's architecture, it does not involve the same level of ongoing tailoring as optimizing the flow of value delivery.

D. Improve quality:Although improving quality involves adopting practices that suit the team's context, it does not typically require as much tailoring as "Accelerate value delivery." Quality improvement is often about adhering to established standards and best practices, which can be more consistent across different teams and projects.

Therefore,C. Accelerate value deliveryis the correct answer because it inherently involves a high degree of customization to adapt the approach to the unique context and constraints of the team and organization, consistent with Disciplined Agile's emphasis on context-driven agility.

Pushis when work isgiven to people. In a "push" system, tasks or work items are assigned to individuals or teams regardless of their current capacity or workload. This can lead to overburdening, inefficiencies, and bottlenecks. In contrast, a "pull" system allows team members to take on new work only when they have the capacity to do so, promoting smoother flow and reducing waste. Agile methodologies generally favor a pull approach to optimize flow and enhance team autonomy and efficiency.

For a long-term project with potential for significant budgeting and tracking overhead, the Scrum Master should set up a long-standing team. According to the Disciplined Agile framework, long-standing teams are stable teams that remain intact across multiple projects or over a long duration. These teams are cross-functional, meaning they have all the necessary skills to deliver value and are more likely to develop high levels of collaboration and productivity over time. While cross-functional teams (B) are a necessary characteristic, "long-standing team" (A) is the best answer for a long-term project with significant overhead, as it implies continuity and sustained team dynamics. A project team (C) is typically formed for a short-term, specific project and disbanded afterward. A shared services team (D) provides specialized skills and services to various teams and is not typically suited for the dedicated effort required by long-term projects.