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

The Marketing process blade in Disciplined Agile is responsible for crafting an appealing roadmap of the organization's offerings in close conjunction with Product Management. Product Management helps define the product vision, strategy, and features, while Marketing ensures that these offerings are effectively communicated to the target audience. Options A (Portfolio management), C (Finance), D (Business Operations), and E (Control) do not primarily focus on this collaboration.

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"Organization distribution" is not a tactical scaling factor for a team in the context of Disciplined Agile (DA). Tactical scaling factors focus on specific elements that impact the immediate team context, such as Team Size (A), Geographic Distribution (B), and Team Maturity (C). "Organization distribution" refers more broadly to the structure or distribution of the organization as a whole, rather than directly impacting the team's day-to-day operations or scaling concerns.

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It is false to say that all the process goal diagrams need to be explored while determining the initial Way of Working (WoW). In Disciplined Agile (DA), teams are encouraged to focus on the most relevant process goals based on their specific context, objectives, and constraints. Exploring every possible process goal would be impractical and unnecessary; instead, the team should prioritize and tailor their WoW to address the most critical factors for their situation.

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Governance in a Disciplined Agile (DA) project involves ensuring that the organization's standards, practices, and compliance requirements are being met while allowing teams to operate within a defined framework. It includes activities such as creating forums for sharing knowledge (A), making decisions about funding (B), administering rewards and recognition (C), ensuring compliance with a regulatory standard (E), and having a defined process for decision-making (F).

However, governance does not mean giving the team complete freedom to make decisions (D). In DA, while teams are encouraged to be self-organizing and empowered, they must still operate within the constraints of organizational governance policies and practices. Governance ensures there is a balance between team autonomy and alignment with organizational goals and standards. Therefore, "complete freedom to the team to make decisions" is not aligned with the DA approach to governance.

This aligns with the principles found in the PMI Disciplined Agile framework, which emphasizes both flexibility and control. In DA, governance is about guiding and monitoring the team’s activities to align with the organizational context, rather than granting unrestricted autonomy.

"Develop test strategy" is a process goal within the Construction phase of the Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) framework. The Construction phase is where the team actively builds the solution incrementally, and developing a test strategy is critical to ensure that the product meets quality standards and stakeholder expectations. Other options like "Explore scope" (Option A), "Prove architecture early" (Option C), and "Form team" (Option D) are associated with the Inception phase, while "Ensure production readiness" (Option E) relates to the Transition phase.

Using Lean thinking, we should be managingthe value stream. Lean thinking focuses on optimizing the entire flow of value from the initial customer request to the delivery of the final product or service. Managing the value stream involves identifying and eliminating waste, reducing delays, and ensuring smooth flow across all steps in the process to deliver maximum value to the customer. Lean emphasizes managing the process flow rather than micromanaging individual steps or people, allowing for continuous improvement and more efficient operations.

False: On an Agile team, the team members do not accept or reject their own work at the iteration demo. Instead, the Product Owner, along with stakeholders, is responsible for accepting or rejecting the work presented. The iteration demo (or sprint review) is an opportunity for the team to showcase their completed work to stakeholders and gather feedback. The decision to accept the work is based on whether it meets the Definition of Done, fulfills the acceptance criteria, and aligns with stakeholder expectations.

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.

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.

Avalue streamin Disciplined Agile and Lean thinking is defined as the sequence of steps that an organization undertakes to deliver a product or service to customers. This encompasses all activities, from identifying customer needs to delivering the final product or service, and includes both value-adding and non-value-adding activities. The goal of managing a value stream is to optimize the flow of value to the customer by identifying and eliminating waste, improving efficiency, and enhancing overall effectiveness.

The Exploratory Life Cycle is adopted when there is a need to bring a new product or service to market, and the customer requirements are uncertain. This life cycle is characterized by a high degree of exploration and experimentation, where the team continuously learns and adapts based on customer feedback and market conditions. Options A and B are incorrect because they refer to evolving an existing product or service rather than bringing a new one to market. Option E is also incorrect because it assumes the requirements are well understood, which would not necessitate an exploratory approach.

When changing legacy code, the recommended approach in Disciplined Agile is to "Add a test first, then change it." This practice is aligned with Test-Driven Development (TDD) and ensures that any modifications made to the legacy code do not introduce new defects. By writing tests before making changes, you establish a safety net that confirms the existing functionality remains intact, and the new changes work as expected. Rewriting the code (B), delegating the task (C), or changing the code before adding tests (D) can increase risk and are not recommended practices.

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.

The lean life-cycle in Disciplined Agile does not require timeboxed iterations. Instead, it emphasizes continuous flow, where work items are processed individually through the value stream without the strict confines of iteration cycles. This approach allows for a more flexible and responsive process, which aligns with lean principles of minimizing waste and optimizing flow. Thus, the statement is true as it reflects the flexibility inherent in the lean life-cycle approach.

"Ensure production readiness" is one of the process goals in the transition stage of the Disciplined Agile (DA) framework. During the transition phase, the team focuses on finalizing the product and preparing it for release, which includes activities like final testing, user training, and deployment planning to ensure the solution is ready for production use. Options A (Produce a potentially consumable solution) and B (Develop common vision) are more aligned with earlier phases, such as Inception or Construction. Option D (Address risk) is a goal throughout the lifecycle but is not specific to the transition phase.

DevOps in the Disciplined Agile framework refers to a set of practices and tools aimed at creating a seamless integration of development and operations to enable continuous delivery and integration. Option (B), "Creating a smooth flow of work from development to operations," correctly captures the essence of DevOps. This practice involves automating workflows, improving collaboration between development and operations teams, and ensuring that software changes can be deployed to production reliably and frequently.

Options A, C, and D do not fully encompass the concept of DevOps in the Disciplined Agile context. While automating testing (A) and involving operational teams in development (C) are parts of DevOps, they are not the complete definition. Using development team members to solve operational problems (D) is not the primary focus of DevOps; instead, the aim is to create a collaborative environment where both development and operations teams work together effectively.

Thus, the correct answer is (B) as it represents the overarching goal of DevOps in a DA context, which is to facilitate a smooth, efficient flow from development to operations, enabling rapid and reliable software delivery.

In Lean, the role of management is to create an environment where teams can thrive and deliver maximum value. This involves fostering a culture that encourages collaboration, continuous improvement, and innovation. Management is responsible for providing support, removing impediments, and ensuring that teams have the resources they need to be successful. The goal is to empower teams to make decisions, own their processes, and focus on delivering value to customers.

Options A, B, and D do not align with the principles of Lean management. Lean emphasizes minimizing waste (like unnecessary documentation) and does not focus on providing MVPs directly to the team (Option B). Ensuring decisions are not made regionally (Option D) is also not a core role of management in Lean.

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.

The eight principles of Disciplined Agile are:

Delight Customers: Focus on providing exceptional value to customers.

Be Awesome: Foster an environment where team members feel motivated and supported.

Pragmatism: Make practical decisions based on context, rather than blindly following a methodology.

Context Counts: Recognize that every team and organization operates in a unique context.

Choice is Good: Encourage flexibility by providing multiple options to solve problems.

Optimize Flow: Improve efficiency and effectiveness by focusing on smooth workflow.

Enterprise Awareness: Ensure alignment with organizational goals and strategies.

Organize Around Products/Services: Form teams based on delivering complete products or services, rather than around specialized functions.

These principles promote a flexible, customer-centric, and context-sensitive approach to Agile delivery.

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, "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.

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and a Minimum Business Increment (MBI) serve different purposes in the Disciplined Agile framework. An MVP (Option C) represents the smallest version of a product that can be released to customers to provide feedback and validate assumptions, whereas an MBI (Option D) is a small, deployable unit of value that builds upon an existing product and is designed to deliver business value incrementally. Option D is correct because an MBI is generally built incrementally on top of an existing product to enhance or add new capabilities. The other options do not correctly describe the relationship or distinction between MVP and MBI in the DA framework.

A long-lived (stable) team is one that remains intact over multiple projects or iterations, allowing team members to develop strong relationships, trust, and a deep understanding of each other's skills and working styles. This stability leads to two key benefits:

Highly Collaborative:Stable teams develop effective communication and collaboration patterns, which enhance their ability to work together efficiently. They understand each other's strengths and weaknesses and can leverage this knowledge to optimize teamwork and problem-solving.

Trustworthy:Long-lived teams build trust over time, which is essential for open communication, risk-taking, and innovation. Trust enables team members to feel safe sharing their ideas and concerns, which leads to higher engagement, morale, and productivity.

Options A (Projectized) and B (Specifically resourced) are incorrect as they do not directly represent the benefits of having a stable team. Option E (Ability to multi-task) is less relevant, as Agile promotes focused work rather than multi-tasking.

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.

Disciplined Agile (DA) encourages embracingdiversitybecause diverse teams bring a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and ideas, which can foster innovation and creativity. Diverse teams are better equipped to solve complex problems, adapt to changing environments, and meet varied customer needs. While diversity can sometimes lead to more challenging discussions, it ultimately contributes to higher-quality outcomes.

Options A (reaching consensus faster) and B (mandates) are not primary reasons within the DA framework. Option D (allowing everyone to do what they want) does not reflect a structured Agile approach.

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 Continuous Delivery Lean life cycle is suitable when there is an experienced team working on a product or service where the requirements change frequently, potentially daily. This life cycle supports frequent deployments and quick feedback loops, making it ideal for environments where requirements are dynamic and evolve rapidly. Options A, D, and E do not align with the conditions that necessitate a Continuous Delivery Lean approach, as they involve either less experienced teams or slower-evolving requirements.

In the context of roles in Disciplined Agile (DA), it is true that a person may take on more than one role within a team. DA promotes flexibility and adaptability in team roles, allowing team members to wear multiple hats depending on their skills and the team's needs. Option A (highly specialized team members) contradicts DA’s principle of cross-functional teams. Option C incorrectly assigns the facilitator role to the Product Owner, and Option D does not accurately describe the Team Lead's responsibilities in DA.

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.

The Disciplined Agile (DA) mindset consists of several principles that guide agile practices within an organization. Three of these key principles are:

Delight customers:This principle emphasizes that the primary goal is to meet or exceed customer expectations by delivering value early and often.

Enterprise awareness:This principle promotes awareness of the larger organizational context, encouraging teams to make decisions that align with enterprise goals, values, and governance.

Be pragmatic:This principle encourages practical, context-specific solutions over rigid adherence to one methodology, allowing teams to use practices that are most effective for their situation.

Option B, "Be a servant leader," is a practice or behavior expected from team leaders, not a core principle of the DA mindset itself. Option D, "Accelerate delivery," is an outcome of effective agile practices, but not one of the principles guiding the DA approach.

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 (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

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.

Using a Pull system means that work is pulled by the team members only when they are ready to start the next piece of work. It does not mean that all team members are pulled in to do the work. Instead, the team pulls in work based on capacity and readiness, ensuring a manageable workflow and limiting Work In Progress (WIP). Options B, C, and D describe principles that align with a pull system, but A does not.

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.

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.

Business Agility is the ability of an organization to adapt quickly and effectively to market and environmental changes, responding with innovative solutions and maintaining competitiveness. This concept involves a broader strategic capability beyond just implementing agile processes; it requires an organization-wide mindset of flexibility, responsiveness, and continuous improvement. Options A, B, and D reflect narrower or less comprehensive aspects that do not fully encompass the broader concept of Business Agility.

DevOpsis a key competency in Disciplined Agile, aiming to create a smooth flow of work from development through to operations. This involves practices such as continuous integration, continuous delivery, and automated deployment, which help to reduce cycle time, improve feedback loops, and ensure the product is always in a deployable state. The focus is on integrating development and operations to deliver value to customers more rapidly and reliably.

Options B (using developers for operations), C (automating testing), and D (involving operational teams in development) are components of DevOps practices, but the primary goal is to establish a seamless workflow.

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 process goal of "Explore Scope" in the Disciplined Agile framework focuses on understanding the purpose, domain, and intended usage of a product. This involves clarifying what needs to be delivered, gathering requirements, and determining the boundaries of what is in and out of scope for the product development. When a team is exploring the product's purpose, domain, and usage, they are actively engaging in the process of defining and refining the scope of the work to be done, making Option C the correct answer. Options A, B, and D relate to other aspects of agile project management, but do not specifically address the exploration of scope.

Attributes of a leader in Disciplined Agile include taking risks, inspiring trust, and focusing on goals. Leaders in an agile environment should be willing to take calculated risks to innovate and improve, build trust within their teams and with stakeholders, and maintain a focus on achieving goals and delivering value. Options B (Goes with the flow) and D (Assigns tasks) are less aligned with agile leadership, which emphasizes empowerment over task assignment and adaptability rather than passively following along.

In the PMI Disciplined Agile framework, "Governance" is a process blade that focuses on providing oversight and direction to ensure that the organization aligns with its objectives and complies with relevant policies and standards. A senior management team monitoring work across various areas, providing guidance, and resolving escalated issues is a clear example of governance. The purpose of governance is to ensure that teams are operating effectively and efficiently, aligned with organizational goals, and that risks are managed appropriately. Portfolio management (Option A) deals with investment decisions and balancing the portfolio, while the other options (Business Operations, Finance, Product Management) focus on different aspects of the organization.

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.

Enforcing adherence to organizational standards is an important aspect of Lean governance in the Disciplined Agile framework. Lean governance involves ensuring that teams follow defined policies, procedures, and standards to align with the organization's goals while allowing for flexibility and responsiveness. It balances the need for governance with the principles of Lean, ensuring that teams work within the boundaries of organizational standards while continuously improving their processes.

The Team Lead, in Disciplined Agile, is responsible for ensuring that the daily coordination meeting (often known as the daily stand-up) happens. While team members participate in the meeting and are responsible for their coordination, the Team Lead facilitates the process and ensures that it takes place consistently. This role helps maintain the cadence and discipline of the daily coordination meeting.

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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We can identify our challenges "by visualizing our workflow to identify what blocks it." Visualizing the workflow, such as through a Kanban board or value stream map, helps teams see where bottlenecks, delays, or inefficiencies occur. This visualization makes it easier to pinpoint problems and areas for improvement. While holding retrospectives (B), finding where frustrations arise (C), and trying good practices to identify failures (D) are all valuable techniques, visualizing workflow is a foundational Lean practice for identifying and addressing challenges in real time.

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 Disciplined Agile principles that best address the need to consider the bigger picture areEnterprise AwarenessandContext Counts.

Enterprise Awarenessensures that teams understand how their work fits within the broader organizational context, including alignment with corporate objectives, policies, and other teams. This principle encourages teams to think beyond their immediate tasks and consider the overall goals and constraints of the organization.

Context Countsemphasizes that the approach to work should be tailored to the specific situation and environment. It promotes the idea that different contexts require different strategies, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Both principles encourage a holistic view that considers the larger organizational and environmental factors influencing team decisions.

An advantage of aproject teamas opposed to long-standing product teams is agreater focus on delivery and short-term goals. Project teams are typically formed to achieve specific, time-bound objectives, and their primary focus is on delivering the project outcomes within the set timeframe. This can lead to an intense focus on immediate deliverables and short-term results.

Options A (motivation to learn and evolve the WoW) and D (bringing work to the team) are more applicable to long-standing teams, while Option C (long-term focus) is not typically an advantage of project-based 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 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.

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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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 Disciplined Agile framework emphasizes that long-standing product teams are generally more effective than ad-hoc or project-based teams. This is because stable, cross-functional teams develop stronger relationships, improve collaboration, and build a deeper understanding of the product and customer needs over time. Long-standing teams can leverage their accumulated knowledge and experience, resulting in higher productivity and better quality outcomes. This aligns with the DA's principles of fostering team continuity and encouraging long-term team formation to improve agility and efficiency within organizations. The DA approach supports a team-based way of working rather than frequent team reorganization, which can disrupt team dynamics and reduce effectiveness.

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True: On an Agile team, the Product Owner is the go-to person for business domain information. The Product Owner is responsible for defining the product vision, managing the product backlog, and acting as the primary liaison between the development team and stakeholders. They provide clarity on business requirements, priorities, and customer needs, ensuring that the team understands what is needed to deliver value. The Product Owner's deep knowledge of the business domain makes them the authoritative source for business-related questions and guidance.

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.

In Disciplined Agile, the "Construction" phase is where a consumable solution is developed incrementally and collaboratively. This phase is focused on creating working software or products in small, manageable increments, incorporating feedback, and ensuring that the solution evolves to meet customer needs. The Construction phase emphasizes collaboration, incremental development, and continuous integration to build a high-quality product iteratively.

Options A (Execution) and D (Transition) do not accurately describe the phase focused on collaborative and incremental solution development. Option B (Inception) refers to the initial phase where the scope, vision, and feasibility of the project are established.

References:

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

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

In a Disciplined Agile team, the role of the team lead is not typically to make decisions on product priorities or the product roadmap. These responsibilities usually belong to the Product Owner, who represents the customer and stakeholders, prioritizes the backlog, and defines the product vision. The team lead's responsibilities include guiding the team through improvement actions (A), facilitating collaboration (B), and helping the team evolve their Way of Working (WoW) (D). Hence, "C. Providing timely decisions on priority and product roadmap" is not a role for the team lead.

According to Disciplined Agile and broader agile principles, complex adaptive systems, such as software development environments, cannot be fully understood by analyzing individual parts in isolation. The nature of complex adaptive systems is that they involve multiple interacting components, and their behaviors emerge from these interactions. Therefore, understanding the whole system requires examining the relationships, feedback loops, and patterns that arise within the entire context, not just the individual parts. This concept is grounded in systems thinking, a key component in agile methodologies, which encourages viewing the system holistically.

Disciplined Agile provides a solid foundation for business agility by (A) creating awesome teams that foster joy and (D) describing the trade-offs associated with a range of options. Creating awesome teams involves building a positive and productive team environment where team members are engaged, motivated, and empowered. Describing trade-offs allows teams to make informed decisions by understanding the implications of different practices and approaches. While "enforcing adherence to organizational standards" (C) and "defining a framework for agility at scale" (B) are part of Disciplined Agile, they are not specifically highlighted as primary ways DA fosters business agility.