SAFe Agilist (Leading SAFe) — All Questions

SAFe is founded on:

• a.A single project methodology
• b.Lean and Agile principles✓
• c.Waterfall stage gates
• d.Fixed annual project plans

SAFe is built on Lean-Agile principles and values.

Which is a SAFe Lean-Agile principle?

• a.Decentralize decision-making✓
• b.Centralize all decisions with executives
• c.Avoid economic thinking
• d.Plan everything once, upfront

Decentralizing decision-making is a core SAFe principle.

In the SAFe House of Lean, the goal at the top is:

• a.Documentation
• b.Utilization
• c.Value✓
• d.Individual bonuses

The goal of the House of Lean is value.

'Take an economic view' means teams should:

• a.Ignore cost of delay
• b.Optimize only local team metrics
• c.Never sequence work
• d.Understand cost of delay and sequence jobs for best economic outcome✓

Taking an economic view includes understanding cost of delay to sequence work.

The Agile Release Train (ART) is best described as:

• a.A single agile team
• b.A long-lived team of agile teams delivering value in a value stream✓
• c.A one-time project
• d.A portfolio funding model

An ART is a team of agile teams that continuously delivers value.

A typical ART includes roughly how many people?

• a.50 to 125✓
• b.5 to 9
• c.1 to 3
• d.500 to 1000

An ART is usually 50-125 people (a 'Dunbar number' scale).

The fixed timebox on which an ART delivers is called the:

• a.Sprint
• b.Release
• c.Program Increment (PI)✓
• d.Fiscal year

The Program Increment (PI) is the ART's cadence, usually 8-12 weeks.

The ART aligns teams to a common:

• a.Manager
• b.Office location
• c.Programming language
• d.Mission and cadence✓

Teams on an ART share a mission and operate on a common cadence.

PI Planning is:

• a.An optional yearly workshop
• b.A cadence-based event where all ART teams plan the next PI together✓
• c.A daily standup
• d.A portfolio budgeting meeting

PI Planning is a regular event aligning all ART teams on the upcoming PI.

A key output of PI Planning is:

• a.Committed PI objectives and a program board✓
• b.A signed fixed-scope contract
• c.Individual performance reviews
• d.A ten-year roadmap

PI Planning produces committed PI objectives and a program (ART) board.

The program board created in PI Planning primarily visualizes:

• a.Team salaries
• b.Office seating
• c.Features, milestones, and cross-team dependencies✓
• d.Source code

The program board shows features, milestones, and dependencies across teams.

Business owners assign business value to PI objectives to:

• a.Rank employees
• b.Set budgets for the year
• c.Replace the backlog
• d.Align teams on what matters most to the business✓

Business value ratings align teams on the most important objectives.

Lean Portfolio Management funds:

• a.Individual projects
• b.Value streams✓
• c.Only executives' initiatives
• d.Single sprints

LPM funds value streams rather than temporary projects.

A benefit of funding value streams instead of projects is:

• a.Reduced overhead and faster, more flexible decisions✓
• b.More detailed upfront project plans
• c.Longer approval cycles
• d.Less alignment to strategy

Lean budgets with guardrails reduce overhead and speed decisions.

A portfolio Epic in SAFe is:

• a.A daily task
• b.A single user story
• c.A large initiative requiring analysis (a lightweight business case)✓
• d.A defect

Epics are large initiatives evaluated with a lightweight business case.

Guardrails in Lean budgets exist to:

• a.Eliminate all governance
• b.Assign work to individuals
• c.Remove strategic alignment
• d.Guide spending and investment within value streams✓

Guardrails govern how value-stream budgets are spent while keeping flexibility.

Lean-Agile leaders are expected to:

• a.Command and control teams
• b.Lead by example and empower teams✓
• c.Avoid learning the framework
• d.Make every team decision

Lean-Agile leaders model the mindset and empower teams.

A leader practicing 'Lead by example' would:

• a.Learn and demonstrate Lean-Agile behaviors themselves✓
• b.Delegate all learning to others
• c.Rely only on status reports
• d.Enforce fixed plans rigidly

Leading by example means embodying the Lean-Agile mindset personally.

Empowering teams to make decisions supports the SAFe principle of:

• a.Centralized control
• b.Maximizing utilization
• c.Decentralized decision-making✓
• d.Fixed annual planning

Empowered teams reflect decentralized decision-making.

Relentless improvement in SAFe is pursued through:

• a.A one-time training
• b.Ignoring problems
• c.Blaming individuals
• d.Regular Inspect and Adapt events✓

Inspect and Adapt (I&A) drives relentless improvement each PI.