Scaled Agile SAFe-Agilist SAFe Agilist - Leading SAFe (SA)(5.1.1) Exam Practice Test

A SAFe portfolio is a collection of development value streams. A development value stream is a long-lived series of steps that an enterprise uses to continuously deliver value to a customer or stakeholder. A development value stream typically consists of one or more ARTs and Solution Trains that build and deliver solutions. A SAFe portfolio aligns and governs one or more development value streams that share a common business mission, vision, strategy, and funding. A SAFe portfolio helps enterprises achieve Lean Portfolio Management, which is one of the core competencies of business agility in SAFe. References: SAFe Portfolio, Development Value Streams

“Precisely specify value by product” is central to Lean thinking. Lean thinking is a philosophy and a set of principles and practices that aim to eliminate waste and optimize value delivery. Value is defined as anything that a customer is willing to pay for or that meets their needs or desires. Value is specified by product, which means that each product or service should have a clear and explicit definition of what value it provides to the customer and how it differs from other products or services. Specifying value by product helps avoid ambiguity, confusion, and inefficiency in the value delivery process. References: Thriving in the Digital Age, SAFe Principle #1

According to the SAFe Agilist 6.0 domain of Apply SAFe Principles, when basing decisions on economics, lead time, product cost, value, and development expense are used to:

• Evaluate the economic impact of different design alternatives
• Optimize the flow of value delivery by minimizing delays and waste
• Maximize the return on investment by delivering the most valuable features first
• Balance the tradeoffs between speed, quality, and cost

https://scaledagileframework.com/take-an-economic-view/

The SAFe Lean-Agile Principle that includes the critical part of “delaying decisions to the last responsible moment” is “Assume variability; preserve options”. This principle is based on the concept of set-based design, which is a way of managing uncertainty and complexity in product development. Set-based design means exploring multiple possible solutions in parallel, eliminating inferior options over time, and converging on the best solution as more information becomes available. Delaying decisions to the last responsible moment means keeping multiple options open until enough data and feedback are gathered to make an informed decision, which reduces risk and waste. References: SAFe Lean-Agile Principles, SAFe Principle #4

Restoring the speed and innovation of the entrepreneurial network while leveraging the stability of the hierarchical system is a benefit of adopting a dual operating system. A dual operating system is a way of organizing an enterprise that combines two complementary structures: a traditional hierarchy that provides stability, alignment, and efficiency; and a network of empowered teams that provides speed, agility, and creativity. A dual operating system helps enterprises achieve organizational agility, which is one of the core competencies of business agility in SAFe. References: Organizational Agility, Dual Operating System

Mindset and principles is one of the dimensions of Lean-Agile Leadership. Lean-Agile Leadership is one of the core competencies of business agility in SAFe. Lean-Agile Leadership means exhibiting the behaviors that enable an organization to achieve business agility. Lean-Agile Leadership has three dimensions: mindset and principles; leading change; and developing people. Mindset and principles means adopting the values and principles of Lean thinking and Agile development, and applying them to lead others in achieving business agility. References: Lean-Agile Leadership, Mindset and Principles

Uncommitted objectives are counted when calculating load. Load is a measure of how much work a team can realistically accomplish in a PI. Load is calculated by adding up the story points of all the committed and uncommitted objectives of a team. Committed objectives areSMART goals that reflect the value that each team intends to deliver in a PI with high confidence. Uncommitted objectives are stretch goals that reflect additional value that each team may be able to deliver in a PI if they have extra capacity or time. Uncommitted objectives are not included in the commitment or the business value scoring, but they are included in the load to account for their potential impact on team capacity. References: PI Planning, Team PI Objectives

ROAM is an acronym for Resolved, Owned, Accepted, Mitigated. ROAM is a technique for categorizing and managing PI risks during the final plan review in the PI planning event. PI risks are potential events or conditions that may have a negative impact on the PI objectives or outcomes. ROAM helps teams address their PI risks by assigning them to one of four states: Resolved (the risk has been eliminated or is no longer relevant); Owned (the risk has been assigned to a person or a team who is responsible for managing it); Accepted (the risk has been acknowledged and its impact has been factored into the plan); Mitigated (the risk has been reduced or its likelihood has been lowered). References: PI Planning, Final Plan Review

Design thinking is a method that provides a continuous understanding of the target market. Design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that involves empathy, ideation, experimentation, and implementation. Design thinking helps teams discover the real needs and desires of their customers, generate innovative solutions that address those needs, validate their assumptions through fast feedback loops, and deliver value that delights their customers. Design thinking helps teams achieve the core competency of Customer Centricity in SAFe. References: Customer Centricity, Design Thinking

Lean Portfolio Management, Agile Product Delivery, and Lean-Agile Leadership are SAFe core competencies. A SAFe core competency is a set of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that enablean organization to achieve business agility. Business agility is the ability to compete and thrive in the digital age by quickly responding to market changes and emerging opportunities with innovative solutions. There are seven core competencies in SAFe: Team and Technical Agility, Agile Product Delivery, Enterprise Solution Delivery, Lean Portfolio Management, Organizational Agility, Continuous Learning Culture, and Lean-Agile Leadership. References: SAFe as an Operating System for Business Agility, Core Competencies of Business Agility

Decisions that deliver large and broad economic benefits are the type of decisions that should remain centralized even in a decentralized decision-making environment. Decentralized decision-making is a principle and practice that empowers individuals and teams to make decisions about their work without excessive interference or control from others. Decentralized decision-making fosters autonomy, agility, innovation, and ownership among knowledge workers. However, some decisions are better made centrally by those who have more authority, information, or expertise. These include decisions that affect the whole enterprise or portfolio, such as strategy, vision, budgeting, governance, compliance, etc. References: SAFe Lean-Agile Principles, SAFe Principle #9

This is how SAFe describes Customer Centricity. Customer Centricity is one of the core competencies of business agility in SAFe. Customer Centricity means putting the customer at the center of everything the enterprise does, and understanding their needs, desires, and problems deeply. Customer Centricity also means adopting a mindset that focuses on observing and learning from customer behaviors that produce the best innovations, rather than relying on assumptions or opinions. Customer Centricity helps enterprises deliver solutions that delight their customers and achieve market differentiation. References: Customer Centricity

According to the SAFe Agilist 6.0 domain of Apply SAFe Principles, this principle is the first Lean-Agile Principle and it describes how to make decisions based on economics1. One of the practices essential to achieving optimum economic outcomes is to deliver early and often, which means moving new system features through the development value stream as quickly as possible1. This practice has a direct economic benefit, as it enables faster feedback, higher value, and lower risk1. You can read more about this principle and practice in this article, under the section “Deliver early and often”.