Certified Agile Leader 1 (CAL 1) — Questions and Answers

Question 1: How does an Agile leader model the culture they want to create?

By issuing cultural policy documents
By demonstrating Agile values and behaviors consistently in their own actions (Correct answer)
By rewarding only those who follow Agile processes
By mandating culture training for all employees

Correct answer: By demonstrating Agile values and behaviors consistently in their own actions

Leaders create culture through their own consistent behavior, which signals what is truly valued in the organization.

Question 2: How does an Agile leader address organizational resistance to change?

By replacing resistant employees
By listening to concerns, communicating the 'why', and involving resistors in the change process (Correct answer)
By ignoring resistance and moving forward
By mandating compliance with new processes

Correct answer: By listening to concerns, communicating the 'why', and involving resistors in the change process

Effective Agile leaders address resistance by engaging resistors, communicating transparently, and co-creating the change.

Question 3: What is the role of a CAL-1 leader when teams are in the 'Storming' phase?

Dissolve the team and start over
Facilitate conflict resolution and help the team establish norms (Correct answer)
Assign individual tasks to avoid team conflict
Increase management oversight

Correct answer: Facilitate conflict resolution and help the team establish norms

During Storming, leaders should facilitate conflict resolution and help the team establish healthy working norms.

Question 4: How does servant leadership support Agile team self-organization?

By removing obstacles and providing resources without micromanaging (Correct answer)
By creating detailed project plans for the team
By assigning tasks to each team member daily
By approving every team decision

Correct answer: By removing obstacles and providing resources without micromanaging

Servant leaders enable self-organization by clearing impediments and providing support rather than directing work.

Question 5: How does transparency support Agile culture?

It exposes team members to criticism
It replaces the need for planning
It builds trust and enables informed decision-making at all levels (Correct answer)
It increases bureaucratic reporting

Correct answer: It builds trust and enables informed decision-making at all levels

Transparency builds the trust necessary for effective collaboration and enables everyone to make informed decisions.

Question 6: What is 'double-loop learning' in organizational change?

Training teams in both Scrum and Kanban
Repeating a sprint twice for quality improvement
Questioning the underlying assumptions and mental models that drive behavior, not just the behavior itself (Correct answer)
Conducting two retrospectives per sprint

Correct answer: Questioning the underlying assumptions and mental models that drive behavior, not just the behavior itself

Double-loop learning challenges the governing values and assumptions behind actions, enabling deeper organizational transformation.

Question 7: What is 'sensemaking' in the context of Agile leadership?

The process of creating shared understanding of complex or ambiguous situations (Correct answer)
Conducting stakeholder interviews
Analyzing business metrics
Documenting lessons learned

Correct answer: The process of creating shared understanding of complex or ambiguous situations

Sensemaking helps leaders and teams collaboratively interpret ambiguous situations to guide effective responses.

Question 8: What is the primary measure of progress in Agile?

Story points burned
Number of meetings held
Working software (Correct answer)
Completed documentation

Correct answer: Working software

Working software is the primary measure of progress in Agile development.

Question 9: Which Agile Manifesto principle relates to daily collaboration between business and developers?

Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project (Correct answer)
Business requirements are fixed before development begins
Business and developers meet only at milestones
Developers work independently from business stakeholders

Correct answer: Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project

The Agile Manifesto principle requires daily collaboration between business people and developers throughout the project.

Question 10: What is the key indicator of a high-performing Agile team?

Never missing sprint commitments
Having the highest velocity in the organization
Consistently delivering working software that meets or exceeds customer expectations (Correct answer)
Following all Scrum ceremonies perfectly

Correct answer: Consistently delivering working software that meets or exceeds customer expectations

High-performing Agile teams are defined by their ability to consistently deliver value that meets or exceeds customer expectations.

Question 11: How does an Agile team best achieve simplicity?

Following a detailed project plan
Adding comprehensive features upfront
Maximizing the amount of work not done (Correct answer)
Writing extensive documentation

Correct answer: Maximizing the amount of work not done

The Agile principle of simplicity means maximizing the work not done, focusing only on what delivers value.

Question 12: How often should working software be delivered according to Agile principles?

Only at project completion
Frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months (Correct answer)
After all requirements are finalized
Annually

Correct answer: Frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months

Agile principles call for frequent delivery of working software, preferring shorter timescales.

Question 13: What is 'appreciative inquiry' in Agile organizational change?

An audit methodology for Agile teams
A risk assessment framework
A performance review technique
A strengths-based approach to change that focuses on what is working well (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A strengths-based approach to change that focuses on what is working well

Appreciative inquiry drives positive change by identifying and amplifying existing strengths rather than focusing on problems.

Question 14: What is the Satir Change Model's 'chaos' phase?

The initial planning phase of change
The final stage of successful change
A period of disruption and uncertainty after a foreign element is introduced (Correct answer)
A time when team performance increases rapidly

Correct answer: A period of disruption and uncertainty after a foreign element is introduced

In the Satir Change Model, chaos follows the introduction of a foreign element (change), causing disruption before integration.

Question 15: What is the purpose of active listening as a facilitation skill in agile leadership?

To demonstrate authority during team discussions
To quickly identify who is wrong in a conflict
To fully understand the speaker's perspective before responding (Correct answer)
To speed up decision-making by summarizing quickly

Correct answer: To fully understand the speaker's perspective before responding

Active listening ensures the leader genuinely understands the speaker's meaning and emotions, building trust and enabling more effective problem-solving.

Question 16: What is the role of a 'transformation roadmap' in Agile change?

A fixed multi-year project plan
A training schedule for all employees
A flexible, iterative guide for the transformation that is regularly reviewed and adjusted (Correct answer)
A compliance document for auditors

Correct answer: A flexible, iterative guide for the transformation that is regularly reviewed and adjusted

A transformation roadmap provides direction while remaining flexible enough to be adjusted based on learning and feedback.

Question 17: How does a CAL-1 leader contribute to scaling agility beyond their team?

By centralizing all decision-making
By modeling Agile behaviors and advocating for structural changes in the organization (Correct answer)
By enforcing Scrum ceremonies across all departments
By requiring all teams to use the same Agile framework

Correct answer: By modeling Agile behaviors and advocating for structural changes in the organization

CAL-1 leaders scale agility by modeling behaviors and influencing organizational structures to enable greater adaptability.

Question 18: After a coaching conversation, an agile leader reflects on their performance. Which self-assessment question aligns MOST with ICF coaching competencies?

Did I successfully convince the coachee to adopt my recommended approach?
How much of the meeting time did I spend talking versus listening? (Correct answer)
Was the session completed within the scheduled time?
Did the coachee leave with at least three concrete action items?

Correct answer: How much of the meeting time did I spend talking versus listening?

Monitoring the ratio of coach talk to coachee talk is a key quality indicator; effective coaches listen far more than they speak, with the coachee doing the majority of the thinking.

Question 19: Which behavior best demonstrates an Agile leader's commitment to continuous learning?

Attributing all failures to external factors
Openly sharing what they learned from their own failures (Correct answer)
Avoiding discussions of past mistakes
Only sharing successes in all-hands meetings

Correct answer: Openly sharing what they learned from their own failures

Leaders who openly share their own failures model the learning culture they want to build in their organizations.

Question 20: Why is diversity important in Agile teams according to CAL-1?

Diversity increases team size
Diversity simplifies sprint planning
Diverse perspectives improve problem-solving and innovation (Correct answer)
Diversity reduces the need for documentation

Correct answer: Diverse perspectives improve problem-solving and innovation

Diverse teams bring varied perspectives and experiences that lead to more creative and effective problem-solving.

Question 21: What is the ideal size for a Scrum team according to Agile best practices?

15 to 20 members
More than 20 members for large projects
2 to 3 members
5 to 11 members including the Product Owner and Scrum Master (Correct answer)

Correct answer: 5 to 11 members including the Product Owner and Scrum Master

Scrum teams are optimally sized at 5–11 members to maintain effective communication and collaboration.

Question 22: What does 'healing' mean as a servant leadership characteristic?

Eliminating technical debt
Fixing broken processes
Helping people resolve personal and professional wounds or challenges (Correct answer)
Medical support for team members

Correct answer: Helping people resolve personal and professional wounds or challenges

Healing in servant leadership refers to the ability to help make whole those who are broken or struggling.

Question 23: What does 'responding to change over following a plan' mean for Agile leaders?

Change is disruptive and should be avoided
Plans are useless and should never be created
Leaders should adapt strategy as new information emerges (Correct answer)
Only the customer can initiate changes

Correct answer: Leaders should adapt strategy as new information emerges

Agile leaders must be willing to adapt plans and strategies when new information or circumstances arise.

Question 24: How does storytelling serve Agile cultural change?

It replaces data-driven decision making
It is used only for retrospectives
It creates shared meaning and makes abstract change concrete and relatable (Correct answer)
It justifies past decisions

Correct answer: It creates shared meaning and makes abstract change concrete and relatable

Storytelling makes change tangible by connecting people to a shared narrative of why the change matters.

Question 25: What does an Agile mindset require leaders to embrace?

Hierarchical decision-making
Fixed long-term roadmaps
Rigid planning and control
Uncertainty and experimentation (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Uncertainty and experimentation

An Agile mindset requires leaders to embrace uncertainty, experimentation, and learning from failure.

Question 26: Which Agile Manifesto value prioritizes individuals and interactions?

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools (Correct answer)
Documentation over collaboration
Processes and tools over individuals
Contract negotiation over customer collaboration

Correct answer: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

The Agile Manifesto explicitly values individuals and interactions over processes and tools.

Question 27: What is a 'culture of experimentation' in Agile organizations?

A culture where all decisions require data validation
A culture that rejects unproven methods
An environment where testing hypotheses and learning from results is encouraged (Correct answer)
An environment where only R&D teams experiment

Correct answer: An environment where testing hypotheses and learning from results is encouraged

A culture of experimentation means the organization regularly tests assumptions and uses results to guide decisions.

Question 28: Which Agile principle emphasizes trust and empowerment?

Managers must approve all team decisions
Documentation must be approved before work begins
Build projects around motivated individuals and give them the environment and trust they need (Correct answer)
Follow a detailed plan to ensure compliance

Correct answer: Build projects around motivated individuals and give them the environment and trust they need

Agile principles state that projects should be built around motivated individuals who are given trust and support.

Question 29: What is 'business agility' in the CAL-1 context?

The implementation of Scrum across all teams
The adoption of DevOps practices
The speed of software development teams
The ability of an entire enterprise to compete and thrive in the digital age (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The ability of an entire enterprise to compete and thrive in the digital age

Business agility encompasses the entire enterprise's ability to sense, respond, and thrive amid continuous change.

Question 30: What is the main benefit of co-locating Agile team members?

Improved communication, faster decision-making, and stronger team cohesion (Correct answer)
Easier management oversight
Reduced need for digital tools
Simplified project tracking

Correct answer: Improved communication, faster decision-making, and stronger team cohesion

Co-location improves communication and collaboration, enabling faster decisions and stronger team relationships.

Question 31: Which characteristic is most associated with servant leadership?

Top-down decision-making
Command and control
Empathy and active listening (Correct answer)
Micromanagement

Correct answer: Empathy and active listening

Empathy and active listening are hallmark traits of servant leadership, enabling leaders to understand team needs.

Question 32: Which Tuckman stage describes a team that has resolved conflicts and is performing optimally?

Storming
Performing (Correct answer)
Forming
Norming

Correct answer: Performing

In the Performing stage of Tuckman's model, teams function at a high level with minimal conflict or friction.

Question 33: What is a 'growth mindset' in the context of CAL-1 Agile leadership?

Believing talent is fixed and unchangeable
Focusing only on current capabilities
Believing abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work (Correct answer)
Avoiding challenges to prevent failure

Correct answer: Believing abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work

A growth mindset, central to Agile leadership, means believing that abilities can be developed through effort and learning.

Question 34: What is the role of 'champions' in Agile culture change?

External consultants who train teams
Influential people who model and advocate for Agile values within the organization (Correct answer)
Senior managers who approve Agile adoption
Scrum Masters who enforce ceremonies

Correct answer: Influential people who model and advocate for Agile values within the organization

Champions are internal influencers who model and advocate for Agile values, helping spread culture change organically.

Question 35: How do Agile leaders balance stability and change in organizations?

By maintaining rigid stability at all times
By maintaining stable foundations while enabling adaptive responses at the edges (Correct answer)
By prioritizing either stability or change exclusively
By changing everything simultaneously

Correct answer: By maintaining stable foundations while enabling adaptive responses at the edges

Agile leaders create stability in core values and structures while enabling adaptive responses to changing conditions.

Question 36: Which practice best supports continuous team improvement in Agile?

Quarterly planning sessions
Annual performance reviews
Regular retrospectives (Correct answer)
Monthly status reports

Correct answer: Regular retrospectives

Regular retrospectives allow teams to inspect their processes and behaviors and make incremental improvements.

Question 37: What is the primary goal of portfolio management in Agile organizations?

Managing team capacity across sprints
Prioritizing investments to maximize value delivery aligned with strategy (Correct answer)
Tracking individual project budgets
Coordinating release schedules

Correct answer: Prioritizing investments to maximize value delivery aligned with strategy

Agile portfolio management aligns investments with strategic goals to maximize value delivered across the organization.

Question 38: Which Agile Manifesto value addresses collaboration with stakeholders?

Plans over responding to change
Processes over people
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation (Correct answer)
Comprehensive documentation over customer collaboration

Correct answer: Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

The Manifesto values customer collaboration over contract negotiation to ensure the product meets real needs.

Question 39: What mindset shift is required when moving from traditional to Agile leadership?

From coaching teams to directing tasks
From controlling outcomes to enabling teams (Correct answer)
From short cycles to long releases
From collaboration to documentation

Correct answer: From controlling outcomes to enabling teams

Agile leadership requires shifting from controlling outcomes to enabling and empowering teams to self-organize.

Question 40: How should Agile leaders handle fear of change in their organizations?

Acknowledge fears openly and co-create the change path with affected people (Correct answer)
Enforce change through top-down mandates
Delay change until everyone agrees
Dismiss fears as resistance to progress

Correct answer: Acknowledge fears openly and co-create the change path with affected people

Agile leaders address fear by acknowledging it honestly and involving people in shaping the change they'll experience.

Question 41: What is 'swarming' in Agile team behavior?

Working in parallel on unrelated items
Multiple team members collaborating on a single item to finish it quickly (Correct answer)
Splitting work across all team members equally
Assigning tasks based on seniority

Correct answer: Multiple team members collaborating on a single item to finish it quickly

Swarming occurs when team members collectively focus on one work item to complete it before starting new work.

Question 42: Which best describes 'conceptualization' in servant leadership?

Analyzing past performance data
Defining sprint backlogs
Creating detailed project documentation
Thinking beyond day-to-day realities toward a broader vision (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Thinking beyond day-to-day realities toward a broader vision

Conceptualization means servant leaders dream great dreams and think beyond immediate operational concerns.

Question 43: How does an Agile leader foster intrinsic motivation in team members?

By setting competitive individual targets
By offering monetary bonuses for completed tasks
By providing autonomy, mastery opportunities, and purpose (Correct answer)
By increasing managerial oversight

Correct answer: By providing autonomy, mastery opportunities, and purpose

Daniel Pink's autonomy, mastery, and purpose framework explains how intrinsic motivation is built in knowledge workers.

Question 44: An agile leader notices a team member is resistant to a new process change. Which coaching approach is most appropriate?

Ask open-ended questions to understand the root cause of their concerns (Correct answer)
Explain the benefits of the change repeatedly until they agree
Assign the team member to a different team
Mandate compliance and document the resistance

Correct answer: Ask open-ended questions to understand the root cause of their concerns

Open-ended questions uncover the underlying reasons for resistance, allowing the leader to address real concerns and co-create commitment.

Question 45: How does psychological safety contribute to Agile team performance?

Team members compete to outperform each other
Team members take risks, share ideas, and admit mistakes without fear of punishment (Correct answer)
Team members defer all decisions to leadership
Team members follow rules strictly to avoid errors

Correct answer: Team members take risks, share ideas, and admit mistakes without fear of punishment

Psychological safety allows team members to take interpersonal risks, which is essential for innovation and learning.

Question 46: Which concept best aligns with Agile's 12th principle about self-organizing teams?

Managers dictate technical approaches
The best architectures emerge from self-organizing teams (Correct answer)
Architecture must be designed upfront by architects
Only senior engineers make design decisions

Correct answer: The best architectures emerge from self-organizing teams

Agile's 12th principle states that the best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.

Question 47: How does Agile leadership support innovation in organizations?

By creating safe-to-fail experiments and tolerating intelligent failure (Correct answer)
By requiring detailed business cases before any experiment
By eliminating all risky initiatives
By centralizing innovation in R&D departments only

Correct answer: By creating safe-to-fail experiments and tolerating intelligent failure

Agile leaders foster innovation by enabling safe-to-fail experiments where learning from failure is valued.

Question 48: What is 'Definition of Done' (DoD) in Agile teams?

The final step before project closure
A list of user acceptance tests
A shared agreement on what criteria must be met for work to be considered complete (Correct answer)
A manager's approval of completed tasks

Correct answer: A shared agreement on what criteria must be met for work to be considered complete

The Definition of Done is a team agreement on the quality and completion criteria that every increment must meet.

Question 49: In Agile, what is the key purpose of regular reflection and adjustment?

To document lessons learned for auditors
To improve team effectiveness and behaviors (Correct answer)
To justify budget overruns
To assign blame for failures

Correct answer: To improve team effectiveness and behaviors

Regular retrospectives allow teams to reflect on how to become more effective and adjust accordingly.

Question 50: What does the Agile Manifesto value on the right side represent?

Items on the right are obsolete
Items on the right should be eliminated
There is value in the items on the right, but the left side is valued more (Correct answer)
Items on the right are equally valued

Correct answer: There is value in the items on the right, but the left side is valued more

The Agile Manifesto acknowledges value in both sides but emphasizes the left side more over the right.

Question 51: Which stance should an agile leader adopt when a team member is stuck and has no ideas about how to proceed?

Leave them to figure it out independently
Tell them exactly what to do to save time
Reassign the task to a more experienced team member
Shift from a coaching stance to a teaching or advising stance temporarily (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Shift from a coaching stance to a teaching or advising stance temporarily

Skilled agile leaders fluidly shift between coaching, mentoring, and teaching stances depending on the individual's need and developmental level in the moment.

Question 52: What is the primary focus of a servant leader?

Serving the needs of the team (Correct answer)
Directing team activities
Controlling project outcomes
Serving their own career interests

Correct answer: Serving the needs of the team

Servant leaders prioritize the growth, well-being, and needs of their team members above their own.

Question 53: What is the foundation of an Agile culture?

Hierarchical authority structures
Strict process adherence
Individual performance optimization
Trust, transparency, and continuous improvement (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Trust, transparency, and continuous improvement

Agile culture is built on a foundation of trust, transparency, and a shared commitment to continuous improvement.

Question 54: What characteristic enables Agile teams to make decisions without constant leadership approval?

Formal authority delegation
Top-down mandate
Self-organization (Correct answer)
Hierarchical reporting

Correct answer: Self-organization

Self-organizing Agile teams have the autonomy to decide how best to accomplish their work without constant approval.

Question 55: What is the Kübler-Ross change curve's relevance to Agile transformations?

It describes team formation stages
It predicts software delivery timelines
It explains the emotional stages people go through during organizational change (Correct answer)
It defines sprint retrospective formats

Correct answer: It explains the emotional stages people go through during organizational change

The Kübler-Ross curve shows leaders how people emotionally process change, from denial through acceptance, enabling better support.

Question 56: What does the Agile principle 'Welcome changing requirements' primarily support?

Reduced documentation
Customer competitive advantage (Correct answer)
Developer convenience
Fixed project scope

Correct answer: Customer competitive advantage

Welcoming changing requirements harnesses change for the customer's competitive advantage.

Question 57: What is 'T-shaped' skill development in Agile teams?

Team members have equal knowledge across all areas
Team members specialize in only one narrow skill
Team members have deep expertise in one area and broad knowledge across others (Correct answer)
Team members learn only what is needed for current tasks

Correct answer: Team members have deep expertise in one area and broad knowledge across others

T-shaped skills mean individuals have deep expertise in one domain and enough breadth to collaborate across disciplines.

Question 58: What does 'cross-functional team' mean in Agile?

The team has all skills necessary to deliver a product increment without external dependencies (Correct answer)
The team works across multiple projects simultaneously
Each team member has the same skill set
Team members are rotated between departments

Correct answer: The team has all skills necessary to deliver a product increment without external dependencies

Cross-functional Agile teams contain all the skills needed to deliver working software without depending on outside teams.

Question 59: Why should Agile leaders avoid comparing velocity between different teams?

Velocity is only relevant for collocated teams
Each team's velocity is relative to their own context and story point estimates (Correct answer)
All teams should have the same velocity
Velocity comparisons motivate underperforming teams

Correct answer: Each team's velocity is relative to their own context and story point estimates

Velocity is team-specific because story point estimates vary by team; comparing across teams is misleading and demoralizing.

Question 60: What does 'fail fast' mean in Agile culture?

Learn quickly from small failures before committing large investments (Correct answer)
Rush through sprints to fail quickly
Accept that all projects will eventually fail
Avoid all risky initiatives

Correct answer: Learn quickly from small failures before committing large investments

'Fail fast' means designing small experiments to surface failures early, when course correction is still inexpensive.

Certified Agile Leader 1 (CAL 1)

The CAL 1 certification from Scrum Alliance validates understanding of agile leadership principles, culture, team development, and organizational transformation. It is earned through completion of a 16-hour instructor-led course covering agile mindset, leadership in action, leading agile teams, and driving organizational change.

Questions

35 min

Time Limit

70%

To Pass

Checking for saved progress...

Exam Rules

You can skip questions and return to them later
Flag questions for review before submitting
No feedback shown until you submit the entire exam
Unanswered questions count as wrong — answer everything
10 pretest questions are mixed in and don't affect your score
Timer auto-submits when time runs out
Your progress is auto-saved every 30 seconds