Professional Scrum Master Scrum Theory and Principles 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Scrum event is specifically designed to adapt the Sprint Backlog based on inspection of progress?
- Sprint Planning
- Daily Scrum (Correct answer)
- Sprint Review
- Sprint Retrospective
Correct answer: Daily Scrum
The Daily Scrum is an inspection and adaptation event where the Developers inspect progress and adapt their plan for the next 24 hours.
Question 2: A Product Owner wants to skip the Sprint Retrospective to save time. What principle of Scrum does this violate?
- The principle that Sprints must be exactly four weeks
- The empirical pillar of adaptation and the commitment to continuous improvement (Correct answer)
- The rule that the Product Owner must attend all events
- The principle that all artifacts must be updated every Sprint
Correct answer: The empirical pillar of adaptation and the commitment to continuous improvement
The Sprint Retrospective is the formal opportunity for the team to inspect and adapt their process — skipping it undermines Scrum's empirical foundation.
Question 3: How does Scrum manage the unpredictability inherent in complex product development?
- By requiring comprehensive documentation before each Sprint
- By using short iterative cycles with frequent inspection and adaptation (Correct answer)
- By assigning a dedicated risk manager to the Scrum Team
- By extending Sprint length to allow for more thorough planning
Correct answer: By using short iterative cycles with frequent inspection and adaptation
Scrum uses short Sprints to limit risk exposure, with frequent inspect-and-adapt cycles to respond to unpredictability.
Question 4: What does the Scrum value of 'respect' require in practice?
- Senior team members make all technical decisions
- Team members avoid disagreement to maintain harmony
- Scrum Team members respect each other as capable, independent people (Correct answer)
- The Scrum Master must approve all team decisions
Correct answer: Scrum Team members respect each other as capable, independent people
Respect means Scrum Team members believe each person is capable and independent, treating each other accordingly in all interactions.
Question 5: A team consistently delivers Increments that fail to meet stakeholder expectations. Which empirical pillar is most likely insufficient?
- Transparency — stakeholders lack visibility into what is being built (Correct answer)
- Inspection — the team is not reviewing their work
- Adaptation — the team is not changing based on feedback
- All three pillars are equally deficient
Correct answer: Transparency — stakeholders lack visibility into what is being built
If stakeholders don't understand what is being built (no shared Definition of Done, unclear product backlog), transparency is insufficient — inspection and adaptation cannot fix what isn't visible.
Question 6: Which of the following best illustrates the Scrum value of 'focus'?
- The Scrum Team works on multiple projects simultaneously to maximize efficiency
- Developers concentrate on the Sprint Goal and do not add unplanned work (Correct answer)
- The Product Owner focuses solely on technical architecture decisions
- The Scrum Master focuses on reporting progress to management
Correct answer: Developers concentrate on the Sprint Goal and do not add unplanned work
Focus means the Scrum Team concentrates on the Sprint Goal and the work of the current Sprint rather than spreading attention across many things.
Question 7: Why does Scrum prescribe a maximum Sprint length of one month?
- Because teams cannot estimate work that spans longer periods
- To limit complexity and risk by ensuring frequent delivery and feedback (Correct answer)
- Because stakeholders cannot commit attention for longer periods
- To align with typical organizational budget cycles
Correct answer: To limit complexity and risk by ensuring frequent delivery and feedback
Limiting Sprints to one month controls risk — if the direction is wrong, only one month of effort is lost before correction is possible.
Professional Scrum Master Scrum Theory and Principles 3
Which Scrum event is specifically designed to adapt the Sprint Backlog based on inspection of progress?