SA SAFe Agilist Transformation and Leadership 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which leadership style does SAFe primarily advocate for to support Agile transformation?
- Command-and-control leadership
- Servant leadership (Correct answer)
- Transactional leadership
- Autocratic leadership
Correct answer: Servant leadership
SAFe promotes servant leadership, where leaders serve their teams by removing impediments and enabling autonomy rather than directing work.
Question 2: What is the primary role of a Lean-Agile Leader during a SAFe transformation?
- Monitoring team velocity metrics daily
- Modeling Lean-Agile mindset and coaching others (Correct answer)
- Approving all architectural decisions
- Managing sprint backlogs for each team
Correct answer: Modeling Lean-Agile mindset and coaching others
Lean-Agile Leaders lead by example, modeling the Lean-Agile mindset and actively coaching teams and other leaders.
Question 3: In SAFe, what does 'leading by example' mean for a Lean-Agile Leader?
- Completing work faster than team members
- Demonstrating Lean-Agile behaviors in their own work and decisions (Correct answer)
- Publishing leadership dashboards for visibility
- Assigning stretch goals to drive performance
Correct answer: Demonstrating Lean-Agile behaviors in their own work and decisions
Leading by example means the leader personally exhibits Lean thinking, Agile values, and continuous improvement behaviors.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes the 'dual operating system' concept relevant to SAFe transformation?
- Running two separate Agile Release Trains simultaneously
- Using both waterfall and Agile processes in parallel forever
- A hierarchical structure paired with a value-stream network to enable agility at scale (Correct answer)
- Having two Product Owners per Agile team
Correct answer: A hierarchical structure paired with a value-stream network to enable agility at scale
The dual operating system allows enterprises to maintain efficient hierarchical management while also operating a dynamic Agile network for innovation and delivery.
Question 5: What is a key responsibility of Business Owners in the SAFe transformation journey?
- Writing user stories for development teams
- Participating in PI Planning and evaluating business value (Correct answer)
- Managing individual team member performance reviews
- Defining the sprint cadence for all ARTs
Correct answer: Participating in PI Planning and evaluating business value
Business Owners are active participants in PI Planning who assign business value to team PI Objectives and stay engaged throughout the PI.
Question 6: During a SAFe transformation, which action best helps overcome organizational resistance to change?
- Mandating Agile adoption through policy enforcement
- Communicating an urgent and compelling reason for change (Correct answer)
- Replacing resistant employees immediately
- Reducing team autonomy to ensure compliance
Correct answer: Communicating an urgent and compelling reason for change
Establishing urgency and a compelling reason for change helps people understand why transformation is necessary and motivates adoption.
Question 7: What does SAFe mean by 'organizing around value'?
- Structuring teams based on functional departments
- Aligning teams and ARTs to deliver customer-centric value streams (Correct answer)
- Prioritizing the highest revenue features first
- Measuring value through cost savings alone
Correct answer: Aligning teams and ARTs to deliver customer-centric value streams
Organizing around value means structuring ARTs and Solution Trains around the value streams that deliver end-to-end customer value.
SA SAFe Agilist Transformation and Leadership 2
Which leadership style does SAFe primarily advocate for to support Agile transformation?