Pass the Scaled Agile SA - SAFe Agilist SAFe-Agilist Questions and answers with CertsForce

Features are found on an ART planning board. An ART planning board is a tool that helps teams visualize and manage the work items for an Agile Release Train (ART). An ART is a long-lived team of Agile teams that delivers value in a regular cadence. Features are high-level descriptions of system behaviors that provide business value to a stakeholder. Features are derived from epics and decomposed into user stories or enablers. Features are prioritized by business value using Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) and planned for Program Increments (PIs) by the ART teams. References: Organizing Around Value with ARTs, ART Planning Board

Core Values - Scaled Agile Framework

According to the SAFe Agilist 6.0 domain of SAFe Core Values, alignment is one of the four core values that represent the foundational beliefs that are key to SAFe’s effectiveness1. Alignment includes the following practices:

Communicate the vision, mission, and strategy

Connect strategy to execution

Speak with a common language

Constantly check for understanding

Understand your customer

Establish flow

Enable decentralized decision-making

Transparency is one of the SAFe core values. SAFe core values are the fundamental beliefs that guide the behaviors and actions of SAFe enterprises. Transparency means that all the relevant information about the strategy, plans, progress, risks, and issues are openly shared and visible to everyone who needs it. Transparency helps build trust, alignment, collaboration, and learning among all the stakeholders in a SAFe enterprise. References: SAFe Core Values, Transparency

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

The SAFe workbook explicitly describes how ART events form a feedback-driven cycle:

“ART events, such as PI Planning, Iteration Planning, Reviews, and Retrospectives form a plan-do-check-adjust (PDCA) learning cycle.”

This continuous improvement cycle enables adaptation and learning throughout the ART’s execution.

The business owner is the person who decides the team PI objective business value scoring after negotiation. The business owner is a key stakeholder who has the primary business and technical responsibility for governance, compliance, and return on investment (ROI) for a specific value stream. The business owner participates in the PI planning event and assigns business value points to each team PI objective based on their alignment with the program vision and objectives. The business owner also reviews and approves the final plan and value scores after the team and program risks are resolved. References: PI Planning, Business Owners

The SAFe Workbook outlines Lean-Agile Leadership as having three core dimensions:

Mindset and principles

Leading by example

Leading the change

Each dimension is explained with specific behaviors and leadership strategies.

Guiding investments by horizon is the Lean budget guardrail that helps ensure the appropriate allocation of budgets to balance near-term opportunities with long-term strategy and growth. A Lean budget guardrail is a policy or guideline that governs how the portfolio operates within the Lean budgeting system. Guiding investments by horizon means allocating budgets across three time horizons: Horizon 1 (current value streams), Horizon 2 (emerging opportunities), and Horizon 3 (exploration and innovation). This helps the portfolio balance the exploitation of existing markets with the exploration of new ones, and foster a culture of experimentation and learning. References: Lean Portfolio Management, Traditional and Lean Budgeting Approaches

From the Workbook’s Portfolio Kanban section:

“Once an Epic is approved with a Lean business case, it moves to the ‘Ready’ state in the Portfolio Kanban system, provided it receives a 'go' decision from Lean Portfolio Management (LPM).”

This marks the transition from analysis to readiness for implementation.

Source: 01 Workbook SA (6.0).pdf, Page 5-32

Customer Centricity is described as:

“A mindset and way of doing business that focuses on creating positive experiences for the customer by understanding their needs, behaviors, and preferences.”

This drives innovation and aligns solutions to real customer problems.