Scaled Agile SAFe-Agilist SAFe 6 Agilist - Leading SAFe (SA) (6.0) Exam Practice Test

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

User business value and time criticality are components of cost of delay. Cost of delay is a way of quantifying the economic impact of delaying the delivery of a product or feature. Cost of delay consists of four factors: user or customer value, time criticality, risk reduction or opportunity enablement value, and job size or duration. Cost of delay is used to prioritize features using Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF), which is a method that maximizes the economic value delivered by a product development flow. References: ART Backlog and WSJF, SAFe Principle #1

The Lean Budget Guardrails defined in SAFe include "Guiding investments by horizon" as one of the main components. This ensures strategic alignment and responsible use of funds.

“Fund Value Streams; Lean budgets and Guardrails… Value Stream budgets adjusted dynamically…”

This statement is true about batch size. Batch size is the amount of work that moves as a unit through a process or system. Large batch sizes increase variability by creating more uncertainty, complexity, dependencies, and unpredictability in the workflow. Large batch sizes also increase waste by causing delays, queues, handoffs, rework, overproduction, and inventory accumulation. Reducing batch size is one of the key ways to optimize value delivery and improve flow efficiency. References: SAFe Lean-Agile Principles, SAFe Principle #5

One way Lean-Agile leaders lead by example is by modeling SAFe’s Lean-Agile Mindset, values, principles, and practices. A Lean-Agile Mindset is a way of thinking that embraces the values and principles of Lean thinking and Agile development. A Lean-Agile leader is someone who exhibits this mindset and applies it to lead others in achieving business agility. A Lean-Agile leader models SAFe’s four core values: Alignment, Built-in Quality, Transparency, and Program Execution; as well as its ten principles: Take an economic view; Apply systems thinking; Assume variability; preserve options; Build incrementally with fast integrated learning cycles; Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems; Visualize and limit WIP; reduce batch sizes; manage queue lengths; Apply cadence; synchronize with cross-domain planning; Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers; Decentralize decision-making; Organize around value; and Adopt a customer-centric mindset. References: Lean-Agile Mindset, SAFe Core Values, SAFe Lean-Agile Principles, Lead by Example

Deploy, verify, monitor, and respond are all activities of Continuous Deployment. Continuous Deployment is one of the elements of the Continuous Delivery Pipeline, which is a key enabler of Agile Product Delivery. Continuous Deployment means automatically releasing every update to a production environment or a staging environment that is identical to production. Continuous Deployment involves four activities: deploy (releasing the solution to the target environment); verify (ensuring that the solution meets the quality standards and acceptance criteria); monitor (collecting feedback and data on the solution performance and usage); and respond (taking actions to improve or fix the solution based on the feedback and data). References: Agile Product Delivery, Continuous Delivery Pipeline, Continuous Deployment

According to the SAFe Workbook:

“The Continuous Delivery Pipeline represents the workflows, activities, and automation needed to deliver new functionality more frequently… It enables continuous exploration, integration, deployment, and release on demand—fosteringongoing learning.”

Source:01 Workbook SA (6.0).pdf, Pages 4-81 to 4-84

The workbook clearly outlines:

"Business Owners assign business value (BV) scores to PI Objectives from 1 (low) to 10 (high) after negotiation. These scores help teams understand what is most important to the business."

Source:SAFe Workbook, PI Planning Simulation Section

Under the “Team and Technical Agility” competency, the workbook details:

“Built-in Quality ensures that every element and increment of the solution reflects quality standards throughout development.”

This competency supports Agile practices such as pairing, automation, and Definition of Done to embed quality at every level.

Source:01 Workbook SA (6.0).pdf, Pages 3-13 to 3-15

Strategic Themes are highlighted in the workbook as:

“Differentiating business objectives that… Connect the portfolio to the Enterprise strategy.”

They provide context for budgeting and vision alignment across the organization.

Source:01 Workbook SA (6.0).pdf, Page 5-13

This is one way to describe a cross-functional Agile team. A cross-functional Agile team is a group of 5-11 individuals who have the skills and authority to define, build, test, and deploy some element of solution value—all within a short iteration timebox. A cross-functional Agile team is optimized for communication and delivery of value by having clear roles and responsibilities, shared goals and commitments, frequent feedback and collaboration, high trust and accountability, and continuous improvement. References: Cross-functional Agile Teams

Forming a strategic vision is one key to leading a successful change. A strategic vision is a clear and compelling statement that describes what the organization wants to achieve in the future. A strategic vision helps leaders communicate the purpose, direction, and benefits of the change to all stakeholders, inspire them to embrace the change, align their actions with the desired outcomes, and measure their progress and success. References: Lead by Example, Lead the Change, SAFe Implementation Roadmap

According to the SAFe Glossary and reiterated in the Workbook:

“The Release Train Engineer (RTE) is a servant leader and ART coach who facilitates ART events and processes and supports teams in delivering value.”

Source:SAFe Glossary & Workbook Page 3-19

Cadence and synchronization are applied in events like PI Planning:

“PI Planning provides cadence-based alignment of multiple Agile Teams… Synchronization allows all stakeholders to align and collaborate.”

SAFe describes DevOps as:

“DevOps tries to bridge the gap between new Features and stable solutions… DevOps joins development and operations to enable continuous delivery.”

This integration supports both speed and stability in software delivery.

In the Design Thinking section, the workbook specifies:

“Use empathy maps to identify with Customers… This helps teams develop deep shared understanding and empathy for the Customer.”

This tool is essential in capturing user perspectives, making it a key Design Thinking practice.

Source:01 Workbook SA (6.0).pdf, Pages 4-7 to 4-9

Launching more ARTs and Value Streams is the implementation step that follows Coach ART Execution on the SAFe Implementation Roadmap. The SAFe Implementation Roadmap is a guide that helps enterprises implement SAFe in a structured and reliable way. The roadmap consists of 12 critical moves that span from reaching the tipping point to extending to the portfolio and beyond. Coach ART Execution is the seventh move, where the first ART is launched and coached by a SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) or other expert. Launch more ARTs and Value Streams is the eighth move, where the enterprise expands the implementation of SAFe to other value streams and ARTs, based on the learnings and successes of the firstART. References: SAFe Implementation Roadmap, Coach ART Execution, Launch more ARTs and Value Streams

From the workbook section on forming cross-functional Agile Teams:

“Agile Teams are cross-functional self-organizing entities that can define, build, test, and—where applicable—deploy increments of value.”

“Optimized for communication and delivery of value” is also mentioned but for this question, the best indicators of a cross-functional team are thecapabilities of the team membersand their ability to deliver value independently.

The workbook lists multiple benefits of SAFe and Agile adoption including:

“Faster time-to-market” and “Ability to respond to changing priorities” are consistently shown as primary motivators in SAFe case studies and business agility metrics.

The Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) plays a key role in enabling transformation and follows the SAFe Implementation Roadmap.

“LACE uses the SAFe Implementation Roadmap to guide the transformation… The roadmap outlines a step-by-step strategy from reaching the tipping point to sustaining and accelerating SAFe.”

The SAFe Workbook emphasizes that:

“Large batch sizes increase variability… Small batches go through the system faster with lower variability.”

The workbook includes exercises demonstrating that smaller batch sizes reduce cycle time and increase predictability, while large batches slow flow and introduce delays.

Source:01 Workbook SA (6.0).pdf, Pages 2-54 to 2-56

“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, andinefficiency in the value delivery process. References: Thriving in the Digital Age, SAFe Principle #1

SAFe Principle #10 emphasizes:

“Organize around value” and states that enterprises must continuously adjust their organizational structure to optimize for the flow of value when market demands change.

This meansreorganizing the network around the new value flowis the recommended approach.

According to the SAFe Agilist 6.0 domain of Built-in Quality, this practice reduces bottlenecks and ensures consistency by:

Encouraging teams to share responsibility for the quality of their work products

Establishing common standards and guidelines for coding, testing, documentation, etc.

Enabling teams to collaborate and coordinate across domains and dependencies

Promoting a culture of continuous improvement and learning

https://scaledagileframework.com/built-In-quality/

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

The SAFe Workbook outlines the elements of enterprise strategy formulation and emphasizes:

“Enterprise Strategy Formulation includes Vision, Mission, Core Values, Business Drivers, Competitive Environment, Financial Goals, and Distinctive Competence.”

Among these,Portfolio Visionis identified as a direct outcome that aligns the portfolio with strategy.

Source:01 Workbook SA (6.0).pdf, Page 5-12