PMI-ACP Mindset — 20 Questions

Question 1

Which THREE of the following are Agile principles?

Accepted Answer

Maintain a constant, sustainable development pace. Option A is correct because the Agile principles state that "Agile processes promote sustainable development" and that sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. Option B is correct because one of the twelve Agile principles explicitly says to "Welcome changing requirements, even late in development" for the customer's competitive advantage. Option C is correct because the very first Agile principle states that "Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software." Option D is not an Agile principle, since Agile favors simplicity and minimizing unnecessary complexity rather than maximizing it. Option E is not one of the twelve Agile principles; it is one of the Lean software development principles ("maximize the amount of work not done" is actually phrased in Agile as "Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential," but as written here it is not one of the standard Agile principles and is not marked correct).

Answer

Agile processes should be as complex as possible

Answer

Maximize the amount of work not done

Question 2

A team is consistently missing sprint goals because they over-commit. What is the most Agile-aligned response?

Accepted Answer

Use historical velocity to guide future capacity planning.. The most Agile-aligned response to over-commitment is to use empirical data—specifically historical velocity—to forecast capacity and adjust the amount of work pulled into the sprint. Velocity provides a reliable, team-driven baseline for how much backlog can be completed in a sprint, enabling more accurate commitment. This supports the Agile principles of empirical process control and continuous improvement.

Answer

Stop doing retrospectives to save time for coding.

Answer

Assign tasks to members by seniority to ensure speed.

Answer

Increase the sprint length to provide more time.

Question 3

An Agile team is experiencing low morale due to excessive micromanagement. What is the servant leader's primary role here?

Accepted Answer

Act as a buffer to prevent external interference.. A servant leader's primary role when a team suffers from micromanagement is to shield the team from external interference so they can focus on delivering value. Acting as a buffer means intercepting disruptive demands, negotiating boundaries with management, and creating the protected space the team needs to self-organize and recover morale. This is a core servant-leadership behavior: remove impediments and protect the team.

Answer

Tell the team they must adapt to the manager's style.

Answer

Report the team for lack of productivity.

Answer

Become the manager and direct all work.

Question 4

The team is stuck in a 'blame game' after a failed release. How do you facilitate a transition to an Agile mindset?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a blame-free post-mortem focused on process gaps.. Facilitating a blame-free post-mortem focused on process gaps transitions the team to an agile mindset by emphasizing systemic improvement over individual fault. This aligns with agile values of respect, courage, and continuous learning.

Answer

Disband the team and create new ones.

Answer

Identify the individual responsible for the failure.

Answer

Ask the manager to provide disciplinary actions.

Question 5

A team is struggling with frequent context switching. As a servant leader, what is the best first step to foster an Agile mindset regarding focus?

Accepted Answer

Introduce WIP limits at the team level.. Introducing WIP (Work In Progress) limits at the team level is a direct Kanban/Agile practice that reduces context switching by capping the number of concurrent items. As a servant leader, the best first step is to foster this mindset through a lightweight, team-owned mechanism rather than imposing controls.

Answer

Implement mandatory overtime to finish tasks.

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Mandate daily status reports to the PMO.

Answer

Assign specific tasks to individuals without team input.

Question 6

A product owner wants to add a new requirement mid-sprint. According to Agile principles, what should the team do?

Accepted Answer

Evaluate the change against the current sprint goal with the PO.. In Agile, the sprint goal is the commitment the team makes for the sprint, and changes that jeopardize it should be evaluated collaboratively. The correct action is for the team to assess the new requirement against the current sprint goal with the Product Owner, determining whether it can be accommodated without compromising the sprint's objective. This aligns with the Agile principle of welcoming changing requirements, even late in development, while maintaining focus and protecting the sprint's integrity. The PO and team decide together whether to adjust scope, swap items of equal size, or defer the change to the next sprint.

Answer

Accept the change and extend the sprint duration.

Answer

Refuse all changes immediately.

Answer

Ask the stakeholders to approve the change first.

Question 7

A team member consistently criticizes ideas during retrospectives, creating a defensive atmosphere. How should the facilitator address this to improve psychological safety?

Accepted Answer

Discuss the impact of the behavior privately with the individual.. The facilitator should address the behavior privately with the individual, explaining how the constant criticism affects the team's psychological safety and retrospective effectiveness. A private conversation preserves the person's dignity, avoids defensiveness, and gives them a chance to adjust — which is the coaching-oriented, psychologically safe approach. Public confrontation or removal would escalate conflict and further damage safety.

Answer

Publicly reprimand the team member during the next meeting.

Answer

Ignore the behavior to avoid conflict.

Answer

Remove the team member from the project immediately.

Question 8

A stakeholder demands a 'fixed-price, fixed-scope' contract. How can you demonstrate an Agile mindset to influence this stakeholder?

Accepted Answer

Show the stakeholder the cost of change if the scope is fixed.. Demonstrating an Agile mindset to a fixed-price/fixed-scope stakeholder means using data and transparency to show the trade-offs. Option D — showing the cost of change when scope is fixed — makes the economic consequences of rigidity visible and opens a conversation about alternatives like fixed-price/variable-scope or incremental delivery. This is a collaborative, evidence-based approach rather than an adversarial one.

Answer

Agree to the terms but plan to change them later.

Answer

Refuse to work on the project.

Answer

Submit a formal complaint to the executive board.

Question 9

Which action best demonstrates 'embracing change over following a plan'?

Accepted Answer

Updating the product backlog based on user feedback.. Updating the product backlog based on user feedback best demonstrates 'embracing change over following a plan' because it shows the team is responsive to new information and willing to adjust priorities accordingly. This aligns with the Agile Manifesto principle of welcoming changing requirements, even late in development. It reflects a mindset that values customer value and adaptability over rigid adherence to an initial plan.

Answer

Rejecting all feedback until the next project phase.

Answer

Changing the team members every sprint.

Answer

Strictly following the initial project roadmap.

Question 10

What is the goal of a servant leader?

Accepted Answer

To remove obstacles and empower the team.. A servant leader's primary goal is to remove obstacles and empower the team to self-organize and deliver value. This leadership style inverts the traditional pyramid: the leader serves the team rather than the team serving the leader. By clearing impediments and fostering autonomy, the servant leader enables the team to reach high performance without direct command.

Answer

To report to the board on team failure.

Answer

To command and control the team.

Answer

To make all technical decisions.

Question 11

A new developer is struggling to adopt the team's pairing practices. What is the most appropriate action?

Accepted Answer

Coach the developer on the benefits of knowledge sharing.. In Agile, the Scrum Master or Agile coach serves the team by removing impediments and fostering collaboration, not by escalating or coercing. Coaching the developer on the benefits of knowledge sharing addresses the root cause—resistance often stems from misunderstanding or lack of psychological safety—and aligns with the servant-leadership principle. Pairing is a voluntary, collaborative practice; the coach's role is to help the developer see its value, not to mandate it.

Answer

Report the developer to HR.

Answer

Force the developer to pair against their will.

Answer

Ask them to work alone until they are more comfortable.

Question 12

A team is confused about who should make decisions. How should the servant leader address this?

Accepted Answer

Encourage the team to make decisions themselves.. Encouraging the team to make decisions themselves is correct because a servant leader's role is to empower self-organizing teams, fostering ownership and accountability. When the team is confused about decision-making authority, the servant leader should clarify boundaries, provide coaching, and then step back to let the team decide within those boundaries. This builds capability and aligns with Agile principles.

Answer

Let the team struggle indefinitely without guidance.

Answer

Make all decisions for the team.

Answer

Ask the client to make every decision.

Question 13

You notice a high-performer is hoarding knowledge, creating a bottleneck. How do you handle this?

Accepted Answer

Quietly mentor the individual on the value of team collective ownership.. The agile leader should address the behavior through private coaching, helping the high-performer understand the value of collective ownership and knowledge sharing. This preserves the individual's motivation while fixing the systemic bottleneck. It aligns with servant leadership and team empowerment.

Answer

Fire the individual.

Answer

Ignore it since the individual is productive.

Answer

Promote the high-performer to a lead role.

Question 14

A stakeholder keeps asking for a detailed project plan for the next six months. How do you respond?

Accepted Answer

Explain that Agile planning is iterative and focus on the upcoming release goals.. Agile planning is iterative and emergent; detailed six-month plans contradict the empirical nature of Scrum and Kanban. The correct response is to educate the stakeholder on rolling-wave planning, focusing on release goals and near-term iterations while acknowledging that long-term detail will be refined as knowledge grows. This maintains transparency and manages expectations without reverting to predictive planning.

Answer

Ask them to provide their own plan.

Answer

Tell them to wait for the final product.

Answer

Create a detailed plan to satisfy them.

Question 15

A team feels that their daily stand-up is a waste of time. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a discussion on how to make it more valuable for them.. When a team finds the daily stand-up wasteful, the servant leader should facilitate a conversation about its purpose and format rather than impose or abandon it. The stand-up exists to enable daily inspection and adaptation, so the team should own how it is run. Facilitating a discussion (C) respects self-organization and lets the team redesign the ceremony to deliver value.

Answer

Start asking all the questions yourself.

Answer

Tell them they have to do it because it is required.

Answer

Cancel the stand-up.

Question 16

During a sprint, the team realizes the current technical approach won't work. What is the most Agile action?

Accepted Answer

Pivot the approach and communicate the impact to the PO.. Agile embraces change and empirical learning — when the technical approach is proven unworkable, the team should pivot, adapt the plan, and transparently communicate the impact to the Product Owner. This preserves the sprint goal's value and allows the PO to re-prioritize scope if needed. Hiding or persisting with a broken approach violates transparency and wastes effort.

Answer

Continue the current path to avoid missing the sprint deadline.

Answer

Hide the issue and fix it next sprint.

Answer

Blame the architect for the bad design.

Question 17

A team is struggling to finish their stories. How can you help them improve their Agile mindset?

Accepted Answer

Help them refine their stories to be smaller and clearer.. The core issue is that stories are too large or ambiguous, which prevents the team from completing them within a sprint. By helping the team refine stories to be smaller and clearer, you address the root cause: large stories increase uncertainty, make estimation harder, and often lead to carryover. This aligns with Agile principles of incremental delivery and continuous improvement, enabling the team to finish work and gain a sense of accomplishment, which reinforces the Agile mindset.

Answer

Tell them to work faster.

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Assign more work to fill their time.

Answer

Extend the sprint.

Question 18

Which of the following is a sign of a healthy team?

Accepted Answer

Team members feel safe to voice concerns.. A healthy agile team is characterized by psychological safety — members feel safe to raise concerns, admit mistakes, and challenge ideas without fear of retribution. This is a prerequisite for transparency, continuous improvement, and self-organization, and it is a well-documented predictor of team performance. The other options describe compliance or perfection rather than health.

Answer

The team always completes 100% of the work.

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No one ever disagrees.

Answer

The team follows the manager's instructions.

Question 19

A team has a high turnover rate. What should the servant leader focus on?

Accepted Answer

Investigating the team culture and working conditions.. High turnover is a systemic signal, not a recruiting problem, so a servant leader must investigate the root causes in team culture and working conditions. Servant leadership means removing impediments and creating an environment where people can succeed, which starts with diagnosing why people are leaving. Only after understanding the drivers — workload, conflict, lack of autonomy, poor tooling — can the leader act effectively.

Answer

Replacing people faster.

Answer

Lowering the performance expectations.

Answer

Hiring more senior developers.

Question 20

What is the importance of 'transparency' in Agile?

Accepted Answer

To enable empirical process control.. Transparency in Agile enables empirical process control — the ability to inspect and adapt based on accurate, visible information. Without transparency, inspections are misleading and adaptations are ineffective, undermining the three pillars of Scrum (transparency, inspection, adaptation).

Answer

To satisfy auditors.

Answer

To make the team work harder.

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So everyone knows who to blame.