PMI-ACP Mindset Practice Test 4 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which TWO of the following would a servant leader do?

Accepted Answer

Focus on removing impediments that stop the team from working. Option A is correct because a servant leader's core responsibility is to clear obstacles and impediments that block the team's progress, ensuring the team can deliver value without unnecessary friction. Option B is correct because servant leadership in agile contexts emphasizes coaching and developing the team so it becomes increasingly self-organizing, cross-functional, and mature over time. Option C is incorrect because making all technical choices is a command-and-control behavior that undermines team autonomy and self-organization. Option D is incorrect because avoiding team meetings removes the leader from the team's context and prevents the coaching, facilitation, and support a servant leader provides. Option E is incorrect because monitoring individual time logs is a micromanagement and surveillance practice that contradicts the trust-based, people-first nature of servant leadership.

Answer

Make all technical choices for the team

Answer

Avoid attending team meetings

Answer

Monitor individual time logs to check productivity

Question 2

Which THREE of the following help maintain a sustainable pace?

Accepted Answer

Implementing WIP limits to prevent overload. Option B is correct because implementing WIP (Work In Progress) limits constrains the amount of work in the system at any one time, preventing team members from being overloaded and enabling a steady, sustainable flow of delivery. Option C is correct because ensuring the team does not consistently work overtime avoids burnout and preserves a constant, repeatable level of effort, which is the essence of a sustainable pace. Option E is correct because allowing for regular reflection and adjustment (as in Scrum retrospectives) lets the team inspect its process and adapt its workload and practices to keep the pace maintainable over time. Option A is not correct because mandating consistent weekend work directly undermines sustainability by driving overtime and burnout. Option D is not correct because increasing sprint goals every time creates ever-growing pressure and an unsustainable escalation of commitments.

Answer

Mandating consistent weekend work

Answer

Increasing sprint goals every time

Question 3

Which TWO of the following are signs of a healthy Agile culture?

Accepted Answer

High level of transparency and honest communication. Option D is correct because a healthy Agile culture depends on transparency and honest communication: information radiators, visible backlogs, and open discussion of progress and impediments let the team inspect and adapt, which is the foundation of empirical process control. Option E is correct because psychological safety — team members feeling comfortable admitting mistakes — enables early problem surfacing, blameless retrospectives, and continuous improvement rather than hiding defects or risks. The unmarked options describe unhealthy or anti-Agile patterns: avoiding disagreements (A) suppresses the constructive conflict needed for better decisions, top-down management decisions (B) contradict Agile self-organizing teams, and measuring primarily individual output (C) undermines team accountability and encourages local optimization over delivering value.

Answer

Disagreements are avoided at all costs

Answer

Decisions are made top-down by management

Answer

Performance is measured primarily by individual output

Question 4

Which THREE of the following are key to the Agile mindset?

Accepted Answer

Commitment to empirical process control (inspect and adapt). Option B is correct because the Agile mindset rests on empirical process control: work proceeds in short iterations where transparency, inspection, and adaptation let teams adjust plans based on real results rather than rigid upfront predictions. Option C is correct because Agile favors self-organizing, cross-functional teams that decide how to accomplish their work, rather than managers directing each individual's tasks. Option D is correct because Agile's core purpose is to deliver value to the customer continuously and early, prioritizing working outcomes that satisfy customer needs over internal process ceremony. Option A is not part of the Agile mindset, since command-and-control management contradicts self-organization and empirical adaptation. Option E is also wrong because Agile values documentation that adds real value; it does not demand strict avoidance of all documentation, only a preference for working software over comprehensive documentation.

Answer

Preference for command-and-control management

Answer

Strict avoidance of any project documentation

Question 5

Which TWO of the following are effective ways to handle 'change'?

Accepted Answer

Communicate the change impact to stakeholders transparently. Option A is correct because transparently communicating the change impact to stakeholders ensures everyone understands the consequences, maintains trust, and allows informed decisions about priorities and trade-offs. Option B is correct because assessing the impact on the current iteration determines whether the change can be absorbed without jeopardizing the sprint goal or requires re-planning, which is essential for effective change management. Option C is incorrect because accepting every change unconditionally leads to scope creep, destabilizes the iteration, and undermines planning discipline. Option D is incorrect because implementing changes silently without informing the team creates misalignment, hidden work, and risks quality and delivery. Option E is incorrect because rejecting all changes ignores legitimate feedback and market shifts, making the process rigid and unresponsive.

Answer

Always say yes to every change requested

Answer

Implement the change silently without telling the team

Answer

Reject all changes to protect the original plan

Question 6

Which THREE of the following are examples of servant leadership?

Accepted Answer

Coaching team members to reach their full potential. Servant leadership focuses on putting the needs of the team first and helping others grow, so option A is correct because coaching team members to reach their full potential is a core servant-leadership behavior that develops people rather than commanding them. Option C is correct because removing obstacles that hinder the team's progress is a classic servant-leadership practice of clearing the path so the team can succeed. Option E is correct because modeling the values and behaviors you expect from the team demonstrates servant leadership through leading by example and setting a consistent ethical standard. Option B is not correct because taking all the credit for the team's successes is self-serving and the opposite of servant leadership, which shares credit and elevates others. Option D is not correct because directing the team on exactly which tasks to do is autocratic, task-centered leadership rather than the empowering, supportive approach of servant leadership.

Answer

Taking all the credit for the team's successes

Answer

Directing the team on exactly which tasks to do

Question 7

Which TWO of the following indicate an 'agile' approach to documentation?

Accepted Answer

Writing only the documentation that is necessary. Option D is correct because agile documentation is intentionally 'just enough' — teams produce only the artifacts that deliver value, avoiding the waste of heavy, unused documents. Option E is correct because agile treats documentation as a living artifact that evolves with the product, so it is continuously reviewed and updated alongside changing requirements. Option A is wrong because never reviewing documentation contradicts agile's emphasis on continuous improvement and would let docs go stale. Option B is wrong because writing comprehensive documentation upfront is a plan-driven, waterfall-style practice that agile replaces with iterative, incremental documentation. Option C is wrong because mandatory management sign-off adds heavyweight approval gates and bureaucracy, which is contrary to agile's lightweight, collaborative approach.

Answer

Writing documentation once and never reviewing it

Answer

Creating comprehensive documentation before starting any work

Answer

Mandating that all documents be signed by management

Question 8

Which THREE of the following demonstrate psychological safety?

Accepted Answer

Team members feel comfortable taking calculated risks. Psychological safety is the shared belief that a team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking, so option C is correct because feeling comfortable taking calculated risks shows members trust that experimentation and potential failure will not be punished. Option D is correct because speaking up against a leader's view demonstrates that dissent is welcomed and that rank does not suppress honest input. Option E is correct because admitting mistakes without fear of retribution is the clearest sign that errors are treated as learning opportunities rather than grounds for blame. Options A and B do not belong: always agreeing with the majority and staying silent to keep the peace reflect conformity, conflict avoidance, and fear of speaking up, which are the opposite of psychological safety.

Answer

Team members always agree with the majority opinion

Answer

Team members remain silent to keep the peace

Question 9

Which TWO of the following reflect the Agile focus on quality?

Accepted Answer

Continuous feedback loops to improve the product. Option D is correct because Agile quality relies on continuous feedback loops—short iterations, frequent demos, and retrospectives—that let teams detect defects and adjust requirements early, rather than waiting for a final inspection. Option E is correct because Agile builds quality into the product from the start through practices such as test-driven development, definition of done, continuous integration, and refactoring, so defects are prevented rather than merely detected later. Options A and B are incorrect because skipping testing or lowering standards directly undermines quality and contradicts Agile values of sustainable pace and technical excellence. Option C is incorrect because deferring all quality checks to the very end reflects a waterfall-style phase-gate approach, whereas Agile verifies quality continuously throughout each iteration.

Answer

Avoiding testing to speed up delivery

Answer

Lowering standards to meet deadlines

Answer

Quality is checked only at the very end of the project

Question 10

Which THREE of the following are hallmarks of an Agile mindset?

Accepted Answer

Valuing collaboration over individual silos. Option A is correct because an Agile mindset prioritizes collaboration and cross-functional teamwork over individual silos, reflecting the Agile value of individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Option B is correct because Agile embraces changing requirements and uncertainty, responding to change rather than rigidly resisting it. Option D is correct because Agile relies on empiricism—transparency, inspection, and adaptation—and encourages learning through experimentation and data rather than assumptions. Option C is incorrect because strict top-down hierarchy contradicts Agile's emphasis on self-organizing teams and distributed decision-making. Option E is incorrect because blindly following an initial plan despite feedback conflicts with Agile's iterative, feedback-driven approach.

Answer

Relying on strict top-down hierarchy for execution

Answer

Staying committed to an initial plan regardless of feedback

Question 11

A team is transitioning from a traditional project management approach to an Agile framework. The project manager wants to ensure the team embraces the core value of 'Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools'. Which action best demonstrates this shift?

Accepted Answer

Encourage daily stand-up meetings to be conducted in person or via video to foster real-time collaboration.. Encouraging daily stand-ups in person or via video to foster real-time collaboration directly demonstrates 'Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools' because it prioritizes synchronous human communication over rigid tooling or documentation. This aligns with the Agile Manifesto's first value, emphasizing that effective collaboration and conversation are more valuable than standardized processes or systems.

Answer

Mandate that all team communication occurs exclusively through the issue tracking system.

Answer

Strictly enforce the use of standardized status report templates for every update.

Answer

Focus on automating all project reports before addressing team dependencies.

Question 12

A servant leader notices that team members are hesitant to share mistakes during the retrospective. What is the most effective way to foster psychological safety in this environment?

Accepted Answer

Acknowledge the team's successes and publicly share a personal failure to normalize learning from mistakes.. Psychological safety is built when leaders model vulnerability and reframe mistakes as learning opportunities. Publicly sharing a personal failure while acknowledging successes (C) signals that fallibility is acceptable and that the team will not be punished for candor. This directly addresses the hesitation to speak up in retrospectives by changing the perceived consequences of honesty.

Answer

Require team members to submit anonymous reports about other members' performance.

Answer

Implement a public performance tracking dashboard to identify who makes the most errors.

Answer

Schedule individual meetings to discipline those who caused the project delays.

Question 13

A stakeholder demands a significant change to the product scope mid-sprint. As an Agile practitioner, how do you handle this while respecting the team's commitment to the current Sprint Goal?

Accepted Answer

Discuss the change with the Product Owner to evaluate its impact on the Sprint Goal and potential trade-offs.. In Agile, the Product Owner owns the backlog and prioritization, while the team commits to the Sprint Goal. When a stakeholder demands a mid-sprint change, the correct approach is to discuss it with the Product Owner to assess impact on the Sprint Goal and consider trade-offs. This respects the team's commitment and allows the Product Owner to make an informed decision about whether to adjust scope or defer the change.

Answer

Ask the team to work overtime to accommodate the new requirement.

Answer

Immediately add the change to the current sprint backlog to satisfy the stakeholder.

Answer

Refuse the change entirely because the Sprint Plan is fixed.

Question 14

During a sprint, the team realizes that following the original plan will result in a product that does not meet the user's current needs. Which Agile principle should guide the team's next move?

Accepted Answer

Collaborate with the customer to pivot and adapt the plan based on the new information.. The Agile principle of responding to change over following a plan directs the team to collaborate with the customer and adapt when new information shows the original plan won't meet current needs. Pivoting with the customer keeps the product valuable and treats the plan as a living artifact rather than a contract.

Answer

Consult the project contract and adhere strictly to the initial scope document.

Answer

Wait for the formal change request process to be completed before doing any new work.

Answer

Stick to the original plan until the end of the sprint to remain consistent.

Question 15

A team has high velocity but the quality of the product is declining. The team feels that speed is the only metric that matters to management. How should you address this as an Agile practitioner?

Accepted Answer

Coach the team and stakeholders on the Agile principle of sustainable development and the cost of technical debt.. When velocity is high but quality is declining, the root cause is usually pressure to prioritize speed over sustainable development, often driven by management's focus on velocity as the sole metric. The Agile practitioner's role is to coach both the team and stakeholders on the Agile principle of sustainable development and the long-term cost of technical debt. This addresses the systemic issue rather than masking symptoms, and it aligns with the Agile values of technical excellence and continuous improvement.

Answer

Reduce the team's story point estimates to make it appear that velocity remains high.

Answer

Ignore the quality issues to keep velocity high, as requested by management.

Answer

Mandate that no new features can be added until all defects are resolved.