SAFe-Agilist Leading the Change Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which THREE actions are essential for creating a successful sense of urgency in a Lean-Agile transformation?

Accepted Answer

Articulate a clear, compelling vision of the future state.. Creating a sense of urgency is the first step in the change process. Without it, the organization will default to the status quo. By highlighting the market reality, identifying current performance gaps, and communicating a compelling, shared vision, leaders can motivate the organization to accept the difficulty of change. This urgency must be balanced with psychological safety to ensure employees feel safe to innovate.

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Publicly shame teams that are failing to meet their velocity targets.

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Empower a large, cross-functional team to make all decisions without oversight.

Question 2

What is the primary reason for establishing a 'Guiding Coalition' during the early stages of a SAFe transformation?

Accepted Answer

To provide the necessary influence and authority to drive change across silos.. A guiding coalition is essential to bring together the diverse perspectives and authority needed to lead the transformation. Transformation touches every part of the organization, and a single leader cannot drive it alone. By bringing together leaders from different departments, the coalition ensures that the transformation is not viewed as a temporary 'IT initiative' but as a holistic enterprise change supported by the entire leadership team.

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To create a secret group that plans organizational changes behind closed doors.

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To ensure that all decisions are funneled through one person for consistency.

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To replace the need for an external SAFe Program Consultant.

Question 3

Which of the following best describes the 'Leading the Change' mindset?

Accepted Answer

Adopting a 'lifelong learning' philosophy for oneself and the organization.. The 'Leading the Change' mindset is defined by a commitment to continuous, lifelong learning and the belief that leadership is about empowering others. It moves away from the traditional model of authority based on position to one based on influence, coaching, and system optimization. This mindset is crucial because it creates a culture where employees feel supported to experiment, learn, and grow, which leads to better outcomes.

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Managing the team's daily tasks to ensure maximum output.

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Ensuring that the organizational structure remains static to preserve stability.

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Focusing exclusively on reducing costs to improve the bottom line.

Question 4

Why must leaders participate in SAFe training (e.g., Leading SAFe) during the transformation?

Accepted Answer

To align their behaviors and expectations with the Lean-Agile mindset.. Leaders are the primary influencers of organizational culture. If they do not understand the 'why' and 'how' of SAFe, they will inadvertently continue to behave in ways that conflict with Lean-Agile principles. Training ensures they have a common language and understanding, enabling them to lead the transformation effectively, coach their teams properly, and model the behaviors they expect to see in the rest of the organization.

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To enable them to write and manage the team backlogs personally.

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To ensure they can personally certify every employee in the company.

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To exempt themselves from the changes they are imposing on others.

Question 5

An organization is beginning its SAFe transformation. Senior leadership wants to ensure that the change is sustained over time by building a strong guiding coalition. Which TWO actions are most critical for developing an effective guiding coalition? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Include influential leaders from various functions and levels who have credibility and can drive change.. A guiding coalition must combine influential leaders from various functions and levels with the authority to act decisively. Including diverse credible leaders ensures broad influence, while empowerment allows the coalition to remove impediments and drive change without bureaucratic delays. These two actions together create the foundation for sustaining a SAFe transformation.

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Rotate coalition members every quarter to ensure fresh perspectives and broad participation.

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Limit coalition membership to managers who have direct control over budgets and can enforce compliance.

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Ensure the coalition is composed exclusively of senior executives to maintain authority and decision-making speed.

Question 6

A mid-sized technology company is adopting SAFe. The Vice President of Engineering wants to lead the change effectively but is unsure how to balance the need for a clear vision with the principles of decentralized decision-making. Which approach best aligns with SAFe's Lean-Agile leadership philosophy?

Accepted Answer

Define a compelling vision and clear guardrails, then delegate decision-making authority to teams and ARTs within those boundaries.. Effective Lean-Agile leadership in SAFe involves setting a clear vision and guardrails, then empowering teams and ARTs to make decisions within those boundaries. This balances alignment with autonomy, fostering engagement and speed. Centralized control or complete independence both fail to achieve the necessary balance, while enforcing ceremonies alone does not create a sustainable culture.

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Create a detailed, centralized plan that specifies exactly how each team should implement SAFe practices and monitor adherence closely.

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Allow each team to independently choose their own processes and tools without any coordination, trusting they will self-organize effectively.

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Focus on enforcing SAFe ceremonies and artifacts strictly, assuming that adherence to the framework will naturally produce the desired culture.

Question 7

A large financial services company is midway through its SAFe transformation. The Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) has been established, and several Agile Release Trains are running. However, leaders notice that many teams still rely on traditional status reporting and are not using the Program Board or Inspect & Adapt events to manage dependencies. The LACE wants to accelerate the adoption of Lean-Agile practices. According to SAFe, what is the most effective next step for the LACE to take?

Accepted Answer

Coach teams and leaders on how to effectively use the Program Board and Inspect & Adapt events to manage dependencies.. The LACE is responsible for fostering Lean-Agile adoption through coaching and guidance. When teams are not using key SAFe events like the Program Board and Inspect & Adapt, the most effective action is to provide targeted coaching. This helps teams understand the purpose and mechanics of these events, enabling them to manage dependencies and improve continuously. Other actions like more training or escalation do not address the specific behavioral gap.

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Escalate the issue to the Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) group to enforce compliance with SAFe events.

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Establish Communities of Practice (CoPs) to share knowledge and improve practices across teams.

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Provide immersive training to all employees on Lean-Agile principles and practices.

Question 8

A large financial services company is midway through a SAFe transformation. The Lean Portfolio Management group has funded value streams, but many teams still receive detailed work assignments from functional managers. Sprint Reviews are sparsely attended by business stakeholders, and teams complain that feedback arrives too late. Which action best addresses the root cause of this situation?

Accepted Answer

Have leadership model the change by shifting from project-based assignments to value stream funding and actively participating in ART events.. The root cause is that leadership has not fully embraced the new operating model. Continuing to assign work through functional managers and failing to engage in ART events perpetuates old behaviors. Leaders must model the change by aligning funding to value streams and actively participating in PI Planning and Sprint Reviews, which creates the conditions for timely feedback and team empowerment.

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Establish a Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) to train managers on Lean-Agile principles and facilitate the transformation.

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Instruct functional managers to stop assigning work and instead have them participate in PI Planning as Business Owners.

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Increase the frequency of Scrum of Scrums meetings to improve coordination among teams.

Question 9

An organization is undergoing a SAFe transformation. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has publicly committed to the change and has allocated significant resources. However, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) continues to fund projects based on traditional annual budgets, causing friction with the Agile Release Trains that need flexible funding. The Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) wants to address this misalignment. According to SAFe, what is the most effective action for the LACE to take?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a workshop with the CFO and other executives to explain how Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) aligns funding with value streams.. The misalignment between traditional project funding and SAFe's value stream funding is a common obstacle. The LACE should address this by educating and engaging the CFO in Lean Portfolio Management (LPM). A workshop can help the CFO understand how LPM provides flexible funding aligned with value streams, enabling faster delivery. This collaborative approach builds buy-in and ensures the transformation is supported at the highest levels, rather than forced or ignored.

Answer

Instruct the Agile Release Trains to ignore the CFO's budget constraints and proceed with value stream funding.

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Ask the CEO to mandate that the CFO adopt Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) practices immediately.

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Wait for the next fiscal year to propose a budget change to the CFO through formal channels.

Question 10

An organization is preparing to launch its first SAFe transformation. The Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) has been formed and is composed of change agents from various departments. To ensure the LACE can effectively guide the transformation, what is the primary focus of its initial activities?

Accepted Answer

Establishing a sense of urgency and communicating the vision for the change.. The LACE's initial priority is to create urgency and communicate the vision, which aligns with Kotter's first steps and SAFe's Leading the Change guidance. This sets the stage for alignment and engagement across the organization. Without a compelling why, subsequent transformation efforts often stall. The LACE must inspire action before implementing structures.

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Defining detailed technical solutions for each Agile Release Train to implement.

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Developing a comprehensive project plan with detailed Gantt charts for the rollout.

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Directly managing the daily work of Agile teams to ensure adherence to SAFe practices.

Question 11

An organization is adopting SAFe and has formed its first Agile Release Train. During the third PI, the ART is delivering features but the Program Board shows many dependencies between teams. The RTE notices that teams are not updating their dependencies regularly and that some teams are working on items not aligned with the PI objectives. Which action should the RTE take first to improve flow?

Accepted Answer

Facilitate a retrospective focused on dependency management and reinforce the use of the Program Board during the current PI.. The RTE's first step should be to help the ART inspect and adapt its dependency management practices. A retrospective focused on this topic, combined with reinforcing the Program Board's use, allows teams to take ownership and improve flow. This approach aligns with SAFe's emphasis on decentralized decision-making and continuous improvement, rather than escalating or taking control away from teams.

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Escalate the dependency issues to the Lean Portfolio Management group for resolution.

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Cancel the current PI and start a new PI Planning session to reset dependencies.

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Ask the Scrum Masters to update the Program Board on behalf of their teams.

Question 12

A newly formed SAFe transformation team is trying to understand the key principles that should guide their change efforts. They are reviewing the SAFe Lean-Agile Principles. Which of the following is one of the SAFe Lean-Agile Principles that directly supports leading the change?

Accepted Answer

Lead the change. The SAFe Lean-Agile Principles include 'Lead the change,' which underscores the critical role of leadership in driving organizational transformation. This principle asserts that leaders at all levels must actively champion the change, model the new behaviors, and guide the organization through the transition. While other principles like cadence, decentralized decision-making, and intrinsic motivation are important, 'Lead the change' is the one explicitly focused on leading transformation efforts.

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Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers

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Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning

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Decentralize decision-making

Question 13

A large financial services company is midway through a SAFe transformation. The Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) has been established, and several Agile Release Trains are running. However, the LACE is spending most of its time organizing training sessions and managing the transformation backlog, while line managers continue to assign work by functional silo and measure individual utilization. The Chief Transformation Officer asks the LACE to refocus on the most critical remaining bottleneck. According to SAFe, what should the LACE prioritize?

Accepted Answer

Shift focus to coaching leaders and managers to adopt Lean-Agile leadership behaviors and change their management practices.. The LACE must evolve beyond organizing training and managing backlogs to becoming a coaching entity for leaders and managers. When managers still assign work by silo and measure individual utilization, they are reinforcing the old culture. Coaching them to adopt Lean-Agile leadership behaviors—such as becoming teachers, leaders, and coaches—directly addresses the bottleneck and enables the transformation to stick.

Answer

Expand the transformation backlog to include more detailed training on SAFe principles for all employees.

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Request that the Chief Transformation Officer mandate all managers to complete a SAFe certification within 30 days.

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Establish a new metric to track the number of training hours per employee and report it to the executive team.

Question 14

A global enterprise is midway through its SAFe transformation. The Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) group has been established, but funding is still allocated to traditional projects rather than value streams. This mismatch is causing delays and misalignment. Which action should the LACE recommend to resolve this conflict?

Accepted Answer

Transition to value stream funding by allocating budgets to value streams and empowering them to manage their own backlogs.. Value stream funding is essential for SAFe because it provides persistent teams with the budget and authority to deliver value continuously. It aligns funding with strategy and enables LPM to make informed trade-offs. By shifting from project to value stream funding, the organization removes a major impediment to flow and fosters a culture of long-term ownership and adaptability.

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Maintain project-based funding but create cross-functional teams to improve collaboration.

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Delegate funding decisions to the Project Management Office (PMO) to centralize control.

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Increase the frequency of project status reports to ensure better tracking of expenditures.

Question 15

A company is beginning its SAFe transformation. The CEO has asked the Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) to create a sense of urgency. Which action best aligns with SAFe's guidance for creating urgency?

Accepted Answer

Share a compelling case for change that highlights the burning platform and the opportunity for improvement.. Creating urgency starts with a clear, compelling case for change that explains why the status quo is no longer viable and what the future could look like. This helps stakeholders emotionally and intellectually buy into the transformation. Mandating training, restructuring, or setting aggressive targets without context can create compliance or fear, not genuine urgency.

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Set aggressive delivery targets for the first Agile Release Train to demonstrate quick wins.

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Mandate that all employees complete SAFe training within 30 days.

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Announce a new organizational structure that eliminates middle management layers.