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Foundations OF Lean
This domain covers Lean thinking as applied to disciplined agile delivery: value, value streams, flow, pull, waste, and continuous improvement. Questions test whether you can identify Lean principles, diagnose push-system pitfalls, reduce handoffs and wait time, and choose flow-based responses rather than adding process or batching work.
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What to know about Foundations OF Lean
A candidate must be able to identify Lean principles and waste, distinguish push from pull, and apply flow and value-stream thinking to real delivery problems. The most important thing is choosing to reduce handoffs, batch size, and work in progress rather than adding process.
Identifying foundational Lean thinking principles such as value, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection
Recognizing common pitfalls of push systems, including overproduction, large batches, and inventory buildup
Applying value-stream mapping to expose handoffs, wait time, and non-value-adding steps
Choosing pull-based, small-batch, flow-oriented responses to reduce delays between completion and review
Watch out for
Common Foundations OF Lean exam traps
- ▸Treating Lean as cost cutting or headcount reduction rather than eliminating waste and improving flow of value.
- ▸Confusing push with pull: push schedules work by forecast, pull releases work only when downstream capacity is available.
- ▸Responding to wait time by adding more process, approvals, or batching instead of reducing handoffs and limiting work in progress.
Question index
All Foundations OF Lean questions (58)
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What is the primary benefit of 'Standardized Work' in a Lean environment?
Medium2What is the primary purpose of 'Little's Law' in Lean?
Medium3Which THREE of the following represent ways to reduce handoffs?
Medium4Your organization uses a large 'Project Management Office' to approve every change. How does this affect flow according to Lean principles?
Hard5What does 'Kaizen' represent in a Lean context?
Easy6Which THREE of the following strategies help in 'Optimizing the Whole'?
Hard7Which TWO of the following are potential side effects of failing to address bottlenecks in a process?
Hard8Why does Lean advocate for 'Small Batch Sizes'?
Medium9You are trying to improve flow in a cross-functional team. How does 'T-shaped' skill development support this?
Hard10Why does a 'Push' system often lead to lower quality?
Medium11During a retrospective, the team notices they spend 30% of their time fixing defects in previously delivered code. Which Lean principle does this violate?
Easy12If you have a 'bottleneck', how does increasing local efficiency at a non-bottleneck step affect the system?
Hard13Which THREE of the following are considered 'Waste' in the context of Lean software development?
Hard14What is the primary Lean motivation for 'deferring commitment' until the last responsible moment?
Medium15You are managing a process where work consistently stalls at the 'Testing' stage. What is the most effective way to address this bottleneck?
Medium16A team is deciding when to make a final commitment on a new database technology. They have two viable options and more information will be available in two weeks. According to Lean principles, what should the team do?
Hard17When applying the Lean principle of 'Optimize the Whole', what should you avoid doing?
Hard18When a team is using a 'Kanban' system, what is the best way to determine if WIP limits are too high?
Hard19When applying the principle of 'Optimize the Whole', how should you view a 'specialized' sub-team?
Medium20Which of the following is an example of 'Inventory' waste in software development?
Easy21Why does Lean emphasize 'Visible Management' for project boards?
Medium22In a Lean environment, how do you handle a 'non-value-add but necessary' activity?
Hard23What does a cumulative flow diagram (CFD) help a team visualize?
Easy24Your organization wants to transition to a 'Pull' system. What is the most important prerequisite?
Hard25If you observe a high rate of 'blocked' items on your Kanban board, what is the most appropriate action?
Medium26Which TWO of the following are primary benefits of limiting Work-in-Progress (WIP)?
Medium27Which of the following is considered 'Waste' (Muda) in a software development process?
Easy28When a team is 'swarming', what are they doing?
Medium29When analyzing a Value Stream Map, what does an 'invisible' queue represent?
Hard30Which of these is the best definition of 'Value' in Lean?
Easy31Which of these is a symptom of 'Overprocessing'?
Easy32A product team is mapping its value stream and discovers that 60% of its cycle time is spent waiting for approvals from a centralized architecture review board. Which two actions best align with Lean thinking to improve flow? (Choose two.)
Hard33A team is frustrated by 'rework'. Which Lean practice helps address this at the source?
Medium34Your team is experiencing high WIP levels during the development phase. Which Lean technique should you apply first to identify the primary cause of this congestion?
Medium35You notice that the team's 'Cycle Time' is increasing despite no change in the amount of work. What should you investigate?
Medium36You are identifying 'non-value-add' work in your process. What is the most important first step?
Medium37Your team is struggling with 'gold plating' (adding unnecessary features). How does this affect the value stream?
Hard38A team discovers that their cycle time is highly variable. What is the most likely culprit from a Lean perspective?
Medium39Which TWO of the following are common types of 'Waste' (Muda) that teams should look for?
Easy40What is the relationship between 'Flow' and 'Value' in Lean?
Medium41How should a team handle an 'emergency' request in a Kanban system that is already at its WIP limit?
Hard42Which is a common symptom of a 'bottleneck' in a Lean workflow?
Easy43A team is new to Lean and wants to understand the purpose of a value stream map. Which statement best describes what a value stream map helps them do?
Easy44What is the primary Lean goal of reducing the number of handoffs between specialized teams?
Medium45Which of the following best describes the 'Respect for People' principle?
Easy46A product team is mapping its value stream and discovers that a feature request spends 10 days in 'Development' and 20 days waiting in 'Ready for Release' because releases are batched monthly. The team wants to apply Lean thinking to improve flow. Which action should they take first?
Hard47A team notices that it frequently starts new work before finishing current work, and as a result, lead time keeps growing even though everyone is busy. Which Lean principle should the team apply to address this?
Medium48Which TWO of the following are common pitfalls of 'Push' systems?
Medium49Which THREE of the following are foundational Lean thinking principles?
Easy50Which THREE of the following actions support the Lean principle 'Build Quality In'?
Medium51Which TWO of the following are essential components of a successful Value Stream Mapping session?
Medium52What is the primary benefit of 'Small Batch Sizes' in software development?
Easy53What is a 'Pull' system in Lean?
Easy54A team has identified 'task switching' as a primary source of waste. What is the most effective Lean practice to address this?
Medium55Your team is experiencing 'context switching' due to frequent interruptions. Which Lean-inspired action is most appropriate?
Medium56A team has a very high lead time. They notice that work sits in a 'Pending Approval' state for 80% of the total time. What should they do?
Medium57What is the primary Lean goal of 'Visual Management'?
Medium58A team has high 'wait time' between code completion and code review. How should they address this using Lean principles?
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the Foundations OF Lean domain cover on the DAF exam?
- A candidate must be able to identify Lean principles and waste, distinguish push from pull, and apply flow and value-stream thinking to real delivery problems. The most important thing is choosing to reduce handoffs, batch size, and work in progress rather than adding process.
- How many questions are in this domain?
- This page lists all 58 Foundations OF Lean questions in the DAF question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
- What is the best way to practise this domain?
- Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
- Can I practise only Foundations OF Lean questions?
- Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.