SAFe-Agilist Practice Question: Building a Foundation with Mindset, Values and Principles
Exhibit
JSON POLICY: {"decision_making": "centralized", "approval_required": "all_stages", "feedback_loop": "annual"}Refer to the exhibit. Which SAFe principle is most clearly violated by this JSON configuration?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse this with Principle 1 (Take an economic view) because they see bureaucracy as a cost, failing to recognize the specific violation of decentralized decision-making authority.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Principle 9: Decentralize decision-making
The policy violates Principle 9: Decentralize decision-making. By centralizing all decisions and requiring approvals at every stage with an annual feedback loop, the organization creates massive delays and removes authority from the teams. This prevents teams from learning quickly and making adjustments. In the SAFe framework, decision-making authority should be pushed to the level where the most relevant information exists, ensuring speed and responsiveness to changing market conditions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Principle 1: Take an economic view
Why it's wrong here
While this definitely hurts the economics, the specific policy of 'centralized decision-making' is a direct contradiction to Principle 9. The organizational structure is the root cause here, and decentralization is the specific principle that addresses the distribution of authority within the company hierarchy to improve efficiency.
- ✗
Principle 3: Assume variability; preserve options
Why it's wrong here
While centralized control often destroys options, the policy is explicitly about who makes the decisions. Principle 9 is the direct match for the policy defined in the JSON. The lack of decentralized authority is what makes it impossible to preserve options effectively when changes are needed.
- ✓
Principle 9: Decentralize decision-making
Why this is correct
The JSON explicitly states centralized decision-making and annual feedback loops. These are classic anti-patterns in SAFe. Decentralizing decision-making empowers teams, reduces wait times, and provides the agility required to respond effectively. The annual feedback loop also violates the principle of fast, integrated, and empirical learning cycles.
- ✗
Principle 5: Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems
Why it's wrong here
While this policy makes it hard to evaluate systems, the issue of who holds authority is the primary failure. The policy is fundamentally about the power dynamic, not just how milestones are set. Decentralized decision-making is the prerequisite for an effective, objective evaluation of the working system.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Scaled Agile exam blueprint
This SAFe-Agilist practice question is part of Courseiva's free Scaled Agile certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SAFe-Agilist exam.