In environments of high uncertainty, Scrum's empirical nature is paramount. The primary goal is to reduce uncertainty by learning as quickly as possible. This is achieved through a cycle of forming a hypothesis, building a small experiment to test it, and learning from the results.

Focusing on validating customer needs (B) is the direct approach to tackling the uncertainty. Instead of building based on assumptions, the Product Owner prioritizes work that helps to prove or disprove hypotheses about what is valuable to the customer.

Making each release smaller (A) is the mechanism that enables this rapid validation. Small, frequent releases allow the team to get real-world feedback from users quickly, minimizing investment in the wrong direction and accelerating the learning loop.

C. the more likely it is that you should invest in a different product.

This is a premature conclusion. High uncertainty necessitates exploration and validation first; abandoning the product is a possible outcome of that validation, not the immediate response.

D. the more important a risk management plan becomes.

Scrum manages risk empirically through its iterative process (short Sprints, frequent feedback), not through a traditional, predictive "risk management plan" document. Options A and B describe this empirical approach.

---

1. Scrum.org

"The Evidence-Based Management Guide." January 2019.

Reference: Page 4

"An Empirical Approach."

Quote/Concept: The guide states

"EBM helps organizations to deliberately put their hypotheses to the test

to learn from their experiments

and to pivot their direction based on the evidence they uncover." This directly supports focusing on validation (B) to navigate uncertainty.

2. Ries

E. (2011). The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. (While a commercial book

its principles are foundational in university entrepreneurship and software engineering curricula and are cited extensively in academic papers on Agile).

Reference: Chapter 5

"Leap

" and Chapter 6

"Test."

Quote/Concept: The core principle of the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop is to test fundamental business hypotheses. This is done by building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

which is a small version of a product/release (A)

for the express purpose of learning and validating needs (B).

3. Cruzes

D. S.

Rodrigues

M. A. F.

& de Souza

F. A. F. (2015). "Risk Management in Agile Software Development: A Survey." 2015 10th International Conference on the Quality of Information and Communications Technology

pp. 189-194.

Reference: Section III-A

"Risk Management in Agile Methods."

Quote/Concept: The paper highlights that agile methods manage risks

including market and requirement uncertainty

through "short iterations

constant feedback from the customer

and refactoring." This supports the use of small increments/releases (A) over traditional risk plans (D).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/QUATIC.2015.38