According to the House of Lean article on the Scaled Agile Framework website, the principle that

explains the purpose of the PI Planning retrospective is relentless improvement. The article states

that “Relentless improvement is a constant sense of danger combined with a paranoid desire to find

a better way. It’s a culture of organizational self-assessment, problem-solving, and action. It’s a

willingness to change before the crisis forces us to do so. It’s a commitment to relentless reflection

and a continuous learning journey.” Therefore, the correct answer is D, relentless improvement. The

other options are not accurate, as they are not the principles that directly relate to the PI Planning

retrospective. Respect for people and culture is the foundation of the House of Lean, innovation is

the roof, and flow is another principle that supports value delivery.

According to the Decentralize Decision-Making article on the Scaled Agile Framework website, the

type of decision that should be decentralized is the one that has a high cost of delay. The article

states that “All other decisions should be decentralized. Characteristics of these types of decisions

include: Frequent – The problems addressed by decentralized decisions are recurrent and common

(e.g., Team and Program Backlog prioritization, real-time Agile Release Train [ART] scoping, response

to defects and emerging issues). Time-critical – The cost of delay for these decisions is high, and

waiting for approval or consensus would cause significant waste or missed opportunities. Reversible

– The consequences of these decisions are not long-lasting or irreversible and can be easily changed

or corrected if needed.” Therefore, the correct answer is A, high cost of delay. The other options are

not accurate, as they are either irrelevant or better suited for centralized decisions.

According to the Apply Cadence, Synchronize with Cross-Domain Planning article on the Scaled Agile

Framework website, cadence is the term that describes converting unpredictable events into

predictable ones. The article states that “Cadence is the rhythm, or heartbeat, of the Agile Release

Train (ART). It provides a steady and predictable pattern for planning, developing, and delivering

value. Cadence helps teams manage the variability inherent in product development. By converting

unpredictable events into predictable ones, cadence enables fast and reliable decision-making.”

Therefore, the correct answer is C, cadence. The other options are not accurate, as they are not the

terms that describe converting unpredictable events into predictable ones. Innovation and Planning

(IP) Iteration (A) is a special iteration that occurs at the end of every Program Increment (PI) and

provides an opportunity for innovation, planning, and system-level integration and testing. Program

Increment (PI) Planning (B) is a face-to-face event that serves as the heartbeat of the ART, aligning all

the teams on the ART to a shared mission and vision. Backlog refinement (D) is the process of

breaking down, estimating, and prioritizing the backlog items.

The Innovation and Planning (IP) Iteration is critical to success in SAFe because it provides the

following benefits12:

It creates a guard band that ensures program predictability on cadence. The IP iteration acts as an

estimating buffer that helps the ART meet their PI objectives and avoid carrying unfinished work into

the next PI.

It ensures time for creative problem-solving needed by knowledge workers. The IP iteration allows

the ART to explore innovative ideas, conduct research and design activities, and learn new skills and

technologies.

It provides a consistent time for PI Planning. The IP iteration includes time for the PI planning event,

which aligns the ART with the vision, roadmap, and strategic themes, and establishes the PI

objectives and dependencies.

According to the SAFe® for Government course, strategic themes assist with epic evaluation and

decision-making. Strategic themes are specific, itemized business objectives that connect a portfolio

to the enterprise’s business strategy1. They provide guidance for the portfolio vision, budget

allocation, and the prioritization of epics1. Strategic themes help to align the portfolio with the

enterprise’s mission and vision, and to ensure that the epics deliver the most value to the customers

and stakeholders1.

Strategic themes are specific business objectives that connect a portfolio to the enterprise strategy.

They provide guidance for the portfolio vision, budget allocation, and metric selection. They also

assist with epic evaluation and decision-making by providing a context for assessing the value and

alignment of epics12

1: [Strategic Themes - Scaled Agile Framework] 2: Epic - Scaled Agile Framework

According to the Roadmap article on the Scaled Agile Framework website, in a SAFe Roadmap, only

the first PI is committed. The article states that “The committed PI shows the results of the teams’

most recent PI Planning event where they committed to event the program’s PI Objectives. The

forecast may provide the deliverables and milestones for the following two PIs.” Therefore, the

correct answer is A, the first one. The other options are not accurate, as they imply that more than

one PI is committed, which is not the case. The roadmap is a forecast, not a guarantee, of future PIs.

The government Product Owner is responsible for designating a story as ‘Complete’ based on

acceptance criteria1. The Product Owner is the primary representative of the customer and

stakeholder needs, and has the authority to accept or reject the work done by the team2. The

Product Owner reviews the acceptance criteria for each user story and verifies that they are met by

the working software. The Product Owner also ensures that the work meets the definition of done,

which is a shared understanding of the quality standards for the team3.

1: Government - Building in Quality and Compliance - Scaled Agile Framework 2: Product Owner -

Scaled Agile Framework 3: When is a User Story “Done?”— Acceptance Criteria and the Definition of

“Done” [Article] | Treehouse Blog

Two statements that accurately describe the SAFe Implementation Roadmap are:

It reflects success patterns from previous implementations of SAFe. The SAFe Implementation

Roadmap is based on the experiences and learnings of hundreds of enterprises that have successfully

adopted SAFe1. It captures the common critical moves and best practices that have proven to be

effective in implementing SAFe in a reliable and predictable way2.

It provides recommended sequencing of role-based training. The SAFe Implementation Roadmap

includes a step for training Lean-Agile change agents, who are the key enablers and coaches of the

transformation3. It also suggests the appropriate role-based training for executives, managers,

leaders, and teams, as well as the timing and sequence of the training in relation to the launch of the

ARTs. The training helps to build the knowledge and skills needed to apply SAFe principles and

practices at various levels of the enterprise.

Taking an economic view is the SAFe principle that ensures the maximum benefit is generated by

understanding trade-offs between risks, cost of delay, operational costs, and development costs for

each program and value stream1. This principle requires a fundamental understanding of the

economics of building systems and making decisions in a proper economic context. This includes the

strategy for incremental value delivery and the broader economic framework for each value

stream2. Taking an economic view helps to optimize the flow of value, reduce waste, and deliver

solutions that meet customer and stakeholder needs3.

1: SAFe Lean-Agile Principles - Scaled Agile Framework 2: Principle #1 – Take an economic view -

Scaled Agile Framework 3: Adopting Lean Budgeting Aligned to Development Value Streams

According to the Applying Lean Estimating and Forecasting in Cadence article on the Scaled Agile

Framework website, ART velocities are used to conduct ‘what if’ analysis for estimating and

forecasting in SAFe. The article states that “The ART velocity is used to conduct ‘what if’ analysis,

which helps determine the feasibility of the plan and the number of features that can be delivered in

a PI. The ART velocity is also used to forecast the delivery of features and capabilities beyond the

current PI.” Therefore, the correct answer is C, ART velocities are used to conduct ‘what if’ analysis.

The other options are not accurate, as they are not the statements that are true for estimating and

forecasting in SAFe. Feature estimation is not independent of team-level input (A), as teams are

involved in estimating the size and complexity of features using story points or normalized story

points. Epics are not estimated by the Epic Owner (B), as they are estimated collaboratively by the

Epic Owner, Enterprise Architect, and Lean Portfolio Management. Work breakdown structure to the

task level does not help increase estimation accuracy (D), as it introduces unnecessary overhead and

delays feedback.