Mixed Deck — All DAC Topics Flashcards

Which tool is commonly used for visualizing workflow in continuous improvement?

Answer: Kanban board.

A Kanban board is a visual management tool commonly used to track and visualize workflow, typically with columns representing different stages of work. It helps teams identify bottlenecks, manage work in progress, and continuously improve their flow and efficiency by making the work transparent.

A DA coach is working with a leadership team that wants to impose a single agile framework on all teams. What is the most DA-aligned response?

Answer: Help leadership understand that teams should choose their way of working based on context

DA's 'Choice is Good' principle advocates for context-sensitive ways of working rather than one-size-fits-all frameworks, and a DAC should help leadership understand this.

In DA, what distinguishes a 'transformation coach' role from an 'agile team coach' role?

Answer: Transformation coaches address organizational systems and culture; team coaches focus on team-level WoW

Transformation coaches operate at the organizational level, addressing culture and systems, while team coaches improve day-to-day team practices.

A DA coach is facilitating a stakeholder review. Which behavior BEST demonstrates effective facilitation?

Answer: Encouraging open dialogue, active listening, and capturing feedback collaboratively

Effective facilitation creates a safe space for open dialogue and ensures all stakeholder perspectives are heard and captured.

What role does continuous improvement play in servant leadership practices for DAC certified professionals?

Answer: It drives ongoing enhancement of practices, processes, and outcomes through systematic evaluation

Continuous improvement is fundamental to professional practice in servant leadership practices, involving regular evaluation, feedback integration, and process enhancement to maintain high standards.

Which scenario best illustrates a violation of the Lean 'build quality in' principle?

Answer: A team skips code reviews to meet a sprint deadline and plans a 'hardening sprint'

Deferring quality to a hardening sprint violates 'build quality in' by treating quality as a phase rather than a continuous activity.

Which facilitation tool helps prioritize ideas?

Answer: Dot voting.

Dot voting is a simple yet effective facilitation technique used to quickly prioritize a list of ideas or options within a group. Participants are given a limited number of 'dots' to place next to their preferred choices, allowing for a visual and democratic way to identify the most popular or important items.

What is the role of 'feedback loops' in a DA Organizational Change Leadership strategy?

Answer: They enable rapid validation and adjustment of change experiments

Short feedback loops allow organizations to quickly validate whether change experiments are producing desired outcomes and course-correct.

The Lean concept of 'muda' (waste) that most directly applies when developers build features that customers never use is:

Answer: Overproduction

Building unused features is overproduction—creating output beyond what the customer actually needs or pulls.

Which DA mindset principle directly supports collaborative backlog refinement sessions with the whole team rather than just the product owner?

Answer: Collaborate proactively

DA's 'Collaborate proactively' mindset encourages whole-team participation in refinement to leverage diverse knowledge and build shared understanding.

How should DAC professionals handle confidential information related to value stream mapping?

Answer: Follow established protocols for data protection, access control, and disclosure in accordance with applicable regulations

Confidential information must be handled according to established protocols, regulatory requirements, and professional ethics standards, including proper access control and disclosure procedures.

How does DA define the relationship between the Enterprise and Team layers in a scaled agile transformation?

Answer: The Enterprise layer sets strategy and constraints while teams choose how to operate within them

DA's layered model has the Enterprise setting strategic direction and guardrails while teams retain autonomy over their way of working within those boundaries.

A large retailer wants to implement DA but is concerned about disrupting stable, revenue-generating systems. Which transformation pattern best fits?

Answer: Strangler fig pattern applied incrementally while maintaining existing systems

The strangler fig pattern allows incremental transformation by building new capabilities alongside existing systems, reducing risk to revenue-generating operations.

In the DA toolkit, which lifecycle is best suited for teams doing exploratory work like new product development with high uncertainty?

Answer: Exploratory (Lean Startup) lifecycle

The Exploratory lifecycle applies Lean Startup principles for situations with high uncertainty, such as new product development requiring hypothesis testing.

In Value Stream Mapping, what is the correct order for creating a complete VSM?

Answer: Current state → Future state → Implementation plan

You must first understand current reality (current-state map) before designing the improved flow (future-state map) and then planning implementation.

When a DAC professional encounters an unfamiliar challenge in organizational change leadership, what is the recommended first course of action?

Answer: Research applicable standards, consult with subject matter experts, and document the approach

Professional practice requires a methodical approach to unfamiliar challenges: research the applicable standards, consult experts when needed, and document the reasoning for the chosen approach.

What is a 'process goal' in Disciplined Agile?

Answer: A desired outcome that teams work toward using context-appropriate practices

Process goals in DA represent desired outcomes that can be achieved through various context-appropriate practices rather than a single prescribed method.

In DA, 'Continuous Integration' as a team practice primarily contributes to continuous improvement by:

Answer: Providing fast feedback loops that expose integration problems early

Continuous Integration gives teams rapid feedback on integration issues, enabling faster correction and learning loops.

Which of the following best describes a key competency required for agile metrics & reporting in DAC practice?

Answer: Strong analytical skills combined with effective communication and ethical judgment

DAC professionals working in agile metrics & reporting need analytical skills to assess situations, communication skills to convey findings, and ethical judgment to make sound decisions.

Which artifact in DA serves as the ranked list of work items that a team selects from during iteration planning?

Answer: Work item list (WIL)

DA uses the term 'Work Item List' rather than 'product backlog' to reflect that it can contain any type of work, not just product features.