Agile &amp; Scrum

Relate 'Build Quality In' (Jidoka) to TDD and CI

Tests your ability to connect abstract Lean principles to concrete practices. A great answer defines Jidoka (stop the line on defect), then links TDD as the micro-level check and CI as the macro-level automated line-stop. A red flag is just defining the terms.

How do you identify and elevate your team's primary constraint using TOC?

Map value stream, measure queue and cycle times to find the slowest stage, exploit it, subordinate upstream WIP, elevate via automation, repeat.

How would you identify and elevate a team's primary constraint?

This tests your systems thinking beyond local optimization. A great answer follows the 5 Focusing Steps: Identify, Exploit, Subordinate, Elevate, Repeat. A red flag is jumping to 'hire more people' before exploiting the existing constraint and subordinating…

How would you identify and elevate your team's primary constraint?

This tests systems thinking over local optimization. A great answer outlines the 5 steps: identify the constraint (e.g., long queues), exploit it, subordinate other processes, elevate it, and repeat. A red flag is jumping straight to hiring or buying tools.

How would you implement a software Andon Cord equivalent?

This tests translating Lean stop-the-line into CI/CD culture. Trigger: compile, test, or integration failures. Impact: halt pipeline, block merges, and swarm to fix immediately with collective ownership. Red flag: blaming committers or deferring fixes.

How would you implement an Andon Cord for a software team?

Tests your grasp of CI/CD, quality, and team culture. A great answer defines a trigger (broken main build), a technical block (stop merges), and a cultural response (team swarms). A red flag is scheduling the fix or blaming an individual.

How would you implement an Andon Cord for a software team?

Tests your understanding of CI, team ownership, and balancing speed with quality. Define a trigger (broken main build), an action (halt merges/deploys), and a team response (swarming to fix). Red flag: scheduling the fix or blaming an individual.

Three accountabilities in a Scrum Team and their primary focuses

Tests recall of the three Scrum accountabilities. Outline: Product Owner orders the backlog; Developers create an Increment each Sprint; Scrum Master fosters an environment for empiricism. Red flag: Using roles or treating the Scrum Master as a task master.

What are the three Scrum accountabilities and their focus?

Tests recall of Scrum's core team structure and how the roles create a self-managing unit. A good answer names the Product Owner (value), Developers (Increment), and Scrum Master (process) and defines their focus.

What are the three accountabilities in a Scrum Team?

Tests recall of Scrum fundamentals and separation of concerns. Name the three accountabilities (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers) and define their focus: PO on value, Developers on delivery, and SM on process. A red flag is adding non-Scrum roles.

Describe the Daily Scrum's purpose, audience, and intended outcome.

Say it's a Sprint event for Developers to inspect progress toward agreed goals and adapt their plan.

Describe the purpose of the Daily Scrum

Tests if you know the Daily Scrum is a planning event for Developers, not a status report. A good answer states it's a 15-min meeting to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog.

What is the purpose of the Daily Scrum?

This tests if you know the Daily Scrum is a planning event for Developers, not a status report. A great answer states it's a 15-min meeting for Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt their plan.

Sprint Review vs Retrospective: purpose, focus, and audience

Review inspects the Increment with stakeholders to adapt the backlog; Retrospective inspects process to improve ways of working.

What is the purpose of Sprint Review vs. Sprint Retrospective?

This tests your grasp of Scrum's distinct feedback loops. The Review inspects the product Increment with stakeholders to adapt the Product Backlog. The Retrospective inspects the team's process with the Scrum Team only.

Sprint Review vs. Sprint Retrospective: Purpose and Audience

This tests your grasp of Scrum's dual feedback loops. A great answer defines Review as inspecting the *product* with stakeholders to adapt the backlog, and Retrospective as inspecting the *process* with the team to improve the next Sprint.

How do items flow between the Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, and Increment?

Tests whether you understand Scrum's three artifacts as commitments to value, not just task lists. A strong answer describes ordering, selection, and the Definition of Done. Red flag: calling the Sprint Backlog a task list owned by the Product Owner.

Relationship Between Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, and Increment

This tests your understanding of Scrum artifacts as commitments to goals, not just to-do lists. Define the Product Backlog (Product Goal), Sprint Backlog (Sprint Goal), and Increment (Definition of Done), then trace an item's flow.

Explain the Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, and Increment

Tests your understanding of Scrum's three artifacts and their commitments (Product Goal, Sprint Goal, Definition of Done). Define each, explain the flow from Product to Sprint Backlog, and how completed items form a usable Increment.