Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) Exam — Questions and Answers

Question 1: In DA, 'Guided Continuous Improvement (GCI)' primarily helps teams by:

Replacing retrospectives with external audits
Assigning improvement tasks from senior management
Mandating a fixed improvement framework for all teams
Providing proven strategies and patterns to accelerate improvement without starting from scratch (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Providing proven strategies and patterns to accelerate improvement without starting from scratch

GCI provides teams with proven improvement strategies drawn from DA's toolkit so they can accelerate their evolution rather than reinventing solutions.

Question 2: How does Disciplined Agile support the management of compliance risks?

By establishing clear processes for identifying and addressing compliance risks (Correct answer)
By avoiding any changes to the project plan
By ignoring compliance issues in favor of faster delivery
By minimizing stakeholder involvement

Correct answer: By establishing clear processes for identifying and addressing compliance risks

Disciplined Agile addresses compliance risks by advocating for the establishment of clear, integrated processes. These processes help teams proactively identify potential compliance issues, assess their impact, and implement appropriate mitigation strategies throughout the project lifecycle. This systematic approach ensures that compliance is built-in, not bolted on, without hindering agility.

Question 3: Which DA principle best explains why a team might choose Kanban over Scrum for their WoW?

Delight customers
Context counts (Correct answer)
Be awesome
Enterprise awareness

Correct answer: Context counts

'Context counts' explains that a team's unique situation, workflow, and needs should drive WoW selection — some contexts suit Kanban better than Scrum.

Question 4: What is the focus during the Construction phase of the DA lifecycle?

Establishing project timelines
Preparing marketing strategies
Finalizing project documentation
Building and validating the product (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Building and validating the product

The Construction phase is the core development stage in the DA lifecycle. During this phase, the team actively builds, integrates, and tests the solution in an iterative and incremental manner. The primary focus is on creating working product features and validating them to ensure they meet the defined requirements and quality standards.

Question 5: How does continuing education relate to incident response & disaster recovery for DA certified professionals?

It ensures professionals stay current with evolving standards and best practices (Correct answer)
It is only needed when changing employers
It is required only for entry-level practitioners
It is optional and rarely impacts practice quality

Correct answer: It ensures professionals stay current with evolving standards and best practices

Continuing education ensures DA professionals stay current with evolving standards, technologies, and best practices in incident response & disaster recovery, maintaining competency throughout their careers.

Question 6: Which DA concept suggests teams should choose their metrics based on their specific context rather than adopting a universal set of KPIs?

Choose your WoW (Way of Working) (Correct answer)
Enterprise awareness
Lean self-organization
Guided continuous improvement

Correct answer: Choose your WoW (Way of Working)

DA's 'Choose Your WoW' philosophy extends to metrics — teams select the measurements most meaningful to their situation rather than following a prescribed list.

Question 7: What does 'WoW' stand for in the context of Disciplined Agile?

Work over Waterfall
Work Output Workflow
Way of Working (Correct answer)
Workflow over Waste

Correct answer: Way of Working

WoW stands for 'Way of Working,' the unique set of practices and processes that each team selects and evolves to fit their context.

Question 8: In Disciplined Agile, which collaboration pattern best describes two developers working together at a single workstation on the same code simultaneously?

Swarming
Mob programming
Pair programming (Correct answer)
Peer review

Correct answer: Pair programming

Pair programming involves two developers working together at one workstation, with one typing (driver) and one reviewing and thinking ahead (navigator).

Question 9: A DA practitioner says their team has 'graduated' from the Agile lifecycle to the Lean lifecycle. What does this MOST likely mean?

The team has matured enough to sustain continuous flow without the structure of timeboxed iterations (Correct answer)
The team has received official DA certification
The team has switched from software to non-software work
The team has been reorganized under a new portfolio

Correct answer: The team has matured enough to sustain continuous flow without the structure of timeboxed iterations

Teams with strong practices and consistent delivery quality often graduate to pull-based Lean flow, no longer needing the scaffolding of fixed sprints.

Question 10: In DA, what role does 'psychological safety' play in enabling team performance and continuous improvement?

It protects the team from external stakeholder demands during a sprint
It is a compliance requirement for DA-certified organizations
It creates an environment where people feel safe to experiment, speak up, and learn from failures without fear (Correct answer)
It ensures team members never experience stress during sprint reviews

Correct answer: It creates an environment where people feel safe to experiment, speak up, and learn from failures without fear

DA recognizes psychological safety as foundational for learning cultures — without it, teams hide failures, avoid experiments, and suppress the honest feedback needed for improvement.

Question 11: In the DA Toolkit, which life cycle supports teams that need to follow a more traditional plan-driven approach due to regulatory or contractual constraints?

Continuous Delivery: Lean life cycle
Program life cycle (Correct answer)
Continuous Delivery: Agile life cycle
Lean life cycle

Correct answer: Program life cycle

The Program life cycle in DA accommodates teams working on large, complex initiatives that benefit from more coordination and planning, suitable for regulated environments.

Question 12: In DA, what term describes the shared understanding a team develops about goals, roles, and working norms at the start of a project?

Project brief
Team charter (Correct answer)
Agile manifesto alignment
Sprint contract

Correct answer: Team charter

A team charter documents the shared agreements about how the team will work together, including goals, norms, decision rights, and communication protocols.

Question 13: In the DA framework, 'Delivery Risk' is BEST managed by which practice?

Applying risk-reduction milestones and iterative delivery to expose and address risks early (Correct answer)
Delaying delivery until all risks are fully analyzed
Outsourcing risky components to specialized vendors
Fixing all scope at project start to eliminate uncertainty

Correct answer: Applying risk-reduction milestones and iterative delivery to expose and address risks early

DA manages delivery risk through progressive milestones and incremental delivery, surfacing unknowns early when they are cheaper to address.

Question 14: What is the primary purpose of incident response & disaster recovery in the context of Certified Disciplined Agile?

To eliminate the need for ongoing training
To replace established industry guidelines
To reduce organizational costs exclusively
To ensure consistent quality and professional accountability (Correct answer)

Correct answer: To ensure consistent quality and professional accountability

Incident Response & Disaster Recovery in Certified Disciplined Agile primarily ensures consistent quality and professional accountability, forming the foundation of competent practice in this field.

Question 15: How does the Agile Manifesto prioritize customer collaboration?

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation (Correct answer)
Customer satisfaction through warranty agreements
Reducing customer involvement in decision-making
Detailed contracts over customer feedback

Correct answer: Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

The Agile Manifesto explicitly states "Customer collaboration over contract negotiation" as one of its four core values. This principle highlights the importance of continuous, direct engagement with customers to understand their evolving needs and incorporate their feedback throughout the project lifecycle. It prioritizes building strong relationships and delivering value over strict adherence to initial, potentially outdated, contractual terms.

Question 16: Which of the following best describes a key competency required for cloud infrastructure & deployment in DA certification?

Memorization of all relevant regulations verbatim
Delegation of all complex tasks to supervisors
Ability to work independently without any oversight
Critical thinking and evidence-based decision making (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Critical thinking and evidence-based decision making

Critical thinking and evidence-based decision making is essential for cloud infrastructure & deployment, as professionals must analyze situations and apply knowledge appropriately.

Question 17: What does Disciplined Agile say about the ideal size of an agile delivery team?

Team size is irrelevant as long as a strong team lead is present
Teams should have exactly 7 members for optimal performance
Teams of 5–9 people are generally optimal, but context determines the right size (Correct answer)
Larger teams are always better because they have more combined skill

Correct answer: Teams of 5–9 people are generally optimal, but context determines the right size

DA acknowledges that while 5–9 members is a common guideline for balanced communication and capacity, the right size depends on the team's context, domain complexity, and organizational structure.

Question 18: Which documentation practice is most important for incident response & disaster recovery in the DA field?

Recording only successful outcomes
Using informal notes instead of official records
Maintaining complete, accurate, and timely records (Correct answer)
Documenting only when legally required

Correct answer: Maintaining complete, accurate, and timely records

Maintaining complete, accurate, and timely records is crucial for accountability, quality assurance, and legal compliance in incident response & disaster recovery.

Question 19: In Disciplined Agile, what is the significance of a team's 'working agreement' in relation to team dynamics?

It is a document submitted to the PMO to justify the team's agile approach
It is a set of self-defined norms that guide how the team interacts and makes decisions (Correct answer)
It replaces the need for retrospectives by pre-defining all team processes
It is a formal contract signed by all team members and their managers

Correct answer: It is a set of self-defined norms that guide how the team interacts and makes decisions

A working agreement is a collaboratively created set of behavioral norms that helps teams maintain consistent, respectful collaboration and resolve disputes constructively.

Question 20: In Disciplined Agile, 'independent testing and QA' roles are treated as:

Replaced entirely by developers doing their own testing
Owned by the Product Owner in all contexts
Mandatory on every team to ensure quality gates
Supporting roles that may be needed depending on context (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Supporting roles that may be needed depending on context

DA takes a context-sensitive view; independent testing roles may be needed in some situations but are not mandated on every team.

Question 21: What is a common challenge professionals face when applying incident response & disaster recovery principles in Certified Disciplined Agile?

Balancing theoretical knowledge with practical application (Correct answer)
Excessive simplicity of industry regulations
Lack of any professional development opportunities
Having too much support from colleagues

Correct answer: Balancing theoretical knowledge with practical application

Balancing theoretical knowledge with practical application is a well-recognized challenge, as real-world scenarios often present complexities not covered in standard training.

Question 22: What is the first phase of the Disciplined Agile (DA) lifecycle?

Transition phase
Inception phase
Elaboration phase (Correct answer)
Construction phase

Correct answer: Elaboration phase

The Elaboration phase in the Disciplined Agile (DA) lifecycle is where the team begins to explore the solution in more detail, focusing on understanding the requirements and establishing a viable architectural vision. While an Inception phase might precede it for initial visioning, Elaboration is often considered the first significant phase where detailed planning, modeling, and initial risk mitigation occur. This phase ensures the team has a solid foundation before proceeding to full-scale construction.

Question 23: What does the Disciplined Agile concept of 'flow efficiency' measure?

The number of features delivered per sprint
The team velocity compared to capacity
The ratio of passing tests to total tests
The percentage of time work is actively being worked on versus waiting (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The percentage of time work is actively being worked on versus waiting

Flow efficiency measures the proportion of time work spends in active processing versus sitting idle in queues, highlighting waste in the value stream.

Question 24: How should a DA professional handle a situation where security architecture & network defense protocols conflict with practical constraints?

Always ignore the protocols in favor of practicality
Document the conflict and seek guidance from appropriate authorities (Correct answer)
Avoid addressing the conflict entirely
Make a unilateral decision without consultation

Correct answer: Document the conflict and seek guidance from appropriate authorities

When protocols conflict with practical constraints, the professional approach is to document the conflict and seek guidance, ensuring transparency and compliance while working toward a resolution.

Question 25: A DA program-level team discovers that three sub-teams use incompatible integration standards. Which governance action is MOST appropriate?

Escalate to enterprise governance to establish an integration guardrail (Correct answer)
Force all teams to adopt the same agile framework immediately
Halt all deliveries until a consultant resolves the conflict
Allow each team to continue independently to preserve autonomy

Correct answer: Escalate to enterprise governance to establish an integration guardrail

Program or enterprise governance in DA is responsible for setting guardrails such as integration standards when cross-team alignment is needed.

Question 26: Which statement accurately describes how DA handles the concept of 'good enough' governance?

DA eliminates governance entirely to maximize agility
DA tailors governance to context, applying just enough oversight to manage risk without creating waste (Correct answer)
DA mandates heavy governance artifacts for all teams regardless of risk
DA delegates governance solely to the Scrum Master

Correct answer: DA tailors governance to context, applying just enough oversight to manage risk without creating waste

DA promotes 'light but sufficient' governance, scaling oversight based on risk, team maturity, and organizational context to avoid bureaucratic waste.

Question 27: In DA, which statement about role assignment is MOST accurate?

One person must hold only one DA role at a time
Roles are permanently assigned at project inception and cannot change
A single person can fulfill multiple DA roles simultaneously if the context allows (Correct answer)
Only certified professionals can hold named DA roles

Correct answer: A single person can fulfill multiple DA roles simultaneously if the context allows

DA is pragmatic; in smaller teams or certain contexts, one person may wear multiple role hats simultaneously.

Question 28: According to DA, why should teams be cautious about using 'number of features delivered' as a primary success metric?

Features cannot be measured until a product launches
This metric encourages teams to work overtime
Features are too difficult to count consistently across teams
Delivering many features does not guarantee customer value or business outcomes (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Delivering many features does not guarantee customer value or business outcomes

DA warns that feature count is an output metric that can be high even when the delivered features provide little actual value or solve the wrong customer problems.

Question 29: A DA team is asked to adopt SAFe's Program Increment (PI) planning. How does DA view this?

DA prohibits the use of SAFe practices
DA supports adopting PI planning if it fits the team's context as part of choosing their WoW (Correct answer)
DA requires all teams to use PI planning by default
DA replaces PI planning with its own mandatory quarterly planning ceremony

Correct answer: DA supports adopting PI planning if it fits the team's context as part of choosing their WoW

DA's 'Choose Your WoW' philosophy supports adopting SAFe PI planning as a valid practice when it fits the team's and organization's context.

Question 30: Which technology trend is most likely to impact cloud infrastructure & deployment in the DA field in coming years?

Reduction in the need for professional certification
Digital tools for enhanced data collection, analysis, and reporting (Correct answer)
Return to exclusively paper-based systems
Complete elimination of human professionals

Correct answer: Digital tools for enhanced data collection, analysis, and reporting

Digital tools for enhanced data collection, analysis, and reporting represent the most significant and practical technology trend impacting cloud infrastructure & deployment, augmenting rather than replacing professional expertise.

Question 31: Which Lean concept does DA incorporate to describe the reduction of unnecessary work, waiting, or complexity?

Flow efficiency
Pull systems
Muda (waste) elimination (Correct answer)
Value streaming

Correct answer: Muda (waste) elimination

Muda refers to waste in Lean thinking, and DA incorporates waste elimination as a key principle for improving team efficiency.

Question 32: In Disciplined Agile, which governance model best supports teams that choose their own way of working (WoW)?

Command-and-control governance with mandatory process templates
Waterfall-stage-gate governance with formal phase reviews
Lean governance that provides guardrails and enables team autonomy (Correct answer)
Regulatory-first governance that mandates compliance checklists

Correct answer: Lean governance that provides guardrails and enables team autonomy

DA's lean governance model establishes guardrails and guidance while empowering teams to choose their own WoW rather than imposing uniform processes.

Question 33: In DA, what is the 'improvement kata' most closely associated with?

A daily standup format for tracking impediments
A retrospective technique for identifying waste
A structured approach to iterative process improvement using target conditions and experiments (Correct answer)
A metrics dashboard template for agile teams

Correct answer: A structured approach to iterative process improvement using target conditions and experiments

The improvement kata is a four-step scientific thinking pattern used in DA to move from the current state toward a target condition through planned experiments.

Question 34: In the DA toolkit, which metric is used to measure the predictability of a team's delivery cadence?

Velocity variance (Correct answer)
Throughput
Lead time
Cycle time consistency

Correct answer: Velocity variance

Velocity variance tracks fluctuations in a team's velocity over time, indicating how predictable and stable their delivery cadence is.

Question 35: Which documentation practice is most important for security architecture & network defense in the DA field?

Maintaining complete, accurate, and timely records (Correct answer)
Documenting only when legally required
Using informal notes instead of official records
Recording only successful outcomes

Correct answer: Maintaining complete, accurate, and timely records

Maintaining complete, accurate, and timely records is crucial for accountability, quality assurance, and legal compliance in security architecture & network defense.

Question 36: The DA Tool Kit provides process goals as:

A list of approved Agile frameworks only
Decision points that guide teams toward good practices for their context (Correct answer)
Mandatory steps that all teams must follow
Fixed metrics for measuring team performance

Correct answer: Decision points that guide teams toward good practices for their context

DA process goals provide decision points that teams use as guidance to choose contextually appropriate practices rather than prescribing mandatory steps.

Question 37: A DA team's retrospective reveals that their process generates high-quality output but is too slow. According to DA, what should they focus on?

Hire more developers to compensate for the slow process
Reduce quality checks to increase speed
Identify and eliminate process waste to improve throughput without sacrificing quality (Correct answer)
Switch to a waterfall lifecycle to have clearer phase gates

Correct answer: Identify and eliminate process waste to improve throughput without sacrificing quality

DA applies Lean thinking to identify and eliminate waste (muda) in the process, improving speed while maintaining quality.

Question 38: According to Disciplined Agile, what is 'osmotic communication' and why is it valuable for teams?

A structured daily standup format for dispersed teams
An email communication standard for stakeholder updates
The passive absorption of information by team members overhearing nearby conversations in a shared space (Correct answer)
A formal communication protocol using shared dashboards and reports

Correct answer: The passive absorption of information by team members overhearing nearby conversations in a shared space

Osmotic communication is the organic spread of context and knowledge through casual overheard conversations in a co-located environment, reducing the need for formal information-sharing ceremonies.

Question 39: Which Lean principle is most closely aligned with DA's emphasis on delivering small, incremental value frequently?

5S methodology
Single-piece flow
Batch size reduction (Correct answer)
Respect for people

Correct answer: Batch size reduction

Reducing batch size in Lean aligns with DA's emphasis on delivering value in small, frequent increments to reduce risk and improve throughput.

Question 40: In DA, 'Guided Continuous Improvement' (GCI) differs from traditional continuous improvement because it:

Focuses only on technical process improvements
Provides proven options rather than requiring teams to start from scratch (Correct answer)
Requires external consultants to guide all improvements
Measures improvement solely through velocity increases

Correct answer: Provides proven options rather than requiring teams to start from scratch

GCI helps teams improve by offering proven options and guidance rather than requiring them to discover improvements from scratch each time.

Question 41: In Disciplined Agile, what is the purpose of a team retrospective?

To reflect on the team's process and identify specific improvements to implement in the next iteration (Correct answer)
To plan the technical architecture for the next release
To reassign story points from the completed sprint
To report team performance metrics to senior leadership

Correct answer: To reflect on the team's process and identify specific improvements to implement in the next iteration

Retrospectives are structured team reflection sessions designed to surface what worked well, what didn't, and produce concrete improvement actions for the next iteration.

Question 42: Which key role does the DA framework emphasize for project success?

Cross-functional team (Correct answer)
Project manager
Product owner
External consultants

Correct answer: Cross-functional team

Disciplined Agile strongly emphasizes the importance of a cross-functional team for project success. These teams possess all the necessary skills—from analysis and design to development and testing—to deliver working solutions independently. This holistic capability minimizes handoffs, improves communication, and fosters collective ownership, leading to more efficient and effective outcomes.

Question 43: What role does feedback play in continuous improvement within the DA framework?

It is only required at the end of the project
It helps teams adjust processes and improve performance throughout the project (Correct answer)
It is not relevant to the DA framework
It is used solely for measuring product success

Correct answer: It helps teams adjust processes and improve performance throughout the project

Feedback is a cornerstone of continuous improvement in the DA framework. By regularly collecting and analyzing feedback from various sources—including team members, stakeholders, and system metrics—teams gain insights into their performance and processes. This enables them to make timely adjustments and adaptations, leading to ongoing enhancements in efficiency, quality, and value delivery.

Question 44: In DA, the 'Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM)' role is closest to which SAFe role?

Product Owner
Release Train Engineer (RTE) (Correct answer)
Solution Architect
Business Owner

Correct answer: Release Train Engineer (RTE)

The DASSM facilitates coordination across teams similarly to SAFe's Release Train Engineer, who serves and facilitates the Agile Release Train.

Question 45: Which DA governance practice helps ensure that the work being done aligns with organizational strategy and priorities?

Individual performance-based incentive systems
Portfolio management and investment governance (Correct answer)
Mandatory use of Scrum across all teams
Daily stand-up reporting to executives

Correct answer: Portfolio management and investment governance

Portfolio management and investment governance in DA ensure that funded work aligns with strategic objectives and delivers organizational value.

Question 46: In DA, the Architecture Owner is responsible for:

Reporting status to senior management
Managing the project budget
Guiding technical architecture and ensuring technical integrity (Correct answer)
Approving all user stories before development

Correct answer: Guiding technical architecture and ensuring technical integrity

The Architecture Owner guides the architectural direction of the solution and ensures technical integrity throughout the project.

Question 47: In Disciplined Agile, what does 'enterprise awareness' require of individual agile teams?

Teams must adopt the same process as every other team in the organization
Teams must report their metrics weekly to enterprise program managers
Teams must understand how their work connects to and impacts the broader organization and other teams (Correct answer)
Teams must follow enterprise architecture patterns without any local adaptation

Correct answer: Teams must understand how their work connects to and impacts the broader organization and other teams

Enterprise awareness means teams recognize they don't operate in isolation — their decisions, dependencies, and deliverables affect other teams, shared systems, and organizational goals.

Question 48: In DA, what does 'swarming' refer to in a team collaboration context?

A code deployment strategy using multiple parallel pipelines
A technique where team members rotate between different projects weekly
Multiple team members simultaneously focusing on one blocked or critical work item to resolve it quickly (Correct answer)
A planning ceremony where the whole team estimates all backlog items together

Correct answer: Multiple team members simultaneously focusing on one blocked or critical work item to resolve it quickly

Swarming is when multiple team members temporarily drop other work to collectively address a single blocked, critical, or high-priority item to restore flow.

Question 49: Which of the following is a key benefit of the Scrum methodology?

Increased control over the development process
Fixed project timelines
Frequent, small deliverables (Correct answer)
Strict separation of duties

Correct answer: Frequent, small deliverables

A key benefit of the Scrum methodology is its emphasis on frequent, small deliverables, typically at the end of each Sprint. This approach allows for continuous feedback from stakeholders and users, enabling the team to adapt and refine the product iteratively. Delivering working software regularly provides early value and reduces the risk of large-scale failures.

Question 50: What is the primary purpose of cloud infrastructure & deployment in the context of Certified Disciplined Agile?

To reduce organizational costs exclusively
To replace established industry guidelines
To eliminate the need for ongoing training
To ensure consistent quality and professional accountability (Correct answer)

Correct answer: To ensure consistent quality and professional accountability

Cloud Infrastructure & Deployment in Certified Disciplined Agile primarily ensures consistent quality and professional accountability, forming the foundation of competent practice in this field.

Question 51: Which DA principle supports continuous improvement by encouraging teams to evolve their WoW over time?

Optimize flow (Correct answer)
Enterprise awareness
Be awesome
Pragmatism

Correct answer: Optimize flow

Optimizing flow in DA includes continuously improving the team's way of working to reduce waste and increase the speed of value delivery.

Question 52: What ethical consideration is most relevant to security architecture & network defense in DA practice?

Following only those rules that are convenient
Maintaining confidentiality and acting in the best interest of stakeholders (Correct answer)
Avoiding all professional development activities
Prioritizing personal advancement over professional duties

Correct answer: Maintaining confidentiality and acting in the best interest of stakeholders

Maintaining confidentiality and acting in the best interest of stakeholders is the cornerstone ethical consideration for security architecture & network defense in professional practice.

Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) Exam

The DASM certification validates an individual's understanding of the Disciplined Agile toolkit and how to apply it to optimize team processes and outcomes.

Questions

90 min

Time Limit

70%

To Pass

Checking for saved progress...

Exam Rules

You can skip questions and return to them later
Flag questions for review before submitting
No feedback shown until you submit the entire exam
Unanswered questions count as wrong — answer everything
10 pretest questions are mixed in and don't affect your score
Timer auto-submits when time runs out
Your progress is auto-saved every 30 seconds