Lesson 2: Building a Foundation with Mindset, Values, and Principles (7-8 questions)

Question 1

What exactly is a ‘mindset?’

Answer 1

A mindset is a mental lens through which we view the world around us. It is how the human brain simplifies, categorizes, and interprets the vast amount of information it receives daily.

We form our mindsets through a lifetime of structured learning (classes, reading) and unstructured lessons (life events, work experience).

Question 2

What two practices are essential to achieving optimum economic outcomes via Lean-Agile methods?

Answer 2

1. Deliver early and often
2. Apply an economic framework

Lean-Agile methods deliver value to the Customer much earlier in the development process. This value then accumulates over time, because the earlier and longer the Customer has the product, the more value they receive.

Delivering earlier and more often also allows for faster feedback as the product is incrementally developed, which improves the chances of an on-time release of the final product.

An economic framework is a set of decision-making guidelines that align everyone to the financial objectives of a portfolio, and which inform the continuous decision-making process

Question 3

Most of the time spent getting to market is a result of what type of problem?

Answer 3

Delays

Reducing delays is the fastest way to reduce time-to-market.
Optimize the full Value Stream

Question 4

Lean Thinking can be summarized with 5 principles. What are they?

Answer 4

► Precisely specify value by product
► Identify the Value Stream for each product
► Make value flow without interruptions
► Let the Customer pull value from the producer
► Pursue perfection

Question 5

SAFe’s economic framework contains what four primary elements?

Answer 5

1. Operating within lean budgets and guardrails
2. Understanding solution economic trade-offs
3. Leveraging suppliers
4. Sequencing jobs for the maximum benefit (WSJF)

SW 2-30 Picture of interacting boxes

Question 6

What are the 3 aspects of System Thinking?

Answer 6

1. The solution itself is a system
2. The enterprise building the system is a system too.
3. Understand and optimize the full value stream.

Question 7

What is Agile Principle #1

Answer 7

Take an economic view

The entire chain of leadership, management, and knowledge workers must understand the economic impact of their choices.

Everyday decisions must be made in a proper economic context. This includes the strategy for incremental value delivery and the broader economic framework for each value stream.

This framework highlights the trade-offs between risk, Cost of Delay (CoD), manufacturing, operational, and development costs.

Question 8

What is Agile Principle #2?

Answer 8

Apply System Thinking

Understanding the elements of systems thinking helps leaders and teams recognize the ‘why’ and ‘what’ of their actions, as well as their impact on those around them.

Optimizing a component does not optimize the system. To improve, everyone must understand the larger aim of the system

Systems thinking takes a holistic approach to solution development, incorporating all aspects of a system and its environment into the system’s design, development, deployment, and maintenance.

Question 9

What is Agile Principle #3?

Answer 9

Assume variability; preserve options

Set-based design is one way to manage variability and preserve options. Set-based design allows you to assume variability and preserve options by keeping design options open for as long as possible, converging as necessary and producing more optimal technical and economic outcomes.

Maintain multiple requirements and design options for a longer period in the development cycle. Empirical data is then used to narrow the focus, resulting in a design that creates optimum economic outcomes.

Question 10

What is Agile Principle #4?

Answer 10

Build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles

Integration points create knowledge from uncertainty.
Fast feedback accelerates knowledge.
The shorter the cycles, the faster the learning.

Question 11

What is Agile Principle #5?

Answer 11

Base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems

The sequential, phase-gate development model was designed to meet this challenge, but experience shows that it does not mitigate risk as intended. In Lean-Agile development, integration points provide objective milestones at which to evaluate the solution throughout the development life cycle.

The system is built in increments, each of which is an integration point. Each integration point demonstrates evidence of the feasibility of the solution under development. Unlike phase-gated development, every milestone involves a portion of each step—requirements, design, development, testing—producing a full increment of value

Question 12

What is Agile Principle #6?

Answer 12

Make value flow without interruptions.

Reduce batch sizes for higher predictablity.
High utilization increases variability.

Question 13

What is Principle #7?

Answer 13

Apply cadence, synchronize with cross-domain planning

Cadence creates predictability and provides a rhythm for development. Synchronization causes multiple perspectives to be understood, resolved and integrated at the same time.

Applying development cadence and synchronization, coupled with periodic cross-domain planning, provides the mechanisms needed to operate effectively in the presence of inherent development uncertainty.

Question 14

What is Principle #8?

Answer 14

Unlock the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers

Question 15

What is Principle #9?

Answer 15

Decentralize Decision-Making

Achieving fast value delivery requires decentralized decision-making. This reduces delays, improves product development flow, enables faster feedback, and creates more innovative solutions designed by those closest to the local knowledge.

Question 16

What is Principle #10?

Answer 16

Organize around value

Question 17

What are the eight (flow) properties to examine that can accelerate flow?

Answer 17

1. Visualize and limit WIP
2. Eliminate bottlenecks
3. Minimize handoffs and dependencies
4. Get faster feedback
5. Work in smaller batches
6. Reduce queue length- the longer the queue of committed work, the longer the wait time for new features.
7. Optimize ‘time in the zone’—give workers time and space without interruption to increase the efficiency of moving work items through the system.
8. Remediate legacy policies and practices - Constantly review policies and practices that inhibit flow to evaluate if they are still necessary in the current context.

Question 18

What are the six different Flow Metrics?
Hint: DVT LEP (Def Leppard)

Answer 18

Flow Distribution
Flow Velocity
Flow Times
Flow Load
Flow Efficiency
Flow Predictability

Question 19

Measures the number of work items by type in a specific Value Stream is an example of what flow Metric?

Answer 19

Flow Distribution

Question 20

Measures the average number of completed work items over a given time period is an example of what flow metric?

Answer 20

Flow Velocity

Question 21

Measures how long it takes for a work item to go through the system is an example of what flow metric?

Answer 21

Flow Time

Question 22

Measures the overall amount of work-in-process in the system is an example of what flow metric?

Answer 22

Flow Load

Question 23

Measures how much of the total flow time is spent in work activities vs. waiting between steps is an example of what flow metric?

Answer 23

Flow Efficiency

Question 24

Summarizes the team’s ability to achieve planned objectives is an example of what flow metric?

Answer 24

Flow Predictability

Question 25

Most problems with your processes willl surface as what?

Answer 25

►Most problems with your process will surface as delays
► Most of the time spent getting to market is a result of these delays
► Reducing delays is the fastest way to reduce time-to-market

Question 26

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over what?

Answer 26

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Question 27

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:

Working software over what?

Answer 27

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Question 28

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:

Customer collaboration over what?

Answer 28

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Question 29

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:

Responding to change over what?

Answer 29

Responding to change over following a plan

Question 30

What are the (four) SAFe Core Values?

Answer 30

1. Alignment
2. Transparency
3. Respect for People
4. Relentless Improvement

Question 31

► Communicate the vision, mission, and strategy
► Connect strategy to execution
► Speak with a common language
► Constantly check for understanding
► Understand your customer

Are all examples of what SAFe Core Value?

Answer 31

Alignment

Question 32

► Create a trust-based environment
► Communicate directly, openly, and honestly
► Turn mistakes into learning moments
► Visualize work
► Provide ready access to needed information

Are all examples of what SAFe Core Value?

Answer 32

Transparency

Question 33

► Hold precious what it is to be human
► Value diversity of people and opinions
► Grow people through coaching and mentoring
► Embrace ‘your customer is whoever consumes your work’
► Build long-term partnerships based on mutual benefit

Are all examples of what SAFe Core Value?

Answer 33

Respect for People

Question 34

► Create a constant sense of urgency
► Build a problem-solving culture
► Reflect and adapt frequently
► Let facts guide improvements
► Provide time and space for innovation

Are all examples of what SAFe Core Value?

Answer 34

Relentless Improvement

Question 35

An Economic Framework is a set of decision guidelines that align everyone with the financial objectives of a Portfolio and inform the continuous decision-making process.

Understand Solution Economic Trade-Offs is under this framework. According to SAFe what (Five) considerations affecting tradeoff decisions?

Answer 35

Lead time – the time needed to implement the capability.
Product cost– the manufacturing cost (of goods sold) and deployment and operational costs.
Value – the economic worth of the capability to the business and the customer
Development expense – the cost of labor and materials required to implement a capability
Risk – the uncertainty of the solution’s technical or business success

Question 36

What are some of the enconomic considerations (trade off values) when analyzing your processes/systems?

Answer 36

Understanding trade-off parameters:
► Sequence jobs for maximum benefit
► Do not consider money already spent
► Make economic choices continuously
► Empower local decision making
► If you only quantify one thing,
quantify the cost of delay

Question 37

Reduce < what > for higher predictability?

Answer 37

Reduce batch size for higher predictability

Small batches go through the system faster with
lower variability

Optimal batch size is a U curve optimization where:
- Total cost: Sum of holding costs and transaction cost
- Higher transaction costs make optimal batch size larger
- Higher holding costs make optimal batch size smaller.

Question 38

Enabling intrinsic motivation from knowlegeable workers requires an environment where workers feel that they have control over what 3 aspects?

hint: AMP

Answer 38

►Autonomy is the desire to be self-directed and have control over what we work on, how we do our work, and who we work with
► Mastery is the urge to get better at what we do and improve our personal and team skills
►Purpose is the desire to do something that matters and has meaning

Question 39

Solution builders need two types of feedback from each PDCA cycle. What are they?

Answer 39

Feedback about building the right thing. This feedback can only come from those users, customers, and economic stakeholders who can measure a solution’s actual value. Each PDCA cycle is an opportunity for this learning, from early mockups and storyboards to system demos during development to feedback on pre-releases and deployed systems in production.

Feedback about building it right. Innovative systems constantly push the bounds of technology and the developers’ skills. Each PDCA cycle also evaluates if the right technology is applied to optimally solve the customer’s problem and meet the critical nonfunctional requirements (system ‘ilities”) that characterize robust and effective solutions.

Question 40

Faster < blank> is one of the primary reasons for working in smaller batches.

Answer 40

Faster feedback is one of the primary reasons for working in smaller batches.

• The smaller the size, the faster teams can collect and evaluate the feedback to adjust.
• Smaller batches reduce WIP by limiting the number of requirements, designs, code, tests, and other work items moving through the system at any point.
• Smaller batches go through the system faster and with less variability, fostering faster learning.
• Moreover, since each item in the batch has some variability, larger batches accumulate more variability.

Question 41

What parameters need to be considered to pick the optiumn batch size?

Answer 41

The economically optimal batch size depends on the **holding cost ** – the cost for delayed feedback, inventory decay, delayed value delivery, and so on) and **transaction cos ** – the cost of preparing and implementing the batch.

To improve the economics of processing smaller batches— teams should focus on reducing the transaction costs—resulting in higher throughput for a batch of a given size.

Reducing batch size typically involves investment in automating the Continuous Delivery Pipeline, including infrastructure and automation, continuous integration, builds, regression testing, and more.

Shorter iterations and PIs also help to reduce batch size.

Question 42

What are the benefits of cadence and synchronization?

Answer 42

Cadence:
Converts unpredictable events into predictable ones and lowers costs.

Makes waiting times for new work predictable.

Supports regular planning and cross-functional coordination.

Controls injection of new work

Provides scheduled intergration points.

Synchronization:
Causes multiple events to happen at the same time.

Facilities cross-functional tradeoffs

Provides routine dependency management

Supports full system integration and assessment

Provides multiple feedback perspectives.

Question 43

Retired United States Navy Captain David Marquet emphasizes the importance of creating an environment that enables the effective delegation of responsibilities. To achieve this, he highlights two vital components:
What are they?

Answer 43

Technical competence and organizational clarity.

Increasing technical competence and organizational clarity enables decentralized decision-making

When decision-making authority is distributed, it becomes necessary for everyone to understand their roles and responsibilities, as well as the organization’s values, purpose, and mission.

Without such clarity, executing with competence and yet moving in the wrong direction is possible.

Question 44

Centralize Decision Making when?
Hint: 3 items

Answer 44

Infrequent
Long-Lasting
Has significant economies of scale

Question 45

True or False
Time Critical decisions should be centralized?

Answer 45

False
Decentralized decisions when:
- Frequent
- Time Critical
- Requires local information

Question 46

“The solution itself is a system” is one of the 3 primary aspects of System Thinking. What are some insights with reqgards to this particular aspect?

Answer 46

1. One must clearly understand the system boundaries and how it interacts with the environment and the systems around it.
2. Optimizing a component of the system does not optimize the whole system.
3. For the system to behave well, one must understand the intended behavior and architecture (how the components work together to accomplish the system’s aim). Intentional design is fundamental to systems thinking.
4. The value of a system passes through its interconnections. Those interfaces—and the dependencies they create—are critical to providing ultimate value. Continuous attention to those interfaces and interactions is vital.
5. A system can evolve no faster than its slowest integration point. The faster the full system can be integrated and evaluated, the quicker the system knowledge grows.

Question 47

“The enterprise building the system is a system too” is one the 3 primary aspects of System Thinking. What insights about the enterprize building the system?

Answer 47

The second aspect to systems thinking: the people, management, and processes of the organization that builds the system are also a system.

The understanding that ‘systems must be managed’ applies (Otherwise, the components of the organization building the system will optimize locally and become selfish, limiting the speed and quality of value delivery).

This leads to another set of systems thinking insights about the enterprise:
1. Building complex systems is a social endeavor. Therefore, leaders must cultivate an environment where people collaborate on the best way to build better systems.
2. Suppliers and customers are integral to the development value stream. Both must be treated as partners based on a long-term foundation of trust.
3. Optimizing a component does not optimize the system in this case, either. Therefore optimizing local teams or functional departments does not enhance the flow of value through the enterprise.
4. And as with physical systems, the value of the system passes through its interfaces here too. Accelerating flow requires eliminating functional silos and creating cross-functional organizations, such as Agile Teams, Agile Release Trains (ARTs), and Solution Trains.

Question 48

SAFe is based upon four foundational bodies of knowledge:
- Systems Thinking
- Agile Development
- Lean Poduct Development
- DevOps.

Why is System Thinking an important part of SAFe?

Answer 48

Understanding the elements of systems thinking helps leaders and teams recognize the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ of their actions, as well as the impact on those around them.

This understanding leads to a leaner, smarter enterprise that can better navigate organization and solution development complexities.