Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I)Scrum FrameworkHard
A Scrum Team has been working on a complex product for several Sprints. They regularly conduct Sprint Reviews and Sprint Retrospectives, and adapt their Product Backlog and processes as a result. However, stakeholders and management are still asking for detailed, long-term forecasts and fixed delivery dates for features that are far down the Product Backlog. This indicates a misunderstanding of which core Scrum principle?
- ASelf-management
- BEmpiricism
- CScrum Values
- DTransparency
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Empiricism
Scrum is founded on empiricism, which asserts that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is observed. Asking for fixed, long-term forecasts for complex work goes against the empirical approach, where adaptation based on learning is expected. The events (Review, Retrospective) support empiricism, but the stakeholders' expectation contradicts it.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Self-management refers to the team's ability to manage its own work, not directly related to long-term forecasting expectations.
- C. While Scrum Values are foundational, the specific issue of demanding fixed long-term forecasts for complex work directly conflicts with the empirical process control inherent in Scrum.
- D. Transparency is a pillar of empiricism, but the core misunderstanding here is about how to deal with complexity and uncertainty, which is addressed by empiricism itself, not just visibility.
Empiricism in Scrum
Scrum is founded on empiricism, meaning that knowledge comes from experience and making decisions based on what is observed. It emphasizes transparency, inspection, and adaptation to manage complexity and uncertainty.
- Knowledge from experience.
- Decisions based on observation.
- Relies on Transparency, Inspection, Adaptation.
Memory trick: Empiricism: Experience Guides Every Experiment.