A Scrum Team spent a Sprint building a bulk-import feature. It meets the Definition of Done, it is usable, and it was released on day nine. At the Sprint Review the stakeholders explain that since the Sprint began their largest customer has moved to a different data format, and nobody will use the feature. What does Scrum say about this Sprint, and what happens now?
Professional Scrum Master I, objective 3. Managing products with agility hard
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Treat it as a good draft rather than as settled fact, and read the source below before you rely on it. It is not used in mock exams here — only questions a person has signed for are.
The options
Correct The Increment was Done and usable, the assumption behind it was wrong, and the attendees now collaborate on what to do next and adjust the Product Backlog
Correct. Empiricism only pays when the team acts on what the Sprint revealed — the Sprint delivered no value to users, and the learning is worth having only if the Product Backlog now changes to reflect it.
Not correct It was a failed Sprint, and the items should be reworked next Sprint so the effort is not wasted
Wrong, and it is the instinct that costs organisations the most. Building further on a feature nobody wants converts a cheap lesson into an expensive one; sunk effort is not a reason to spend more.
Not correct It was a success, because the Developers delivered everything they forecast and met the Definition of Done
Wrong. Scrum defines no successful Sprint, and meeting a forecast is output in any case — the Increment was Done and usable, and nobody can use it, and both of those stay true at once.
Not correct The Sprint should be cancelled and re-run, since the Sprint Goal became obsolete during it
Wrong on the trigger. Cancellation is for a Sprint Goal that has become obsolete, and this one was achieved — the feature was built, Done and released. Nothing is undone by cancelling, and Scrum has no notion of re-running a Sprint.
Why
Scrum does not promise that every Sprint produces value — it promises that every Sprint produces evidence. Notice what the Guide does not do here: it defines no successful and no failed Sprint, so there is no verdict to reach for. What it does define is what the Sprint Review is for. The environment has changed, the attendees collaborate on what to do next, and the Product Backlog is adjusted to meet new opportunities. Options that hand down a verdict — success because the forecast was met, failure requiring rework — are inventing a judgement the framework never issues.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- Scrum Guide section Sprint Review
- What it says
- Based on this information, attendees collaborate on what to do next. The Product Backlog may also be adjusted to meet new opportunities.
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a set from objective 3 and space the ones you get wrong.
Practise Professional Scrum Master I
More questions on this objective
- A portfolio manager has drawn up a spreadsheet ranking every requested feature by projected revenue and tells the Scrum Team to build them in that order. The Product Owner believes two of the top five items will not be used by the customers she has spoken to. Who is accountable for maximising the value of the product? machine-checked
- It is the last afternoon of the Sprint. Three of the eight selected items are coded and demonstrable on a laptop, but they have not been through the automated regression suite the Definition of Done requires. The Product Owner suggests showing them at tomorrow's Sprint Review anyway, marked as "pending test". What does Scrum say? machine-checked
- A new Scrum Master is asked by a director where in Scrum the organisation gets to see whether the last four weeks of work were worth anything, and what should change as a result. Which event is she describing? machine-checked
- A delivery manager introduces a quarterly target: every Scrum Team must raise its velocity by fifteen per cent, and team performance reviews will cite the number. Within two Sprints the team's story point totals have risen and no more working software is reaching users than before. What is the most accurate statement about this measure? machine-checked
- A Scrum Team is agreeing what it will actually put in front of stakeholders at the end of each Sprint. Which TWO of the following statements about the Increment are true in Scrum? machine-checked
- On day six of a two-week Sprint, a Done item fixes a checkout bug that has been costing sales daily. The Product Owner wants it in production this afternoon. A release manager objects that nothing ships before it has been shown at the Sprint Review on day ten. Who is right? machine-checked