Scrum.org PAL I Certification Exam Syllabus

• In Scrum, empiricism refers to the idea that solving complex problems, or doing complex work, can only be done using an exploratory process rather than relying on predetermined plans. Learn about empiricism and complex work. Explore why trust is important for empiricism to thrive.

• For agility to thrive, the culture of the organization must support the fundamental concepts of agility. The Scrum Values - Focus, Respect, Openness, Commitment, and Courage - create an environment where empiricism, self-management and continual improvement are more successful.

• The Scrum Team is a small unit of professionals focused on attaining the Product Goal. Scrum Teams consist of a Product Owner, Scrum Master and Developers. Each has a clear set of accountabilities. Learn more about the Scrum Team, accountabilities, responsibilities and why these aren’t called “roles.”

• The five Scrum Events provide regular opportunities for enacting the Scrum pillars of Inspection, Adaptation and Transparency. In addition, they help teams keep aligned with the Sprint and Product Goals, improve Developer productivity, remove impediments and reduce the need to schedule too many additional meetings.

• Scrum Team can use forecasting and release planning as a guide for delivering a product through small incremental and frequent releases rather than big bang product launches.

• In solving complex problems, the idea of a detailed up-front design has been replaced with an approach that encourages design to emerge and change within the boundaries of an architecture. In this Focus Area, practitioners will be able to describe what emergent architecture is and how it translates into incremental development and delivery. They will be able to describe practices that “realize” the architecture incrementally into a working, agile system. Practitioners will understand the trade-offs between value, flexibility, and quality, and will also be able to apply techniques that make the emergent approach transparent to the team, organization, and stakeholders.

• Traditional organizations are often structured around Taylorism and mass production concepts in response to simple problems. Complex problems require a different way of organizing. This Focus Area describes the fundamental differences of an agile organization; namely its structure, culture, and design. A practitioner will understand what an agile enterprise looks like and approaches for implementing the agile enterprise in a traditional organization. They will understand how to balance the needs for agility with the existing reality of traditional organizational structures.

Evidence-Based Management

• A fundamental element of Scrum is empirical process; the idea that complex problems require real experience to effectively plan and deliver value. Evidence-Based Management (EBM) is a set of ideas and practices that describe broad measurement areas used to provide an effective, empirical, and value-based approach to any product. This Focus Area describes what EBM is and how to apply it to any product. The practitioner will understand what EBM is, as well as the practices that comprise it, and how to use EBM to enable a business-driven, value-based empirical process.