Agile and Scrum Fundamentals
Domain focus
This domain tests whether you can explain Agile as a set of values and principles and Scrum as an empirical framework, rather than a set of ceremonies. Expect questions on the Agile Manifesto, the twelve principles, the three pillars of empiricism, iterative and incremental delivery, and the conditions under which Scrum is appropriate.
Agile values and principles
The Agile Manifesto states four preferences: individuals and interactions over processes and tools; working software over comprehensive documentation; customer collaboration over contract negotiation; responding to change over following a plan. The items on the right remain valuable; the items on the left are valued more. The twelve principles include delivering early and continuously, welcoming changing requirements, delivering frequently, business people and developers working together daily, building projects around motivated individuals, face-to-face conversation, working software as the primary measure of progress, sustainable pace, technical excellence, simplicity, self-organizing teams, and regular reflection and adjustment.
Scrum's empirical foundation
Scrum is a lightweight framework founded on empiricism and lean thinking. Empiricism asserts that knowledge comes from experience and decisions are made on what is observed. Scrum uses transparency, inspection, and adaptation. Transparency requires a shared understanding of the work and the Definition of Done; inspection checks artifacts and progress toward goals; adaptation adjusts the plan when unacceptable deviations appear. Scrum employs an iterative, incremental approach to optimize predictability and control risk. It is not a process or a methodology; it provides a structure within which complementary practices can be used.
Worked example
A team runs two-week Sprints but must obtain sign-off on a 50-page requirements document before every Sprint. They claim to be Agile. The reasoning: Sprints alone do not make a team Agile. The documentation preference is not forbidden, but the team has no working software to inspect until late, and change is expensive. Empiricism is weakened because stakeholders cannot inspect a usable increment and adapt requirements. A better design is a transparent Product Backlog, thin vertical slices, and a Sprint Review where stakeholders inspect the increment and feed back into ordering.
Traps that cost marks
Do not equate Agile with "no documentation" or "no planning"; both remain useful. Do not treat Scrum as the only Agile method or as an engineering methodology that prescribes technical practices. Do not confuse iterative (repeating cycles) with incremental (adding finished pieces); Scrum is both. Do not say Scrum guarantees speed or certainty. Do not treat the Scrum Guide's rules as optional "best practices" when a question asks what Scrum requires.