Agile & Scrum Practice Question 1: Sprint Cancellation
Agile & Scrum · Test 1 · question 1 of 10
Halfway through a Sprint, a competitor launches a product that makes the team's Sprint Goal worthless; the stakeholders, the Scrum Master, and the Developers all agree the goal is now obsolete. According to the 2020 Scrum Guide, which statement about what can happen next is accurate?
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Answer:
The Scrum Guide says: "A Sprint could be cancelled if the Sprint Goal becomes obsolete. Only the Product Owner has the authority to cancel the Sprint." The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product, so the decision to stop investing in an obsolete goal is theirs. Everyone else can raise the concern, but the call belongs to one person.
- A is wrong: the Scrum Master is accountable for the team's effectiveness and for establishing Scrum, but they have no authority to cancel a Sprint. - C is wrong: self-management means the Developers decide *who does what, when, and how* within the Sprint. It does not give them authority to cancel it, even by unanimous agreement. - D is wrong: cancellation is explicitly allowed when the Sprint Goal becomes obsolete. Running out the clock on worthless work is the waste the rule exists to prevent.
Reference: The 2020 Scrum Guide - The Sprint