Answering: “At the ninth Sprint Retrospective, the Product Owner is very disappointed and angry. She has determined that the technical debt has increased, and the product is not meeting her expectations. The product will need a few more Sprints to meet the scalability requirements. Which of the following could be true? Select the best response.”

All of the listed causes could be true. Growing technical debt discovered only at the ninth Retrospective points to weak inspection, weak attention to quality, missing conversations and poor transparency at the same time.

Exam Question

At the ninth Sprint Retrospective, the Product Owner is very disappointed and angry. She has determined that the technical debt has increased, and the product is not meeting her expectations. The product will need a few more Sprints to meet the scalability requirements. Which of the following could be true? Select the best response. (choose the best answer)

• A. The Scrum Team has not used the past Sprint Retrospectives effectively to inspect and adapt.
• B. The Developers have not been paying enough attention to quality.
• C. The Scrum Team is not having conversations around technical debt.
• D. The Scrum Master has not ensured that the Scrum Team is being transparent.
• E. All of the above.
• F. None of the above.

Correct Answer

E. All of the above.

Why This Is the Correct Answer

Nine Sprints is a long time for technical debt and scalability gaps to stay hidden. The Sprint Retrospective exists “to plan ways to increase quality and effectiveness,” so the team has probably not used it well (A). Rising debt suggests the Developers let quality slip, which the Scrum Guide forbids when it says quality does not decrease during the Sprint (B). If nobody talked about debt, the team was not making it visible or deciding how to handle it (C). And the Scrum Master is responsible for promoting transparency, so a surprise this large suggests that work was not done (D). Each statement describes a plausible part of the problem.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

F. None of the above. The scenario shows clear failures of inspection, quality and transparency. Saying none of these could be true ignores the evidence.

Exam Tip

When a scenario describes a problem that built up over many Sprints, “could be true” questions usually mean several causes are in play. Check whether each option is plausible before choosing “all”.

Key Takeaways

• Late surprises usually mean transparency failed earlier.
• The Sprint Retrospective is where quality problems should surface.
• Technical debt needs regular, open conversation.