Answering: “Which Scrum Value is affected by a lack of trust in the Scrum Team?”

A lack of trust affects all five Scrum Values at once. Commitment, focus, openness, respect and courage all depend on people trusting each other.

Exam Question

Which Scrum Value is affected by a lack of trust in the Scrum Team?
(choose the best answer)
A. Respect
B. Courage
C. Commitment
D. Openness
E. Focus
F. All of the above

Correct Answer

F. All of the above

Why This Is the Correct Answer

The Scrum Guide names five values: Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage. It says that when these values are embodied, the pillars of transparency, inspection and adaptation “come to life building trust.” The link works in both directions. Without trust, people hide problems, so openness suffers. They avoid hard conversations, so courage suffers. They second-guess each other, so respect and commitment to shared goals weaken. Energy goes into protecting themselves instead of the Sprint Goal, so focus suffers too. Picking just one value would miss how closely the five are connected.

Why the Other Options Are Wrong

A. Respect Respect is affected, but so are the other four values. Choosing one alone is incomplete.

B. Courage People need trust to raise hard issues, but courage is not the only value at risk.

C. Commitment Commitment to the team’s goals weakens without trust, yet the other values weaken too.

D. Openness Openness is the most obvious casualty, which makes it a tempting distractor. It is still only part of the answer.

E. Focus Distrust pulls attention away from the work, but focus is not the only value harmed.

Exam Tip

When a question asks which value is hurt by a broad team problem like distrust, check whether “All of the above” is offered. The five values are interdependent.

Key Takeaways

• Trust underpins all five Scrum Values.
• The values and the empirical pillars reinforce each other.
• Openness is often the first value to break down.