Skip to content

A. Responsibility quiz

Read the examples first.

A team finds a defect that exposes one user's data to another user. The release date is fixed by a contract. Which of the following actions fit the rules of category A?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: Block the release until the defect is fixed, and move the date.. P1 puts public safety above cost, schedule and convenience. A known data leak blocks the release.
  • Correct: Add a safety and security sign-off item to the release gate, so the check cannot be skipped.. P1 is checked by a release gate that contains a safety and security sign-off item.
  • Incorrect: Ship on time and promise a patch next week.. P1 names this as a violation: shipping a known safety defect to meet a deadline.
  • Incorrect: Ship on time, but only to a few users first, and keep the defect secret.. P1 still applies. Limiting the exposure does not change that a known defect goes out for the sake of the date.
  • Correct: Ask the client whether the contract date can slip, and ship only once the sign-off is done.. P1 ranks safety above schedule. Telling the client about the change of date is consistent with it.
A safety lead wants to apply P1 in a new product. Which of the following statements describe P1, and not a neighbouring rule?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: P1 asks that safety outranks cost, schedule and convenience in every decision.. P1 is the priority rule. It applies always.
  • Incorrect: P1 asks that the system is designed to fail into a defined safe state.. That is P37 (fail-safe), which P1 strengthens. P1 sets the priority; P37 sets a design measure.
  • Incorrect: P1 asks that the highest possible control level (eliminate before engineering control) is used.. That is P38 (hierarchy of controls). It is a way to act on P1, not P1 itself.
  • Correct: A release gate with a safety sign-off item is evidence that P1 is applied.. This is the P1 check: every release gate contains a safety and security sign-off item.
  • Incorrect: P1 applies only when a regulator requires it.. P1's condition is always. It does not wait for a regulator.
A security engineer is asked to approve a design for a database cluster. She works in network security and has never run databases. What does P2 ask her to do?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: Name a checker who knows databases, and involve that person before approval.. P2 asks to involve an expert outside your competence. Each design needs a named checker with expertise in its domain.
  • Incorrect: Approve it, because her seniority covers the review and she can read the database documentation.. P2 names approving work in a domain you do not know as the violation. Seniority is not competence, and reading the documentation does not make her an expert in databases.
  • Correct: Review the parts she knows, such as network access, and say which parts she did not check.. P2 asks her to work within her competence. A review limited to her domain, with the gap stated, stays within it.
  • Incorrect: Ask a colleague on her own team to co-sign, since they work together.. P2 needs expertise in the design's domain. A co-signer from the same field adds no database competence. P56 asks for independence; P2 asks for competence.
A team wants a design reviewed. Which of the following proposed reviewers satisfy P2 for a design on payment card processing?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: A payments specialist from another team, who knows card processing.. P2 needs a named checker with expertise in the domain. P56 also asks for a checker who is independent of the author.
  • Incorrect: The author's manager, who is senior but has no payments background.. P2 is about competence in the domain. Rank does not supply it.
  • Incorrect: The author, who has built three payment systems.. The author may be competent, so P2 holds for the work, but the author is not a checker. P56 asks for a separate checker.
  • Correct: An external auditor who specialises in payment systems.. She has the domain expertise P2 asks for, and she is independent as P56 asks for high-consequence work.
  • Incorrect: A new hire who has time this week.. P2 does not accept free time as a substitute for expertise in the domain.
A team runs an environment for each branch, and many sit idle. Which of the following actions meet the check of P3?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: Measure the resource use of every environment and review the numbers each month.. P3's check is that resource use is measured and reviewed.
  • Correct: Scale idle environments to zero and delete them after merge.. This is the P3 example. It reduces resource use over the lifecycle.
  • Incorrect: Add capacity so that developers never wait for an environment when they open a branch.. More capacity raises resource use. P49 (induced demand) also warns that demand grows into new capacity.
  • Incorrect: Keep the environments running, and decide later whether to retire any of them.. P3 names unused resources running all the time as a violation. P24 asks to plan retirement at design time.
A team designs a new service. Which of the following plans apply P3 or its neighbour P24?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: The design states the retirement of the service and its data, and the team reviews the energy use every quarter.. P24 asks to plan decommissioning at design time. P3 asks that resource use is measured and reviewed across the lifecycle.
  • Incorrect: The team plans only the build and the launch, and handles retirement of the service and its data when the time comes.. P24 asks to plan operation, maintenance and decommissioning at design time. Leaving it out also weakens P3.
  • Incorrect: The team picks the cheapest hosting and does not measure what it uses.. Without measurement, P3's check cannot be met.
  • Incorrect: The team measures resource use only during the load test before launch.. P3 covers the whole lifecycle. A single measurement before launch does not review use in operation.
  • Correct: The team sets a quota on environments per team and reviews the usage reports.. This reduces use and keeps it under review (P3). A quota is also the kind of demand control that P49 names.
An engineer sees error rates rise during an automatic rollout and wants to stop it. Which of the following features must the stop mechanism have under P4?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: Anyone can use it without asking permission.. P4 lets the person who finds the problem stop the work without permission and without blame.
  • Correct: It overrides auto-sync and all other functions.. P4 says the stop must override all other functions.
  • Incorrect: It restarts the rollout when it is reset.. P4 says resetting it must not restart the system. Lifting the freeze needs an explicit sync.
  • Incorrect: It works in normal mode, but a maintenance mode ignores it.. P4's check asks that the stop works in every operating mode.
  • Correct: Every use is reviewed without blame.. This is part of the P4 check. A blame-free review also supports P5 and P80.
An engineer stops a release because of a worrying metric. It turns out to be a false alarm. How should the lead respond?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: Thank the engineer and review the stop, looking at the system and at what the metric showed.. P4 asks for a review of every use without blame. P5 asks that honest reports are thanked.
  • Incorrect: Ask the engineer to get approval from a manager before stopping a release again, to prevent false alarms.. P4 requires the stop to work without needing permission.
  • Incorrect: Note the false alarm in the engineer's review as a lack of judgment.. P5 names punishing an honest report as a violation. It also teaches the team not to stop work.
  • Correct: Track whether near-miss reports go down after the incident, and act if they do.. This is the P5 check: the number of reported near misses does not fall after an incident.
  • Incorrect: Disable the stop mechanism for the next release to avoid false alarms.. P4 requires the stop to always be available.
A junior engineer says she broke the build with a bad config. Which of the following responses by the team lead apply P5?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: Thank her for the quick report in front of the team.. P5 asks leaders to thank people for bad news.
  • Correct: Name a mistake of his own from last month in the retrospective.. The P5 example: the lead names their own mistake, which makes it safe for others to do the same.
  • Incorrect: Ask who approved the config, to find the person responsible for the broken build.. Looking for a person to blame is what P80 rejects. P80 asks for the root cause in the system.
  • Incorrect: Tell her in the team channel that she is careless and should be more careful next time.. This turns the report into a comment on her character. P63 asks for feedback on the task, and P5 asks never to punish an honest report.
A panel scores three vendors for a monitoring tool. One panelist holds shares in vendor B. Which of the following actions satisfy P6?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: The panelist declares the shares and leaves the scoring.. P6 asks to disclose the interest and step out.
  • Incorrect: The panelist declares the shares and scores only the two vendors other than B, staying on the panel.. P6 asks to step out of the decision or review. Scoring a subset still influences the ranking.
  • Incorrect: The panelist stays and scores, since her score is only one of five.. P6 does not make an exception for a small vote.
  • Correct: The company checks the register of declared interests before selection starts.. This is the P6 check: a register exists and is checked before each vendor selection.
  • Incorrect: Two panelists review each other's scores, with no declaration.. That is P56 (independent checker). It does not replace the disclosure P6 asks for.
An approver in a purchasing process owns a company that bids for the contract. Which of the following statements are true?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: P6 asks the approver to disclose the interest and step out of the approval.. P6 covers a person who decides on work in which they have a personal interest.
  • Incorrect: P43 would also be met if the same person requests, approves, executes and records the purchase.. P43 (segregation of duties) asks that no single person does all four steps.
  • Correct: A register of declared interests checked before approvals is a check for P6.. This is the P6 check.
  • Incorrect: P6 is met if the approver tells a friend about the interest and still approves.. P6 requires stepping out, not just telling someone.
A lead delegates a database migration to a team. Which of the following parts should the task description contain under P7?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: The purpose of the migration.. P7 asks to state the purpose.
  • Correct: The desired end state ("done when").. P7 asks to state the end state.
  • Correct: The constraints, such as what must not happen.. P7 asks to state the constraints.
  • Incorrect: The exact list of commands to run, in order.. P7 leaves the method to the people who do the work. A step list with no purpose is the violation.
  • Incorrect: A rule that the team asks the lead before any deviation.. That takes the method back from the team. P7 relies on P2: competent people choose the method.
A task has a step list, and one step fails in production. The team has no purpose or end state. Which of the following statements are true?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: The team cannot adapt, because P7's purpose, end state and constraints are missing.. P7's violation: a step list with no purpose, where work stops when the plan no longer fits.
  • Incorrect: P61 makes a fixed step list enough, so the purpose, the end state and the constraints can be left out.. P61 asks to prove a procedure by a test and qualify the person, where a result cannot be checked afterwards. It says nothing about leaving out the purpose. Where P7 conflicts with P61, P71 and P72, K6 prescribes the method only at critical points and in qualified procedures, and gives intent and constraints everywhere else.
  • Incorrect: Adding more steps to the list fixes the problem, because every failure then has a step of its own.. P7 does not ask for more steps. It asks for purpose, end state and constraints.
  • Correct: Rewriting the task with purpose, end state and constraints lets the team find another route.. This is how P7 is applied.
A head of department decides to change the on-call model. Which of the following steps follow P8?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: Ask the affected people for input and for challenges before deciding.. P8 asks to engage people affected by the decision.
  • Correct: Explain the final decision and its reasons in writing.. P8 asks to explain the decision and its reasons.
  • Correct: State the new expectations clearly.. P8 asks to state the new expectations.
  • Incorrect: Hold a vote among the affected people and let the majority choose the new model.. P8 says this is not consensus. The decision stays with the decider.
  • Incorrect: Announce the decision on a Friday afternoon with no reasons.. P8 names announcing a change without reasons as a violation.
A company reorganizes its teams. Which of the following actions does P8 itself ask for, as distinct from the wider P69?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: Before deciding on the new team structure, ask the teams for input and challenges.. This is P8. It covers the decision that affects people.
  • Incorrect: Form a coalition that leads the change, and communicate the vision often and in many channels.. This is P69 (guided change). It strengthens P8 but does not replace the input round.
  • Incorrect: Skip the input round because the change leads the company's vision.. P8 asks for input on any decision that affects people, whatever the vision.
  • Correct: Write the reasons and new expectations down for everyone affected.. P8's check asks for a written explanation and stated expectations.
Which of the following situations show the distinction between P5 (psychological safety) and P8 (fair process)?

Select all that apply.

Show answer
  • Correct: A team member reports a mistake, and the lead thanks them. This is P5.. P5 covers how leaders respond to errors, questions and disagreement.
  • Correct: A department is asked for input, then told the decision with reasons. This is P8.. P8 covers how a decision that affects people is made and explained.
  • Incorrect: A department is told the decision with no reasons. This is a violation of P5 only.. It violates P8. P5 is about reporting and disagreeing safely.
  • Incorrect: A reorganization is decided by a vote of everyone. This meets P8.. P8 says engagement is not consensus. It asks for input, then a decision with reasons.