4.6. Reflection Checkpoint

Key Takeaways

• Adaptive approaches fit best when requirements are expected to evolve and frequent stakeholder feedback is feasible — not because adaptive is inherently "better."
• Organizational structure affects adaptive suitability: colocated and matrix structures generally support it better than rigid hierarchies.
• Adaptive planning happens iteration by iteration, not once upfront — "no planning" is a misapplication, not a description of correct adaptive practice.
• WBS-style scope decomposition still applies in adaptive work — scope gets right-sized into backlog items that fit inside a single iteration.
• Adaptive tracking (burndown/burnup) measures actual delivered work; predictive tracking measures progress against a fixed baseline.
• Adaptive projects use their own documented artifacts (backlog, burndown/burnup charts, task boards) — self-organization doesn't mean invisible progress.
• Scrum, Kanban, XP, and SAFe are structurally distinct frameworks under the "adaptive" umbrella, not interchangeable names for the same thing.
• Definition of Done (task-level, team-wide standard) and acceptance criteria (requirement-specific) are related but distinct concepts.

Connecting Forward

Phase 5 closes out the domain content with Predictive, Plan-Based Methodologies (17%) — the smallest domain by weight, but the one whose concepts (critical path, earned value formulas, WBS, change control) resurface most often inside scenario questions filed under other domains. Treat its small percentage as a floor on your prep time, not a ceiling.

Self-Check Questions

• A team's board shows work items moving continuously with a WIP limit of 3 per column, and no fixed iteration length. Which specific adaptive framework does this describe, and how would you know it isn't Scrum?
• A stakeholder asks why the team can't commit to an exact feature list for month four of a six-month adaptive project. What first-principles idea from this phase explains why that commitment isn't how adaptive planning works?