Deciding as Late as Possible

Correct Answer: Decide as late as possible to give time to evaluate the impact of these changes and consult with the team and other stakeholders.

The best Agile Principle to be applied in this scenario is 'Responding to change over following a plan'. Agile is all about flexibility, continuous improvement and responding to change. Thus, it's important to consider the new request from the key stakeholder. This however, does not mean that the request should be accepted immediately without evaluation. The answer 'Decide as late as possible to give time to evaluate the impact of these changes and consult with the team and other stakeholders.' is the best approach because it aligns with Agile values. It gives time to evaluate the impact of the changes, engages the concerned team and stakeholders which fosters collaboration, an important value in Agile. On the other hand, 'Reject the stakeholder's request and stick to the original plan.' is not reflective of Agile, which values customer collaboration and responding to change 'Immediately accept the stakeholder's request without consulting with the team.' contradicts the Agile principle of giving importance to individuals and interactions. Communication and deliberation are key elements and bypassing them devalues the team. 'Halt the project until a decision is made about the feature.' is also a wrong approach as it delays the project unnecessarily instead of adapting to the situation.

Correct Answer: Continue using the current technology and monitor the new technology's compatibility closely before deciding.

Given the scenario, it is wise to continue using current technology while investigating the new one. Agile approaches emphasize learning and adjusting, and not taking unnecessary risks. Hence, it is a good idea to monitor whether the new technology is compatible before making a decision. The wrong approaches would be to completely ignore the new technology (failing to embrace change, a key agile principle), switch without further investigation (introducing unnecessary risk), or postpone the project until compatibility is confirmed (causing delays and possibly overlooking other workarounds or incremental progress that could be made with current technology).

Correct Answer: Iteratively develop small solutions and assess progress, deciding on the final solution as late as possible.

In the Agile methodology, when a major risk is identified that could potentially affect the project's success, and the immediate solution is not apparent, the best course of action is to 'Iteratively develop small solutions and assess progress, deciding on the final solution as late as possible.' The Agile approach is all about iteratively and incrementally tackling tasks, and this applies to risk management as well. Through iterative developments, teams can test smaller solutions and make necessary adjustments based on their effectiveness, thereby eventually mitigating the risk. The other options are not good practices. Ignoring the risk could lead to greater issues down the line. Deciding on a solution immediately without adequate investigation does not align with Agile principles as it doesn't take into account the value of iterations and feedback. Delaying the project until the full solution to the risk is figured out negates the benefit of Agile's iterative approach to problem-solving and may slow down the project's momentum.