Predictive vs Adaptive
Predictive work is appropriate when the problem, solution, and constraints are well understood and change is costly. Adaptive work is appropriate when uncertainty is high and feedback can change the next decision. Hybrid approaches deliberately combine both.
Agility is not the automatic choice for every project. The useful question is whether the work can be known accurately enough in advance, and how quickly the team can learn from a safe, usable increment.
Reading
coreFit the approach to the work
A predictive approach invests more heavily in defining and sequencing work before execution. It fits situations where the problem and solution are well understood, repetition is high, and late change is expensive.
An adaptive approach creates short cycles in which a usable result produces evidence for the next decision. It fits work where needs, technology, or solution choices are uncertain and inexpensive feedback is available.
A hybrid approach deliberately uses both. A fixed regulatory deadline may coexist with adaptive discovery inside the delivery effort. The label matters less than making the boundary and rationale explicit.
Agile does not mean no plans, no deadlines, no documentation, no managers, or constant change. It means planning and coordination remain open to relevant evidence.
References
Interaction
corePractice · sorter
Order the approach-selection questions
Arrange the questions from context first to delivery choice last.
Concepts: predictive fit, adaptive fit, deliberate hybrid
- 1.Identify what is uncertain or likely to change
- 2.Identify how quickly real feedback can arrive
- 3.Identify fixed safety, regulatory, or coordination constraints
- 4.Choose and explain a predictive, adaptive, or hybrid approach
Activity ready. Attempts are unlimited and do not affect certificate eligibility.
Equivalent non-interactive path
Read fmap-m1-l4-digest; it explains the sequence without requiring reordering controls.
References
Visual
coreMyth-buster
- No planning? Planning happens repeatedly as evidence changes.
- No documentation? Create documentation that helps delivery, use, safety, or maintenance.
- No deadlines? Time constraints remain real; smaller increments expose risk sooner.
- Change everything constantly? Change when evidence justifies the cost.
- Predictive work is always wrong? Stable, repeatable work can benefit from prediction.
- One framework defines agile? Frameworks are tools; the values and principles are the shared foundation.
References
Knowledge check
corePractice · formative check
Module 1 learning check
Review the foundation and retry any item as often as useful.
Concepts: agile mindset, values and principles, approach fit
There is no attempt limit or pass/fail state. This check does not affect lesson completion or certificate eligibility.
Activity ready. Attempts are unlimited and do not affect certificate eligibility.
Equivalent non-interactive path
Answer and feedback guide
A client requests a meaningful change, but the team refuses because the plan was signed off. Which value is most directly in tension?
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools: People matter here, but the direct collision is treating the plan as unchangeable.
- Responding to change over following a plan (best answer): Correct. Plans serve the goal; relevant new evidence can justify rerouting.
- Working results over comprehensive documentation: The signed plan is mentioned, but the refusal concerns change rather than document volume.
- Agile teams do not make plans: Agile teams plan repeatedly; the value rejects worshipping an obsolete plan, not planning itself.
What does the Manifesto's closing sentence mean for each value statement?
- The right-side items apply only to waterfall projects: The sentence describes how agile's own value statements should be read.
- Both sides matter, with greater emphasis on the left (best answer): Correct. Documentation, contracts, tools, and plans retain value without receiving equal priority in a conflict.
- Mature teams should eliminate the right-side items: The closing sentence explicitly prevents this rejection reading.
- Either side may win arbitrarily, so the values set no direction: The values do set direction by giving greater emphasis to the left.
A clinic team regularly examines its check-in process and adjusts one thing. Which principle cluster does this demonstrate?
- Deliver value early and continuously: This activity examines the team's method rather than delivering a customer increment.
- Welcome changing requirements: The change here comes from scheduled self-inspection, not a changed requirement.
- People, collaboration, and sustainable pace: Those ideas support the practice, but reflection and adjustment define it.
- Reflect and improve (best answer): Correct. Regularly inspecting the way of working and adapting it closes a learning loop.
A team publishes a usable sign-up flow, then refines that flow using customer feedback. What are those moves in order?
- Incremental, then iterative (best answer): Correct. A usable addition creates evidence; revisiting it uses that evidence to refine.
- Iterative, then incremental: The usable slice came first and the refinement cycle followed.
- Both moves are iterative: Adding a usable slice and refining an existing slice are distinct moves.
- Neither; refining released work is merely rework: Planned refinement uses learning from real use and is not automatically waste.
Which project is the strongest candidate for a predictive approach?
- A statutory filing with a fixed legal format and severe error penalties (best answer): Correct. Requirements are knowable, late errors are costly, and experimentation offers little benefit.
- A new snack tested through weekly customer pop-ups: Fast, inexpensive feedback on uncertain preferences strongly supports adaptation.
- Internal workflow changes observed and adjusted weekly: Observe-adjust cycles are adaptive by design.
- Any project with a firm deadline: Deadlines exist in both approaches; uncertainty, feedback speed, and change cost determine fit.
Download
coreUse the template pack to record uncertainty, feedback opportunities, fixed constraints, and the rationale for an approach.
Reusable template
Agile template pack
Published FMAP agile template pack derived from the reviewed v1.3.1 course source pack.
Markdown
Download file: Agile template pack (Markdown)