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Retrospectives Antipatterns
Improve Every Retrospective! Real Solutions for Every Team Leader, Facilitator, and Participant
". . . Aino has shared a robust, curated list of antipatterns and how to avoid them. . . . And she has shared so much more than tips and techniques. You will find a gold mine--with precious nuggets, including her personal experiences, effective facilitation resources, and pointers for extracting yourself and your team when you're stuck."
--From the Foreword by Diana Larsen, co-author, Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great
Retrospectives are indispensable for continuous learning and improvement in Lean, Agile, DevOps, and other contexts, but most of us have suffered through at least one retrospective that was a waste of time, or worse. Now, leading agile coach Aino Vonge Corry identifies 24 reasons that retrospectives fail and shows how to overcome each of them.
Using the familiar "patterns" approach, Retrospectives Antipatterns introduces antipatterns related to structure, planning, people, distributed teams, and more. Corry shares traps she's encountered and mistakes she's made over more than a decade of leading retrospectives and then presents proven solutions. With her insights and guidance, you can run enjoyable retrospectives that deliver concrete improvements and real value--or at the very least recognize when you are making the same mistake as the author!
Create a common language, actionable solutions, and proven plans for solving the retrospective problems you'll encounter most often Recognize symptoms, assess tradeoffs, and refactor your current situation into something better Plan more effectively: decide who should attend and facilitate, when to schedule your retrospective, and how much time to set aside Handle "people" problems: deal with negativity, silence, distrust, disillusionment, loudmouths, and cultural differences Facilitate better "virtual" retrospectives, with tips for online retrospectives included in each antipattern Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.
". . . Aino has shared a robust, curated list of antipatterns and how to avoid them. . . . And she has shared so much more than tips and techniques. You will find a gold mine--with precious nuggets, including her personal experiences, effective facilitation resources, and pointers for extracting yourself and your team when you're stuck."
--From the Foreword by Diana Larsen, co-author, Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great
Retrospectives are indispensable for continuous learning and improvement in Lean, Agile, DevOps, and other contexts, but most of us have suffered through at least one retrospective that was a waste of time, or worse. Now, leading agile coach Aino Vonge Corry identifies 24 reasons that retrospectives fail and shows how to overcome each of them.
Using the familiar "patterns" approach, Retrospectives Antipatterns introduces antipatterns related to structure, planning, people, distributed teams, and more. Corry shares traps she's encountered and mistakes she's made over more than a decade of leading retrospectives and then presents proven solutions. With her insights and guidance, you can run enjoyable retrospectives that deliver concrete improvements and real value--or at the very least recognize when you are making the same mistake as the author!
Create a common language, actionable solutions, and proven plans for solving the retrospective problems you'll encounter most often Recognize symptoms, assess tradeoffs, and refactor your current situation into something better Plan more effectively: decide who should attend and facilitate, when to schedule your retrospective, and how much time to set aside Handle "people" problems: deal with negativity, silence, distrust, disillusionment, loudmouths, and cultural differences Facilitate better "virtual" retrospectives, with tips for online retrospectives included in each antipattern Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.
288 pages, Paperback
Published November 6, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 10, 2022
I was thinking between 2 and 3 stars, and I might be overly negative here, because this book is not that bad. However, there is a number of problems there:
1. At least half of the antipatterns could apply to any kind of a meeting - planning, review, project discussion, anything. Patterns like "Loudmouth" (one person dominates the meeting) or "Death by postponement" (team postpones the meeting a few times that causes too many topics at once) are not specific to retrospective. Yes, this might provide some value for new managers, but if you're looking for ways to specifically improve your retro meetings, at most half of this book covers that
2. Some of the suggested solutions are iffy at best. Let's take antipattern "Political vote", where people wait to vote until they see vote of others. One of the reasons behind it, mentioned in the book, is that people want to vote similarly to others, so that they don't have to explain their opinion if it stands out. The suggested solution is that everyone votes at once, so that people don't know the vote of others. But it's not a solution! Because the person that is afraid to have a different opinion will still try to guess what others will vote. They won't start speaking up their mind just because they don't know what others are saying, they will try to guess it. The real problem there is that someone is afraid of having a different opinion than others, and that problem needs to be solved.
That's one example, but the book has a number of antipatterns where the retrospective (or, again, any other meeting) is just a symptom, not the problem. So the meeting facilitator can try to fix the meeting, but that doesn't solve the actual issue, it just lets the facilitator have a more productive meeting.
3. Suggesting that line managers should not attend retrospective meetings - here I'm probably very biased, but I used to be a line manager who actually ran the retrospectives. I see how this can potentially make people less open during the meeting, but it did have a lot of positive effects - as an engineering manager I was able to help the team come up with certain action points, because I was an experienced developer myself. I could participate in the discussion and help figure out which options are feasible and which are not. But that's not all - as a manager I was the person that could help do some changes. Problem with lack of clarity from the company? It was my job to go up the command chain and get it fixed. Problem with some technicalities that were annoying? I was able to easily reach out to HR/office management/whoever and get it fixed.
I believe the author's experience might be very different, she might have worked in companies where line managers weren't really active team members and just hiring/evaluating/firing, but that antipattern to me lacked the nuance.
Again, to sum up - this book has some good points. Issues like "unfruitful democracy" or "in the soup" are real problems that are specific to retrospective, and the suggested solutions are helpful. I'm actually going to pay attention to them if I run retrospectives again in the future. Unfortunately they are a small part of the book, and majority of the antipatterns have symptomts, and should have solutions, that go beyond the retrospective meeting, and should involve the team leader, and not only the meeting facilitator
1. At least half of the antipatterns could apply to any kind of a meeting - planning, review, project discussion, anything. Patterns like "Loudmouth" (one person dominates the meeting) or "Death by postponement" (team postpones the meeting a few times that causes too many topics at once) are not specific to retrospective. Yes, this might provide some value for new managers, but if you're looking for ways to specifically improve your retro meetings, at most half of this book covers that
2. Some of the suggested solutions are iffy at best. Let's take antipattern "Political vote", where people wait to vote until they see vote of others. One of the reasons behind it, mentioned in the book, is that people want to vote similarly to others, so that they don't have to explain their opinion if it stands out. The suggested solution is that everyone votes at once, so that people don't know the vote of others. But it's not a solution! Because the person that is afraid to have a different opinion will still try to guess what others will vote. They won't start speaking up their mind just because they don't know what others are saying, they will try to guess it. The real problem there is that someone is afraid of having a different opinion than others, and that problem needs to be solved.
That's one example, but the book has a number of antipatterns where the retrospective (or, again, any other meeting) is just a symptom, not the problem. So the meeting facilitator can try to fix the meeting, but that doesn't solve the actual issue, it just lets the facilitator have a more productive meeting.
3. Suggesting that line managers should not attend retrospective meetings - here I'm probably very biased, but I used to be a line manager who actually ran the retrospectives. I see how this can potentially make people less open during the meeting, but it did have a lot of positive effects - as an engineering manager I was able to help the team come up with certain action points, because I was an experienced developer myself. I could participate in the discussion and help figure out which options are feasible and which are not. But that's not all - as a manager I was the person that could help do some changes. Problem with lack of clarity from the company? It was my job to go up the command chain and get it fixed. Problem with some technicalities that were annoying? I was able to easily reach out to HR/office management/whoever and get it fixed.
I believe the author's experience might be very different, she might have worked in companies where line managers weren't really active team members and just hiring/evaluating/firing, but that antipattern to me lacked the nuance.
Again, to sum up - this book has some good points. Issues like "unfruitful democracy" or "in the soup" are real problems that are specific to retrospective, and the suggested solutions are helpful. I'm actually going to pay attention to them if I run retrospectives again in the future. Unfortunately they are a small part of the book, and majority of the antipatterns have symptomts, and should have solutions, that go beyond the retrospective meeting, and should involve the team leader, and not only the meeting facilitator
November 13, 2022
Fantastic book with a lot of practical examples
Loved this book - categorizing retro-antipatiernes so they can be recognized and handled in a deliberate and effective way. I am off to practice .. Well done Aino!
Loved this book - categorizing retro-antipatiernes so they can be recognized and handled in a deliberate and effective way. I am off to practice .. Well done Aino!
October 1, 2021
No matter if you're a beginner or already an advanced facilitator, you will benefit from this book. Every so often when I turned a page of this book, I thought yes, exactly I've been there, done that.
Now Aino Vonge Corry, doesn't only allow you to discover that you aren't alone with making mistakes but she also provides resolutions for how to avoid making these mistake in the future. And of course, she also prepares you for possible mistakes you might not have made, yet, and so you know how to prepare.
So IMHO, this book is a real gem and a must read for every facilitator of retrospectives!
Now Aino Vonge Corry, doesn't only allow you to discover that you aren't alone with making mistakes but she also provides resolutions for how to avoid making these mistake in the future. And of course, she also prepares you for possible mistakes you might not have made, yet, and so you know how to prepare.
So IMHO, this book is a real gem and a must read for every facilitator of retrospectives!
May 5, 2021
I liked this book a lot. Discovered it as I was doing research for my own open source retro tool development. Only recently found myself in a consulting gig that regularly does retro meetings and I find them very helpful. Feel like I am likely to reference this book over time to solve my own retro meeting issues / anti-patterns.
February 9, 2023
Ich habe jede Seite dieses Buchs genossen, aus mehreren Gründen:
1. Es ist gelebte Fehlerkultur: Jedes der Antipattern genannten Probleme hat Aino Vonge Corry selbst erlebt und viele der geschilderten Fehler gemacht. Die Ermutigung zum Schluss, sich davon nicht entmutigen zu lassen, keine perfekte Retrospektive zu erwarten, sich in guter Gesellschaft mit diesen Herausforderungen zu fühlen und die vorgeschlagenen Ansätze auszuprobieren, um sie zu überwinden, ist so wohltuend. Zugleich wird durch die Anekdoten klar, dass nicht alles sich durch gute Moderation lösen lässt, da manches außerhalb des Einflussbereichs des Teams und der moderierenden Person liegen kann.
2. Die inklusive Sprache: beim Lesen fiel mir immer wieder der "ungewohnte" Stil auf - nicht negativ, sondern eher wie ein noch nicht eingetragenes, aber sehr bequemes Paar neuer Schuhe. Ich fühlte mich kein einziges Mal "mitgemeint, aber nicht mit angesprochen", wie es als weibliche Leserin eigentlich der Standard ist, an den wir zwar gewöhnt sind, aber der doch manchmal Aufwand kostet, weil immer ein wenig Übersetzungleistung gefragt ist. Ob das an der hervorragenden, sensiblen Übersetzung liegt, die mit besonderer Sorgfalt darauf achtete, kann ich nicht beurteilen, da ich nur die deutsche Übersetzung von Daniela Schubert las.
3. Ein rundum gelungenes Nachschlagewerk für die Moderation von Retrospektiven: für jedes Problem bietet das Buch eine nachhaltige Lösung, und das noch dazu für Online-und Präsenz-Retros. Wer sich als Moderator*in von Retrospektiven verbessern will, dem Team gute oder noch bessere Ergebnisse ermöglichen möchte, wird immer wieder nach diesem Buch greifen.
1. Es ist gelebte Fehlerkultur: Jedes der Antipattern genannten Probleme hat Aino Vonge Corry selbst erlebt und viele der geschilderten Fehler gemacht. Die Ermutigung zum Schluss, sich davon nicht entmutigen zu lassen, keine perfekte Retrospektive zu erwarten, sich in guter Gesellschaft mit diesen Herausforderungen zu fühlen und die vorgeschlagenen Ansätze auszuprobieren, um sie zu überwinden, ist so wohltuend. Zugleich wird durch die Anekdoten klar, dass nicht alles sich durch gute Moderation lösen lässt, da manches außerhalb des Einflussbereichs des Teams und der moderierenden Person liegen kann.
2. Die inklusive Sprache: beim Lesen fiel mir immer wieder der "ungewohnte" Stil auf - nicht negativ, sondern eher wie ein noch nicht eingetragenes, aber sehr bequemes Paar neuer Schuhe. Ich fühlte mich kein einziges Mal "mitgemeint, aber nicht mit angesprochen", wie es als weibliche Leserin eigentlich der Standard ist, an den wir zwar gewöhnt sind, aber der doch manchmal Aufwand kostet, weil immer ein wenig Übersetzungleistung gefragt ist. Ob das an der hervorragenden, sensiblen Übersetzung liegt, die mit besonderer Sorgfalt darauf achtete, kann ich nicht beurteilen, da ich nur die deutsche Übersetzung von Daniela Schubert las.
3. Ein rundum gelungenes Nachschlagewerk für die Moderation von Retrospektiven: für jedes Problem bietet das Buch eine nachhaltige Lösung, und das noch dazu für Online-und Präsenz-Retros. Wer sich als Moderator*in von Retrospektiven verbessern will, dem Team gute oder noch bessere Ergebnisse ermöglichen möchte, wird immer wieder nach diesem Buch greifen.
June 25, 2022
Great book for retrospective facilitators, especially for new ones with less experience. You will find all typical dysfunctions that might occur in retrospective meetings.
Aino describes the settings in which antipatterns come up, their symptoms and consequences, as well as better ways to overcome those situations.
Aino describes the settings in which antipatterns come up, their symptoms and consequences, as well as better ways to overcome those situations.
March 21, 2021
If the Foreword is written by a Cofounder and Chief Connector, you know all you need to know.
October 16, 2023
Love the book, really helped me to improve my retrospectives and identify some antipatterns which have been happening for a while now.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews