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| Criterion | ![]() Architecture Architecture Decision Record | ![]() Business Strategy Strategy Execution Loop | ![]() Agile Starfish Retrospective | ![]() Agile 4Ls Retrospective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. | The Strategy Execution Loop helps avoid treating strategy as a one-off document. It makes visible how strategic decisions are turned into objectives, initiatives, operational work, measurement, and learning. | When improvement options need to be sorted more finely than just start and stop, it brings observations into clear kinds of action. This makes visible what should be done more, less, newly, or continued. | When a sprint should not only be assessed but also learned from, it captures experience in clear learning categories. It records what worked, what's missing, and what should run differently next time. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | Initial 3-6 h, then monthly or quarterly reviews | 45-90 min | 45–75 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-3 | 5-12 | 4-12 | Team members involved |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Execution Loop, Review Cadence, Strategic Learning Log | Starfish Board, Practice Changes, Experiments | 4Ls Board, Learning Themes, Improvement Actions |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | ExecutionCadenceLearningGovernance | RetrospectiveImprovementExperimentsTeam | RetrospectiveLearningReflectionTeam |



