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| Criterion | ![]() Operations After-Action Review | ![]() Operations Accountability Ladder | ![]() Agile Sailboat Retrospective | ![]() Agile Starfish Retrospective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | After missions or project phases with unclear outcomes, the method makes visible what actually happened and what can be learned from it. It separates course, effect, and causes so experience turns into solid improvement. | With defensive reactions to problems, the method shifts the view from justification to ownership. It makes visible which reaction stage a person or team is currently stuck on. | When a team wants to read momentum, brakes, and risks together, it offers an easily understandable picture of the situation. It makes drive, obstacles, and headwind visible in the same picture. | 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. |
Complexitysame | Low | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 20-45 min | 45-90 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 1-8 | 4-12 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary | Ownership Reflection, Action Commitment, Coaching Notes | Sailboat Board, Risks, Improvement Actions | Starfish Board, Practice Changes, Experiments |
Tagsno overlap | LearningOperationsImprovement | ResponsibilityLeadershipTeam | RetrospectiveTeamImprovement | RetrospectiveImprovementExperimentsTeam |



