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Criterion
Paper illustration of a Polarity Map with two poles and four quadrants
Systems Thinking
Polarity Mapping
Paper illustration of a review with planned work, actual event sequence, comparison, and assigned improvement actions.
Operations
After-Action Review
Paper illustration for Starfish Retrospective
Agile
Starfish Retrospective
Purposedifferent
Polarity Mapping makes tensions between two opposing poles tangible, such as standardization and adaptation or control and autonomy. The method guards against making apparent either-or decisions prematurely.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowLow
Timedifferent
1-2 h20-45 min45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
3-123-124-12
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Polarity Map, Warning Signs, Balance ActionsLessons learned, Action items, Event summaryStarfish Board, Practice Changes, Experiments
Tagsno overlap
Systems thinkingTradeoffsLeadership
LearningOperationsImprovement
RetrospectiveImprovementExperimentsTeam
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A structured reflection surfaces what was liked, learned, lacked, and longed for. It is a conversation format and does not validate actions automatically.
Agile
4Ls Retrospective
Paper illustration for Learning Review.
Operations
Learning Review
Paper illustration for Sailboat Retrospective
Agile
Sailboat Retrospective
The Scrum Team inspects people, interactions, processes, tools, and the Definition of Done, then agrees on a few testable improvements.
Agile
Sprint Retrospective