Retrospective Magic - Toronto Agile Conference

Mike Bowler mbowler@GargoyleSoftware.com Twitter: @mike_bowler (905) 409-7052 (Pacific Time)
RetrospectiveMagic
What can we learn from neuroscience and psychology to
improve our retrospectives?

Mike Bowler Twitter: @mike_bowler (905) 409-7052 (Pacific Time)
Disclaimers
Some of these tips will contradict each other. Consider
the context for each.
The slides are text heavy because the content is dense.
They will be available for anyone who wants them.
Ask questions any time!

• Preparation / Logistics
• Opening
• Review
• Diverge (brainstorming)
• Converge
• Actions
• Closing
Retrospectivemeta-pattern

• Doorway effect
• We want to take attendees away from their normal
day-to-day work
Movetoadifferentspace

• The prefrontal cortex is responsible for high level, strategic,
thinking. Fear shuts that down and leaves us reacting, not thinking
clearly.
• If some people in the room report to other people also in the room
then there will be fear of sharing openly
• If notes from the retro are shared indiscriminately after the
meeting then there will be fear of repercussions.
Fearshutsdowntheprefrontal
cortex

• We need to get to the point where we decide on actions to take away.
If the meeting runs out of time before we get to actions then we just
wasted everyones time.
• We cannot “pick up” a retro at a later time to finish it off. The
momentum will be gone and the team won’t come up with anything
useful
Allocatemoretimethanyouthink
youneed

• Many people think better if their hands are busy so give them something to fiddle with
• Pipe cleaners, sticky notes, LEGO
• There are many studies on the benefits of doodling in increased memory retention and thinking
so encourage that.
Bring“fidget”things

• “Want to innovate? Science says to be playful”
• https://www.creativitypost.com/index.php?p=psychology/
want_to_innovate_science_says_be_playful
• Use priming to switch people into a playful ego-state
• Toys, games, silly paperclips, a variety of different colours of sticky
notes, etc
EncouragePlayfulness
Ego-states

• If you try to do both then you’ll do at least one of them poorly. Probably both.
• If you want to participate then ask someone else to facilitate.
Considerwhetheryouare
participatingorfacilitating Ego-states

• Be mindful who is taking notes
Thepersonwhoholdsthepen,
controlstheconversation

• Learn to read the team. Sometimes they’ll arrive in a state that is not conducive to what you
had planned.
• Be prepared to drop what you had planned and do something different.
Calibratetheteam

• To get candid feedback, this must be a safe space. When the amygdala
is active, people won’t share those things that we need to discuss, in
order to improve
• Management is excluded unless the team has specifically requested
that they be present. Nobody wants to admit that they made a
mistake in front of their manager
• Do not publicly share notes from the retro after the fact unless all
participants have agreed. Participants must know that what they
say is confidential
Createasafespace

• This isn’t team building.
• The only purpose is to get the team in the right state for the
rest of the retro. If they’re already there, leave them alone.
• Not everyone enjoys these - using them inappropriately can
actually undo what you’re trying to achieve
Considerifyouevenneedan
opening/icebreaker

• Who and why questions, in the wrong context, can trigger someone’s
amygdala, making it more difficult for them to perform high-level, critical
thinking
• “Who caused the server outage?”
• “Why wasn’t this reviewed?”
• What, when and how questions are always safer. Use them where possible.
• “When did the outage happen?”
• “How did we get to this point?”
AvoidWHOandWHYquestions
Who did
that?

• Get people back into the right state to address the problem
• Ask questions that bring them back to the time or state that things had happened. Make the
experience real.
• Where were you at that time?
• What did you notice first?
• Talk about what did happen rather than what should have happened
Lightuptheneuralnetwork

• “Brain plasticity and cognitive function are significantly
improved by physical activity”
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5919946/
• Collect sticky notes in a place that requires people to move to get to it
• Have physical objects that need to be reordered in front of them
• Caution: Always be aware of mobility challenges faced by your
participants.
• Not all people can easily stand up or move around.
Getpeoplemoving

• “novelty may benefit creative performance when divergent thinking is required, but it
could inhibit creative performance when convergent thinking is required.”
• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10400419.2013.813781
• Retrospectives use both divergent and convergent thinking, at different stages
• Use novelty when brain storming and coming up with new ideas
• Don’t use the same retro style twice in a row - mix it up
Usenoveltyduringdivergentthinking

• “Individual differences in the tendency to solve problems insightfully rather than in a
deliberate, analytic fashion are associated with different patterns of resting-state brain
activity.”
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24405359
• Suggest that people ignore their phones
• Allow for uncomfortable silences
• Silent writing
Insightrequiresarestingstateinthebrain

• Criticism will stop the flow of creativity
• Different hemispheres of the brain
• No idea is too crazy - write down everything that comes to mind
Nocriticizingduringthe‘diverge’step
CreativityCriticism

• Large numbers of neurons and ganglia, including sensory neurons and motor neurons
• Neural cells with inter-neurons; neurons re-entrantly interconnecting with other neurons
• Support cells and components such as glial cells, astrocytes, proteins, etc.
• Functional attributes: perceiving/assimilating information, processing information, memory
storage and access
• Able to mediate complex reflexes via an intrinsic
nervous system
• A chemical warehouse of neurotransmitters
• Source: Using Your Multiple Brains to do Cool Stuff
Whatisabrain?

Divergingismostlyheadbrain
Head - Cephalic brain

Self talk / imagery

They say:

“I think…”

“I’ve considered…”

“This makes no sense”

“Looks like…”

You ask:

“What/how are you thinking?”

Heart - Cardiac brain

Values / emotion

They say:

“I feel…”

“Following my heart”

“more important”

“I’m connected to…”

You ask:

“How do you feel about that?”

“What is important here?”

Gut - Enteric brain

Action

They say:

“I’m doing…”

“My gut reaction is …”

You ask:

“What’s the next step?”

“What will you do?”

• “novelty may benefit creative performance when divergent thinking is required, but it could
inhibit creative performance when convergent thinking is required.”
• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10400419.2013.813781
• Retrospectives use both divergent and convergent thinking, at different stages
• Avoid novelty when clustering, converging and voting
Avoidnoveltyduringconvergentthinking

Convergingismostlyheartbrain

Self talk / imagery

They say:

“I think…”



“Looks like…”

You ask:



Values / emotion

They say:

“I feel…”




You ask:



Gut - Enteric brain

Action

They say:



You ask:



• Put your actions as cards on your board to ensure they are complete when we agreed
• Scrum: These go into the sprint backlog before any work from the PO.
• Kanban: These must be placed into ready within a reasonable timeframe
• Talk about them every day at standup, just as you would for any other work
Putactionsonyourboard

• If you select 50 actions to complete, you won’t do any of them. This is human nature.
• Picking one is enough.
• I recommend no more than three and only that many if they’re small
Pickasmallnumberofactions

• Lower the level of commitment required
• Try something for a fixed period of time and then reflect
Pickanexperiment,not“thenewway
ofdoingthings”

• “Why do you think this will will make us better?”
• Causes us to justify and reinforce the idea
Reintroducing“Why?”
Didn’t we just say
not to use Who
and Why?

• Many of our limitations are self-imposed
• Teams won’t take actions that they think they can’t do and they’re
often wrong about what is possible.
Questionlimitations

Actionsaremostlygutbrain

Self talk / imagery

They say:

“I think…”



“Looks like…”

You ask:



Values / emotion

They say:

“I feel…”




You ask:



Gut - Enteric brain

Action

They say:



You ask:



• Sometimes the topics discussed during a retro can be demoralizing or depressing. Don’t let the
team leave while they’re in this state.
• Power Switch: “And when X, what would you like to have happen?”
Ensureteamisinapositivestate

• “Who will ensure this item is done?”
• “When will we check back in?"
Providingaccountabilitywith“Who?”

Cognitive
Bias
• Allows us to make
faster decisions
• Sometimes doesn’t
work in our best
interest

• A long time agile and technical coach who started his agile journey over twenty years ago with
XP.
• More about that at http://www.gargoylesoftware.com/mike_bowler
• A student of human behaviour - why we do what we do. This has taken me into neuroscience,
psychology, hypnosis, body language and a variety of other fascinating and unusual topics.
• More about that at http://www.unconsciousagile.com/
• Based in Kelowna BC and supporting clients around the world.
Aboutme

Retrospective Magic - Toronto Agile Conference

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