Retrospective mindset and the Prime Directive
Background to the Prime Directive.
In 2001, Norman Kerth published “Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Reviews” which is one of the key books on retrospectives. The concept of learning from past issues is not new. Continuous improvement has always been a fundamental part of Lean approaches. “Lessons learned” have been a concept in project management for a long time.
Kerth formalised this approach into what we now consider as “retrospectives”. He defined an effective approach to retrospectives. As the title of his book suggests, he approached retrospectives as they are viewed today as a team exercise.
He defined the concept of retrospectives and how they could work effectively. This has built the foundations for the subsequent widespread adoption of retrospectives across Agile development.
The statement which Kerth referred to as the “Prime Directive for Retrospectives” is a statement of intent and mindset. We have probably all seen retrospectives which end up with blame and complaints but no positive output for change. Kerth highlighted how much this is due to the mindset with which the team approach the retrospective, which we would now term “psychological safety”.
For a retrospective to be effective and successful, it needs to be safe.
“Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Reviews” – Norman Kerth
By “safe”, I mean that the participants must feel secure within their community – to discuss their work, to admit that there may have been better ways to perform the work, and to learn from the retrospective exercise itself.
What does the Prime Directive say?
Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.
Let’s look at these phrases in a little more detail:
Regardless of what we discover
The point of a retrospective is to identify new information and root causes. We expect that issues will be revealed. Even if these are emotional issues, they should not affect our interaction with the team.
we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could
The key point is that although viewpoints are different and errors may have been made, our starting point should be that the team are sincere and honest.
given what they knew at the time
Central to Agile development is learning. The point of a retrospective is we can see more in hindsight. We must remember that decisions are made without the information which becomes available later
their skills and abilities
Team members are not perfect. We ask them to manage situations for which they may not be perfectly skilled.
the resources available and the situation at hand.
External circumstances may have made people take decisions which may be discovered not to be optimal.
Good practices
The purpose of the Prime Directive is to help the team focus on maintaining psychological safety. A productive retrospective requires a positive mindset in which we are looking for improvement, not blame. If the team feels they cannot express some ideas, the retrospective will be ineffective.
Kerth suggested that the Prime Directive should be read out at retrospectives, or framed and hung on the wall. I’m not generally a believer in this sort of approach, but this is something I do. I start retrospectives with a reminder of the mindset and the Prime Directive is excellent for this. It may be excessive for team’s Sprint Retrospectives, and I use this mainly for wider retrospectives around releases or events.
The Prime Directive is itself just a nudge. It does not enforce positive behaviours. As an Agile Leader you are responsible for ensuring your team have and maintain a safe environment.
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