Retrospective Prime Directive
A short ritual created by Norm Kerth that is read aloud at the start of any retrospective. The Prime Directive states: '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.' It establishes psychological safety by explicitly ruling out blame before discussion begins.
Comment l'animer
- 1
At the start of the retrospective, read the Prime Directive aloud.
- 2
Ask the group if everyone can commit to it for the duration of the session.
- 3
If anyone raises an objection, discuss it briefly — this is important data about trust or past experiences.
- 4
Proceed with the retrospective under the shared understanding established by the directive.
Conseils
Don't rush past it — taking 2 minutes to have people genuinely affirm it (not just hear it) changes the quality of what follows.
If a team has experienced blame-heavy retrospectives before, this ritual is especially important.
Variantes
Create a custom Prime Directive for your team or organisation. Post it visibly during the retrospective as a reference point if discussion becomes heated.
Contextes d'utilisation
Questions fréquemment posées
Quand utiliser Retrospective Prime Directive ?â–ľ
Utilisez Retrospective Prime Directive lorsque vous souhaitez: Sprint retrospectives; Project post-mortems; Incident reviews; Any high-stakes team reflection.
Combien de temps dure Retrospective Prime Directive ?â–ľ
Retrospective Prime Directive dure généralement 5–10 minutes.
Pour combien de participants Retrospective Prime Directive convient-il ?â–ľ
Retrospective Prime Directive fonctionne mieux pour des groupes de 2–50 participants.
De quels matériaux ai-je besoin pour Retrospective Prime Directive ?▾
Retrospective Prime Directive ne nécessite pas de matériaux particuliers — juste des participants et un espace.
Quel est le niveau de difficulté de Retrospective Prime Directive ?▾
Retrospective Prime Directive est classé débutant — facile à animer même sans expérience préalable.
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