Look back
4Ls retrospective
Also called Liked, learned, lacked, longed for
A retrospective in four quadrants: what people liked, learned, lacked and longed for, which balances facts and wishes.
- Time30 to 45 minutes
- People3 to 12 people
- Steps4
What it's for
The 4Ls is gentler than start, stop, continue and wider in scope. Learned brings out what the team now knows, which other formats skip. The difference between lacked (what was missing) and longed for (what we wished we had) separates problems from aspirations.
It suits the end of a project as well as a sprint.
How to run it
Write notes8 min
Silently, add notes to all four quadrants.
Share12 min
Read them out in order: liked, learned, lacked, longed for.
Vote4 min3 votes each
Vote on what to act on.
Agree actions8 min
One action for each of the top themes.
Tips
- Share what you learned with other teams. That quadrant is often useful beyond this one.
- If lacked and longed for keep overlapping, don't worry. Discuss them together.
Where it comes from
Usually credited to Mary Gorman and Ellen Gottesdiener of EBG Consulting.
Pairs well with
Start, stop, continue
A retrospective in three columns: what to start doing, what to stop, and what to keep, which leads straight to changes.
Rose, thorn, bud
Sort observations into roses (what's good), thorns (what's painful) and buds (what has promise), using colour to see the pattern.
Starfish retrospective
A five-part retrospective: keep doing, do more of, do less of, stop doing, and start doing.