🐷🏠 Three Little Pigs Retrospective
Let’s use the story of the Three Little Pigs to build a stronger iteration! Reflect on our straw, stick, and brick efforts, and plan how to keep the Big Bad Wolf (challenges) at bay!
Template Columns
🌾 Straw Ideas to Start
Suggest new lightweight or experimental actions we should try building into our process.
Base column: Start🚫 Wolf Winds to Stop
Identify habits or obstacles that, like the wolf, threaten to blow our house down and need to stop.
Base column: Stop🏡 Brick Habits to Continue
Highlight the sturdy practices that make our team house strong and should stay in place.
Base column: ContinueAbout this template
The Three Little Pigs Retrospective helps your team reflect on their current ways of working by categorizing initiatives and habits as straw (new or experimental), wolf winds (threats to success), and brick (strong foundations). Strengthen your agile process by learning from the fairy tale and building resilience together.
When to use this template
Use this retrospective at the end of a sprint or project phase when you want to focus on reinforcing strengths, identifying risks, and encouraging innovation. It's especially effective when your team is seeking a playful yet meaningful way to discuss stability and experimentation.
How to facilitate
Set the stage by summarizing the Three Little Pigs story, relating the columns to your team's work: straw for experiments, wolf winds for risks, and bricks for strengths.
Invite everyone to add thoughts to each column: Straw Ideas to Start (new/experimental actions), Wolf Winds to Stop (risks and blockers), and Brick Habits to Continue (trusted, solid practices). Allow silent brainstorming to ensure everyone participates.
When brainstorming is complete, cluster similar cards and clarify ideas as a group. Encourage team members to share stories or concrete examples.
Facilitate open discussion; focus first on wolf winds to collaboratively agree on habits or obstacles to address or stop.
Review straw ideas to explore which new lighter-weight approaches or experiments the team is willing to try next iteration.
Celebrate and reinforce the identified brick habits. Discuss how to keep these practices strong and visible.
End by prioritizing a few concrete actions from the three columns, assigning owners, and confirming follow-up for the next cycle.
Pro Tips
Encourage playful storytelling to break the ice—link habits or challenges to the fairy tale for improved recall and engagement.
Prompt the team to balance straw ideas with consideration of risks—experiment, but aim for safe-to-fail trials.
Use voting if the team struggles to prioritize actions, especially when there are many wolf winds or straw ideas.
Capture photos or a summary of brick habits, making them visible in team spaces to reinforce positive practices.
FAQ
How do we avoid only focusing on problems (wolf winds) instead of generating new ideas?
Ensure everyone has time to contribute to each column, and prompt the team to share even small straw (experimental) ideas to keep the session balanced.
What if we repeat the same brick habits every retrospective?
Challenge the team to identify why those practices remain strong and explore ways to share or evolve them for ongoing improvement.
How do we decide which straw ideas to turn into real experiments?
Ask the team to vote or dot-point the most promising ideas, then discuss feasibility and assign an owner to test it in the next iteration.
How can I keep everyone participating equally?
Use silent brainstorming at the start and invite everyone to explain their items, ensuring quieter voices are heard.
At a glance
- Duration
40–50 min
- Team Size
3-10 people
- Columns
3 columns
- Base Format
Start, Stop, Continue
Tags
Ready to get started?
Use this template to run your next retrospective