8. An idea, custom, or institution
held, especially unreasonably, to
be above criticism.
SACREDCOWS
Importance of everything
being open to discussion
and criticism.
9. Human brain's tendency to trust
and accept superiors regardless
of how empty their claims are.
Even though our gut tells us
something is wrong, we don't
question it anyway.
AUTHORITYBIAS
Importance of everything
being open to discussion
and criticism.
Be tactful :)
10. The amount of time spent
discussing an issue in an
o r g a n i z a t i o n i s i n v e r s e l y
c o r r e l a t e d t o i t ’ s a c t u a l
importance in the scheme of
things.
Also known as “Law of Triviality”.
BIKESHEDDING
Importance of focusing on
consequential and often
di
ffi
cult items.
12. Psychological pattern in which an
individual doubts their skills,
talents, or accomplishments and
has a persistent internalized fear
of being exposed as a “fraud"
often despite evidence to the
contrary.
Often made worse by the
“Dunnig-Kruger”e
ff
ect.
IMPOSTERSYNDROME
Importance of speaking up,
even when unsure of self.
14. PSYCHOLOGICALSAFETY
- Can me take risks / voice opinions on the team without feeling insecure or
embarrassed?
- Or do we “Bike Shed”, avoid “Sacred Cows”, and su
ff
er from “Imposter Syndrome” ?
- Google internally identi
fi
ed this as the #1 Key in a successful development Team
- ACTION : Slack Anonymous Survey
15. ISSUES/CHALLENGES/BLOCKERS/CONCERNS
- 10 minutes — until everyone has written and submitted at least 2 paragraphs
- Anonymous submission via Google Forms
- Actionable Observations / Concerns / possible solutions
- Random Discussion Items / Categories :
- E
ff
ectiveness of Stand-ups / Meetings / Rituals - Is there value from current meetings ? Are we spending too much
time in meetings ? Are meeting objectives clear ? What about cadence ?
- Story Process - Is JIRA process clear ? i.e. what needs to be worked , what to work on next ? Do current stories need
more analysis ? Do I know who to talk to when business requirements are uncertain ? Are JIRA stories up-to-date ?
Do we have too much process or too little ?
- Work in Progress / Context Switching - Are we wasting unnecessary development time due to context switching ? Do
members (including boss / PM) know when I’m getting pulled to do work for other teams ?
- Transparency and Priorities - Are team goals and status clear ? Is it clear who to get work from ? What priorities are ..
- Team Charter - Are our processes clear ?
- Friction / Waste - Are we spending an unnecessary amount of time on “friction” and other “non-value” add activities
instead of actual “business value” functionality (i.e. our special sauce) ? Which activities ? What are some
suggestions to improve things ?
16. NEXTSTEPS
- Discussion of main items
- Identify process improvements to try over next Sprint
- Review at the beginning of next Retrospective
