The "Sailboat" retrospective changed my team forever
I've been running retros for years, but last month I tried the Sailboat format and the results were incredible.
For those unfamiliar:
- ⚓ Anchors = What's holding us back
- 🌬️ Wind = What's pushing us forward
- 🪨 Rocks = Risks ahead
- 🏝️ Island = Our goals
My team opened up about issues they'd been sitting on for months. The visual metaphor made it feel less confrontational. We identified 3 concrete action items and actually followed through on all of them.
Has anyone else had success with visual/metaphor-based retros?
3 Comments
I LOVE the sailboat! I add a "Sun" element too — representing what energizes the team. It helps end on a positive note.
Visual retros are so powerful. I also recommend the "Hot Air Balloon" variant — similar concept but with sandbags and fire.
Tried this last week after reading your post. My team loved it. The visual metaphor really does lower defenses.