The Starfish

The Starfish retrospective is based on the image of a starfish with 5 arms, each representing one of the five themes explored during the workshop. Created by Patrick Kua, this format provides a nuanced and comprehensive framework for team reflection.

The five dimensions are:

• Continue to ➡️: What's working well and should be preserved as-is? Practices that the team is satisfied with.
• More of ⬆️: What's good but should be intensified? Things that work but could have an even greater impact if done more frequently or more thoroughly.
• Less of ⬇️: What should be reduced? Practices that aren't necessarily bad but are happening too much or consuming too many resources.
• Start to 🆕: What should the team begin doing? New ideas, practices, or experiments to try.
• Stop doing 🛑: What should be completely eliminated? Things that clearly don't work and waste time or energy.

The key advantage of the Starfish format over simpler formats (like Start/Stop/Continue) is the addition of "More of" and "Less of." These nuanced categories acknowledge that not everything is black and white - some practices just need adjustment in intensity rather than being started or stopped entirely.

This makes the Starfish particularly effective for mature teams that have been through several retrospectives and are ready for more subtle and refined analysis of their practices.

The session concludes with voting and the definition of concrete actions across all five dimensions.