The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Retrospective

A classic retrospective template inspired by Sergio Leone's iconic 1966 Western film, allowing development teams to evaluate sprint performance through a memorable metaphor. This engaging format helps teams identify what went well, what didn't, and what needs improvement in their agile workflow.

What Is The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Retrospective?

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly retrospective transforms your team's reflection process into a Western showdown. Based on the legendary Clint Eastwood film, this template divides feedback into three distinct categories that mirror the film's characters, plus a "Treasure" section representing team goals.

Each section serves a specific purpose in your retrospective:

  • The Good: Positive aspects and successes from the sprint
  • The Bad: Problems, challenges, and disappointments
  • The Ugly: Issues that were uncomfortable but functional, or areas needing significant improvement
  • The Treasure: The team's goals and desired outcomes to help prioritize improvements

Benefits & When to Use

This retrospective format is particularly effective:

  • After challenging or difficult sprints when the team needs structured debriefing
  • When teams need visual metaphors to categorize different types of feedback
  • For breaking through retrospective fatigue with a fresh, engaging approach
  • When you want to balance acknowledging successes with addressing problems
  • To help remote teams maintain engagement through a familiar cultural reference

The Western theme creates a lighthearted framework for addressing potentially sensitive topics, making it easier for team members to provide honest feedback without defensiveness.

How to Run a Good, Bad, and Ugly Retrospective Session

Time required: 45-60 minutes

  1. Set the scene (2 min)

  2. Start a meeting (1 min)

    • Turn on private sticky notes to allow anonymous feedback
    • Select appropriate tools for participants
    • This prevents accidental edits to the board layout

  3. Reflection phase (10 min)

    • Each team member adds sticky notes to all four sections
    • Encourage honesty across all categories, especially "The Ugly"
    • Optional: Pre-populate the board with sprint metrics, customer feedback, or team performance data

  4. Share and discuss (15 min)

    • Team members reveal their notes one by one
    • Discuss each point as a group
    • Pro tip: Click the disc at the top of each sticky note to reveal individual items

  5. Organize and prioritize (10 min)

    • Use the Topic tool to group similar sticky notes
    • Identify common themes across categories
    • Conduct a voting round to determine top priorities

  6. Action planning (10 min)

    • For priority items, define specific improvements or experiments
    • Assign owners and due dates for each action item
    • Add these to the "Actions/Improvements" section

Tips for a Successful Session

  • Balance the categories: If "The Bad" or "The Ugly" sections are dominating, ask specific questions to help uncover more positive aspects in "The Good" section.

  • Count the bullets: As a bonus exercise, count sticky notes in each section as "bullets" and declare which gunslinger "won." Use this as a discussion point about how to shift more items to "The Good" in future sprints.

  • Use the Treasure effectively: The Treasure section should represent your team's most important goals. Reference these when prioritizing actions to ensure improvements align with objectives.

  • Remote facilitation: For distributed teams, consider using a timer visible to all participants during the reflection phase, and ensure everyone has a chance to speak during discussions.

  • Keep the metaphor going: Maintain the Western theme throughout to keep energy high—refer to challenges as "showdowns" and solutions as "quick draws."

This retrospective combines structured reflection with an engaging theme, making it both productive and memorable for agile teams looking to continuously improve their performance.

Use this template