Run a Cross-Team Retrospective After a Failed Launch
Overview
What this challenge is about.
Design a 3-hour structured retrospective using either Liberating Structures or Norm Kerr's 'Prime Directive' framing (assume people did the best job possible with what they knew). Pre-read pack: 10-page timeline, 3 incident reports, 4 sprint retros from the affected squads. Facilitate with 24 participants in-person + remote hybrid (Miro-driven). Output: a written summary that documents 5 systemic causes and at most 5 cross-team commitments with named owners. Deliver the facilitation plan, the timeline pre-read, the live Miro board, and the published summary.
The Brief
What you'll do, and what you'll demonstrate.
Facilitate a cross-team retrospective on a high-visibility failed launch and produce a non-blame summary that drives at most 5 systemic commitments.
Earning criteria — what you'll demonstrate
- Design a retrospective that surfaces systemic causes, not personal blame
- Facilitate a 24-person hybrid retrospective without losing the room
- Translate failure-mode analysis into actionable cross-team commitments
- Write a summary stakeholders trust without legal-defensive sanitization
Program Fit
Where this fits in your program.
Sharpens the same skills your degree expects you to demonstrate.
Skills
Skills you'll demonstrate.
Each one shows up on your verified credential.
Careers
Roles this prepares you for.
Real titles. Real skill bridges. Pick the one closest to your trajectory.
Product Manager
Product managers who co-facilitate cross-functional retros build the trust that lets engineering surface bad news early on the next launch.
This challenge sharpens
- facilitation
- stakeholder-communication
- process-design