Semantics & So On

In my work as an agile coach and Scrum Master, I often facilitate team retrospective events. In retrospectives, teams collaborate on how to improve their work and their work relationships. I often start these sessions by reminding teams of the Retrospective Prime Directive, created by Norm Kerth:

“Regardless of what we discover, we understand and truly believe that everyone did the best job they could, given what they knew at the time, their skills and abilities, the resources available, and the situation at hand.” (–Norm Kerth, Project Retrospectives: A Handbook for Team Review)

The idea, of course, is to focus on improvement with empathy and critical thinking. Critique groups have a similar dynamic. Open and honest communication is critical. Critique groups only succeed when participants feel safe sharing feedback. Everyone has to trust that others have the same goal: improvement. That’s why I created the Critique Group Prime Directive as the fundamental piece of advice for building effective critique groups:

“Regardless of what we read, we understand and truly believe that every writer brought their best effort to the page, given their knowledge, experience, and creative vision at the time. Our goal is to offer thoughtful, constructive feedback to help each other grow, while respecting the unique voice and intentions of each writer.”

Trust is crucial for giving and receiving effective, honest feedback. The Critique Group Prime Directive provides a foundation for groups to build that trust and keep sessions positive and productive, even when the feedback seems hard to take.