Some sprints leave the team with a useful lesson and a missing piece in the same story. The 4Ls keeps those observations separate: Liked protects what worked, Learned records discoveries, Lacked names missing support, and Longed For points to a better future.
Use the prompts to keep cards specific. The examples show the level of detail that makes discussion and voting useful.
What helped, felt good, or worked well enough to repeat?
Which new fact, skill, assumption, or pattern did the team discover?
Which information, capability, block of time, named owner, or source of support was missing from the work?
What did the team wish had existed, happened sooner, or worked differently?
A complete path from framing the room to assigning one concrete follow-up.
Name the sprint, release, or project stage under review. Explain how a missing input in Lacked differs from a desired future condition in Longed For.
Give everyone seven quiet minutes to add cards to all four columns. Keep each card to one specific moment or observation.
Read the cards one column at a time and allow brief clarifying questions. Hold debate and solutions until the team picks its priority themes.
Cluster cards that describe the same pattern across different columns. A lesson may connect directly to something the team lacked.
Vote for the themes that had the biggest effect on team outcomes. Discuss the causes, tradeoffs, and changes the team could try next.
Choose one behavior from Liked that the team can preserve. Add one small, owned experiment that addresses a theme from Lacked or Longed For.
Review a full project phase and ask which lesson should shape the next milestone plan.
Collect anonymous cards when the team is discussing missing support, workload, or confidence in decision-making.
Write each card from a customer or user perspective. Look for customer value and learning, then name unmet needs and the outcomes customers still want.
Before the retro
Liked covers positive experiences, Learned records new knowledge, Lacked names missing support, and Longed For describes a desired future condition.
Lacked names missing inputs or support. Longed For describes an improvement or future condition the team wishes it had.
Plan for 30 to 40 minutes. That gives three to ten people time for quiet writing, grouping, voting, discussion, and choosing actions.
Use 4Ls after a sprint full of learning, an experiment, or a milestone in a longer project. It also works when a positive-and-negative format has stopped producing useful insight.
Both names describe this format. The name 4Ls retrospective points directly to the four prompts: Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed For.
Open one shared board with Liked, Learned, Lacked, and Longed For ready. Choose the strongest theme and turn it into an owned experiment.
