A playful metaphor can loosen up a serious conversation. In the Superhero retrospective, the whole team becomes one hero squad and looks at the powers it can rely on, the conditions that weaken it, the obstacles that keep returning, and the support that could change the next chapter.
Use the prompts to keep cards specific. The examples show the level of detail that makes discussion and voting useful.
Which repeatable skills, habits, or team qualities helped us succeed this time?
Which conditions leave the team less effective or unusually exposed, especially when pressure rises and the work becomes harder to recover?
Which obstacle or pattern keeps coming back, blocking progress across several pieces of work even after the team has dealt with it once?
Which people, skills, tools, or support could help us overcome those obstacles?
A complete path from framing the room to assigning one concrete follow-up.
Set out the four prompts and frame the team as one hero squad. A Nemesis is an obstacle or recurring pattern. People stay out of that column.
Give everyone eight quiet minutes to write specific observations from the sprint or milestone under review. Keep one idea on each card.
Read the cards one column at a time. Ask each author for evidence or context, and save the solution debate for later.
Group cards that describe the same pattern, then vote for the Kryptonite or Nemesis that limits the team most.
Take the highest-voted obstacle and discuss how an existing Superpower could work with a Sidekick or Gadget to reduce it during the next sprint or milestone, using evidence from the cards.
Write one small action with an owner, a deadline, and a signal the team can check next time.
Trace each Superpower back to the challenge that helped the team develop it.
Let each person name one strength, then see how those powers combine into a capability the whole team can use.
Use Sidekicks & Gadgets for one skill, tool, relationship, or experiment the team needs at the next milestone.
Before the retro
Warm up the team's imagination before naming its collective superpowers.
A Superhero retrospective uses a hero-squad metaphor to uncover the team's strongest capabilities, vulnerabilities, recurring blockers, and support needs.
The four columns are Superpowers, Kryptonite, Nemesis, and Sidekicks & Gadgets, which separate strengths, vulnerabilities, recurring obstacles, and the support the team can use.
Kryptonite is a condition that leaves the team vulnerable, such as a recurring interruption, a knowledge gap, or unclear acceptance criteria. A Nemesis is an obstacle or pattern that keeps blocking progress. A person never belongs in the Nemesis column, where the team should name the behavior, constraint, or system that blocks its progress.
Tie every card to work the team observed during the reviewed period. Celebrate the Superpowers, name the constraints plainly, and finish by pairing one power with one form of support against a priority obstacle.
Open the four ready-made columns, bring in the hero squad, choose the obstacle that matters, and leave with one owned power-up.