Every 4 Weeks — Learning Review
| Home | Docs | Guides | Ceremonies | Templates | Setup |
Duration: 30 minutes Facilitator: Captain or rotating facilitator When: Every 4 weeks Attendees: Whole boat
Purpose
Step back from the weekly flow and ask what the recent work is teaching the team.
This is not a blame session and not a generic “what was good or bad” retrospective. It is a lightweight learning loop for the operating model itself.
Before the Meeting (Facilitator, 10 min prep)
- Review the last 4 weeks of the Landing Log
- Pull the last 4 Weekly Snapshots
- Note obvious patterns in WIP, Run load, and Landing mix
- When reviewing WIP, count meaningful work items, not individual tickets
- Bring 1–2 questions where the data suggests friction or drift
Script
| Time | Activity | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 min | Pattern review | What do the last 4 weeks show about Landings, WIP, Preview decisions, and Run load? |
| 5–15 min | What did we learn? | What is the work teaching us about how this boat actually operates? Where did the model help? Where did it create friction? |
| 15–25 min | Adjustments | What 1–2 changes should we make for the next cycle? WIP limits, slicing, ceremony timing, role clarity, Preview discipline, or something else? |
| 25–30 min | Commit | Name the owner for each change and when you’ll check whether it helped. |
Good Questions
- “What is the Landing mix teaching us?”
- “Are our WIP limits helping us finish, or creating the wrong pressure?”
- “Are Previews generating clear decisions, or drifting?”
- “Is Run visible and sustainable?”
- “Are we learning fast enough without fragmenting attention?”
- “What should we try for the next 4 weeks?”
Outputs
- 1–2 concrete changes for the next 4-week cycle
- An owner for each change
- A clear note of what evidence you’ll watch next time
Keep it lightweight. If you leave with a long list, you are probably trying to change too much at once.
Anti-Patterns
- Don’t turn it into a complaint session. Do anchor the conversation in the work and the evidence.
- Don’t re-open every annoyance from the month. Do focus on the few patterns that matter most.
- Don’t make five process changes at once. Do pick one or two adjustments and watch the effect.
- Don’t judge people. Do examine the system, the flow, and the trade-offs.
- Don’t skip it because Friday has a learning slot. Do treat weekly tactical learning and monthly model learning as different loops.