Rose Bud Thorn retrospective template
Wins, early-stage potential, and the things that hurt.
Also known as: Rose / Bud / Thorn, Rose Thorn Bud.
Rose Bud Thorn adds a column most formats lack: the bud, for things that are not yet successes but are showing promise. Naming them explicitly is what stops a promising experiment from quietly dying between sprints because nobody had anywhere to record that it was working.
The columns, and what goes in each
- Rose
- What went clearly well and is already paying off?
- Bud
- What is showing early promise and deserves a deliberate chance to grow?
- Thorn
- What hurt, blocked, or damaged the team this time round?
When to use the Rose Bud Thorn retrospective
- Teams running experiments, spikes, or new practices they want to give a fair trial
- Longer-horizon retrospectives at the end of a quarter or a programme increment
- Any group where good early-stage work keeps getting dropped for lack of a champion
How to run a Rose Bud Thorn retrospective
- Explain the bud specifically — it is the column people misuse if you skip it.
- Write silently for six minutes.
- Discuss thorns first, then use the remaining time to decide which buds get deliberate support.
- Give each surviving bud an owner and a checkpoint date, not just an action.
Run this retrospective in RetroCanvas
Rose Bud Thorn is built in — pick it when you create a board, or set it to recur automatically every sprint. Free, with no credit card required.