# Celebration Grid Participants sort recent work experiences into three categories: actions tried, lessons learned, and clear successes. They examine patterns across these categories to decide which experiments to run next. **Time:** 30 minutes. Matches the 30-minute duration stated in the source record. **People:** 4 to 24. Individual reflection, subgroups of 3 to 4 (allow a pair or group of 5 when division leaves remainder), then whole-room review ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Collect and analyze recent experiments, setbacks, and accomplishments to select concrete next steps. **Use it when:** Use at the close of an iteration, project phase, or quarter when a team needs to examine both wins and unsuccessful experiments without assigning blame. **Skip it when:** Skip during an active operational crisis or when the team needs root-cause analysis on a single catastrophic failure. ## Materials and tools - One large whiteboard or wall space marked with three columns: We Tried, We Learned, We Succeeded - Sticky notes (at least 10 notes per person) - Markers (one per person) - Digital whiteboard tool preconfigured with a 3-column board (for remote or hybrid sessions) ## Before participants arrive 1. Draw three wide columns on a wall or digital canvas labeled: 'We Tried', 'We Learned', and 'We Succeeded'. 2. If tracking specific work streams, draw horizontal rows across the columns for areas like Team Practices, Technical Tasks, and Communication. ## Say this to open We are going to map our recent work across three categories: what we tried, what we learned, and what succeeded. The goal is to celebrate conscious experiments and useful failures just as much as clear wins. Take sticky notes and write one item per note. We will review them together and choose our next experiments. ## How to run it ### 1. Introduce and write silently (6 minutes) Explain the three categories. Share this neutral example: 'We tried automated daily builds; it failed initially, but we learned how to fix our test scripts, and now deploys run in half the time.' Participants spend 4 minutes writing notes silently for each column. Anyone may choose to write notes for private reflection without posting. ### 2. Post and review in small groups (8 minutes) Split participants into subgroups of 3 or 4. If counts do not divide evenly, allow one group of 5 or one pair. Members post notes in the matching columns, stating each item in one short sentence. If using optional category rows, place notes in that band. Subgroups cluster duplicate items. ### 3. Analyze patterns as a full room (8 minutes) Bring the room together. The facilitator highlights 2 or 3 visible connections between 'We Tried' and 'We Learned'. Invite 3 quick observations from the room on which experiments yielded the sharpest lessons and which successful practices deserve standard adoption. ### 4. Select next actions and debrief (8 minutes) Invite 2 volunteers to propose one specific experiment or practice adjustment for the next cycle based on the board. Record both proposals and assign one lead per item. Run 2 debrief questions with brief open responses. ## Debrief questions - Which experiment from 'We Tried' gave us the most valuable insight, even if the original plan failed? - What successful practice under 'We Succeeded' should we lock in as a standard habit? - What is one new low-risk experiment we should start in the next cycle? **Finished output:** A populated three-column grid of recent efforts, lessons, and successes, plus a short list of agreed next experiments. ## Remote Set up a shared digital whiteboard with three columns: 'We Tried', 'We Learned', and 'We Succeeded'. Participants work individually on sticky notes, move to breakout rooms of 3 to 4 to review and group their notes, and return to the main room for whole-group pattern finding and action selection. ## Hybrid Maintain a single digital whiteboard visible to all. In-person participants type directly into the board or pair with an in-person scribe who enters their notes. Breakout discussions include dedicated in-person pods and dedicated remote breakout rooms to ensure equal speaking time. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may submit notes anonymously via digital sticky notes or plain physical cards. - Any participant may choose to observe the group board and debrief without posting personal items. ## If the session gets stuck **Participants only post items in 'We Succeeded' and leave 'We Tried' empty out of fear of admitting failure.** Prompt the room specifically: 'What is something we tested that did not work out as planned?' Model safety by sharing a neutral operational experiment that missed its target. **Notes under 'We Learned' read as complaints rather than lessons.** Ask the writer to rephrase the issue: 'What concrete adjustment or rule did that problem teach us for next time?' ## Terms used here - Iteration: A fixed time window, such as a two-week sprint, during which a team completes a set unit of work. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in EasyRetro template documentation, which attributes the Celebration Grid concept to Ignacio and Management 3.0 / Javier Garzas. Retained the three core columns (We Tried, We Learned, We Succeeded) and 30-minute timing observed in the EasyRetro template sourced from Management 3.0. Added flexible subgrouping rules for non-divisible participant counts, tightened full-room pattern scanning, constrained action planning to two actionable experiments, and added debrief prompts. [EasyRetro](https://easyretro.io/templates/celebration-grid/) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/celebration-grid/