ENDA Episode 47→ The time when ENDA learned how much the retrospective can hurt

Most agree that a retrospective helps bring value to something we previously lived or experienced. However, it can sometimes cause certain crashes with how we remember things.

The most common examples are when we rewatch certain films or TV series that we have not seen in ages and are left with a feeling of “I remembered it way better” or when we realize that many aspects (technical and story themes) have not aged that well.

However, a closer case is when we remember some decisions made in our journey. Decisions that today seem either naïve, poorly informed, stupid, or all at once. Maybe we start thinking we would have better lives if we had made other decisions and wonder “What If…?” (https://lnkd.in/eHTwY_Ae).

But as I wrote in that episode, if we can look back, it is because of all that we have experienced. Additionally, we must remember that we can not speak for the person we were at that time, but only for the one we are today. God knows how much I would lecture the ENDA from 10 years ago.

So yes, a retrospective can hurt but as we said in the beginning: “it can bring value back”.

➡️A wrong decision can turn into the best teacher of what NOT to do today and in the future.

➡️A terrible experience at work can become the fuel to take a new initiative or look for new horizons.

➡️A missed opportunity will teach you to be more decisive and attentive to what is going around you and reorganize your priorities.

And so on… the retrospective helps us rewatch our past experiences and not dwell on them, but see what we can learn from them.

How often do you look back?