Retrospective
Origin: Agile / Scrum
Biological Parallel
Evolution accelerates when organisms sample environments, assess what worked, and recalibrate before the next iteration. Bacteria practice this literally: horizontal gene transfer shares successful adaptations across the population after each selective pressure. Ant colonies run continuous retrospectives through pheromone feedback—failed foraging trails weaken, successful ones strengthen. Slime molds solve mazes by extending pseudopods, retracting failed paths, and reinforcing successful routes—pure empirical learning without a brain. The retrospective is formalized evolutionary feedback: extract lessons from the completed cycle, adjust parameters, execute the next sprint with updated strategies informed by empirical results.