Spicy Reflection Retro
What is the template about?
Spicy Reflection is a taco truck-themed retrospective designed to help agile teams reflect on their sprints in a fun and engaging way. Based on the classic Glad, Sad, Mad format, this retro adds a flavourful twist with categories like Taco ’Bout Awesome, Soggy Tortilla Moments, and Too Much Hot Sauce. It creates a vibrant, low-pressure space for open discussion and improvement.
2. What does it help you achieve?
This template encourages psychological safety, boosts team engagement, and facilitates honest feedback in a playful, memorable format. It helps teams:
Celebrate wins
Acknowledge blockers or disappointments
Surface frustrations or tensions
Identify actionable improvements for the next sprint
3. Who would benefit from it the most?
Remote or hybrid scrum teams who want to liven up their retrospectives
Agile facilitators or scrum masters looking for a themed retro to break monotony
Teams new to retrospectives, where a fun format lowers barriers to sharing
Design, development, or cross-functional teams of any size
4. How to use it
Start with the icebreaker: Have each team member create a name and slogan for their imaginary taco truck to get creative juices flowing.
Move into the retro: Team members add sticky notes under each section:
🌮 Taco ’Bout Awesome = Wins, positives, and highlights
🥀 Soggy Tortilla Moments = Disappointments, blockers, or letdowns
🌶️ Too Much Hot Sauce = Frustrations, annoyances, or pain points
Vote with toppings: Use emojis or drag-and-drop icons like 🧀, 🌶️, 🥑 to prioritise ideas.
Discuss & take action: Talk through top-voted items and document next steps in the “Actions” section. Highlight your Taco MVP - the most valuable insight or learning from the session.
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