Genie in a Bottle Retrospective Template
Also known as: Three Wishes retrospective · Genie retrospective
You have three wishes. Spend them well, then figure out how to grant them without the genie.
- ⏱ 40–50 min
- 👥 3–10 people
- 🧩 3 columns
- Free · no sign-up
Wish for the team
What would you wish for the team?
Something that would make the whole team's work better or more enjoyable.
Wish for myself
What would help you most?
Something that would help you personally: skills, focus, time, support.
Wish for others
What would you wish for users or other teams?
Something for people outside the team: users, stakeholders, other teams.
What is the Genie in a Bottle Retrospective?
Genie in a Bottle is a retrospective in which each person imagines they have found a magic lamp and gets three wishes: one for the team, one for themselves and one for someone else, such as users, another team or stakeholders. The playful framing lowers the bar for sharing and invites ideas people would normally self-censor as unrealistic.
It belongs to the family of 'fun' or themed retrospectives popularised by agile coaches and collections such as Retromat and Fun Retrospectives. The theme is light, but the structure is smart: wishes reveal unmet needs, and the three directions (team, self, others) make sure the conversation covers collaboration, personal growth and customer impact.
The second half of the session brings things back to earth: the team picks the most powerful wishes and asks what part of each one they can grant themselves, starting next sprint.
When to use Genie in a Bottle (and when not to)
✅ Use it when
- ▸ When the team is tired of the usual formats and retros feel routine.
- ▸ After a good sprint, when there isn't much to fix but you still want to improve.
- ▸ To spark creativity before planning a new quarter or initiative.
- ▸ To learn what individual team members need, for example after a few new hires.
- ▸ End-of-year or end-of-project retros with a celebratory tone.
⚠️ Avoid it when
- ▸ After a painful sprint or incident: a whimsical theme can feel dismissive. Use Mad Sad Glad.
- ▸ When you need a precise review of what happened and why. Wishes look forward and skip the facts.
- ▸ With a team that strongly dislikes 'games'. Keep the structure but call it 'three wishes' and drop the theme.
How to run a Genie in a Bottle Retrospective step by step
Total time: about 42 minutes for a team of 3–10 people. Adjust the timeboxes to the size of your team and sprint.
- 1
Set the scene · 3 min
Tell the story: you've found a lamp, a genie appears and offers three wishes. The only rule: no wishing for more wishes. A GIF ice breaker fits perfectly here.
- 2
Silent wishing · 7 min
Everyone writes one wish (or more) in each of the three columns. Encourage bold, unrealistic wishes; they will be tamed later.
- 3
Share the wishes · 10 min
Read each column and group similar wishes. Ask authors 'why do you wish for that?' The reason behind a wish is usually the real insight.
- 4
Vote · 3 min
Three votes per person on the wishes that would make the biggest difference if they came true.
- 5
Be your own genie · 15 min
For each top wish ask: what 10% of this could we grant ourselves next sprint? Who needs to be involved? Wishes for others often become great ideas for the backlog.
- 6
Actions · 4 min
Write one to three actions with owners. Personal wishes can become individual commitments or topics for one-to-ones.
Genie in a Bottle questions and prompts for each column
Read a couple of these aloud if the board stays empty after the first minutes of writing.
Wish for the team
- • What would make next sprint feel effortless?
- • Which recurring problem would you make disappear?
- • What would you give the team if budget were no object?
Wish for myself
- • What would help you do your best work?
- • What do you want to learn or get better at?
- • What would you stop doing if you could?
Wish for others
- • What do you wish our users could do tomorrow?
- • What would you give the team that depends on us?
- • What would make our stakeholders' lives easier?
Genie in a Bottle retrospective example
A product team after a solid sprint, getting ready to plan the next quarter. Here is what their board looked like at the end of the writing phase.
Wish for the team
- A week with zero meetings to focus on tech debt
- A designer fully dedicated to our team
- CI that runs in under 5 minutes
Wish for myself
- Time to finish my accessibility course
- Fewer Slack pings during deep work
- To present our work at the all-hands
Wish for others
- Users can export their data without contacting support
- The data team gets clean events from us
- Support gets release notes before customers do
Action items they agreed on
- ☑️ Trial a 'focus Thursday' with no meetings for two sprints (owner: team lead)
- ☑️ Investigate the slowest CI steps and set a target (owner: Omar)
- ☑️ Send release notes to support one day before each release (owner: PM)
Common mistakes and facilitation tips
Stopping at the wish
A fun list of wishes with no follow-up is a nice chat, not a retrospective. Reserve at least a third of the time for 'how do we grant part of it ourselves?'.
Only joke wishes
A few jokes are welcome and break the ice. If every card is a joke, ask people to add one 'serious' wish in each column.
Dismissing big wishes
'A dedicated designer' may not be possible, but the need behind it (faster design feedback) almost always is. Look for the need.
Ignoring personal wishes
They're the most revealing column. If they're sensitive, the facilitator or manager can follow up privately.
Variations and related templates
- Three Wishes: Same idea without the theme: three wishes, no categories.
- Hopes and Concerns retrospective template: A more serious forward-looking format that also captures risks.
- Fun retrospective retrospective template: Other playful, themed formats to keep retros fresh.
- 4Ls retrospective template: Its 'Longed for' column captures wishes inside a full sprint review.
Genie in a Bottle retrospective FAQ
What is a Genie in a Bottle retrospective?
It is a playful retrospective in which each team member makes three wishes: one for the team, one for themselves and one for others such as users or stakeholders. The team then works out which parts of the wishes it can make real.
When is Genie in a Bottle a good retro format?
When retros feel repetitive, after a good sprint with little to fix, or before planning, when you want creative ideas. Avoid it right after a painful incident.
How do you turn wishes into action items?
For each top-voted wish, ask what small part of it the team could grant itself next sprint, and who would own it. Focus on the need behind the wish.
How long does a Genie in a Bottle retrospective take?
Around 40 to 50 minutes: 10 minutes to write, 10 to share, a few to vote and about 15 to turn the top wishes into actions.
Can I run Genie in a Bottle online?
Yes. Click 'Use this template' to open a free Giftro board with the three wish columns. Add GIFs to your wishes and share the link; no account needed.
Run your Genie in a Bottle retro now
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Related retrospective templates
Hopes and Concerns retrospective template
Surface what the team hopes for and worries about before a project, quarter or big change. Perfect for kick-offs.
Fun Retrospective retrospective template
Thematic retros with GIFs, reactions, and icebreakers. Because retros shouldn't feel like work.
4Ls retrospective template
Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for. A balanced retro that captures lessons and what's missing, not just problems.
Sailboat retrospective template
Navigate your sprint with a nautical metaphor. Identify what's pushing you forward, what's slowing you down, risks ahead, and your shared destination.
Rose Bud Thorn retrospective template
Roses (what went well), buds (what's starting to grow) and thorns (what hurt). Gentle, quick and balanced.