Rose Bud Thorn Retrospective Template
Also known as: Rose, Bud, Thorn · Rose Thorn Bud · Roses, Buds and Thorns
Celebrate the roses, pull out the thorns and water the buds before they're forgotten.
- ⏱ 30–45 min
- 👥 3–15 people
- 🧩 3 columns
- Free · no sign-up
Rose
What went well?
Highlights and successes: what went well and is worth celebrating.
Bud
What is starting to grow?
Opportunities and ideas that are just starting to grow and need attention.
Thorn
What hurt?
Pain points, problems and challenges that hurt the team.
What is the Rose Bud Thorn Retrospective?
Rose, Bud, Thorn is a three-part reflection: roses are the highlights, thorns are the pain points, and buds are the opportunities that are just starting to bloom. It is a gentle, balanced format that fits a sprint retrospective, a project review or a quick team check-in.
The exercise is popular in human-centred design, where it appears in the LUMA Institute's toolkit as a way to sort observations into positive, negative and potential. It is also a familiar check-in at summer camps and in classrooms, which says a lot about how easy it is to explain.
What makes it different from a plain 'good / bad' retro is the bud. It invites the team to notice what is starting to work, or could, before it is a proven success. Buds are often the best source of action items, because they already have energy behind them.
When to use Rose Bud Thorn (and when not to)
✅ Use it when
- ▸ Regular sprint retros when you want something quick and positive.
- ▸ With new or mixed teams: everyone understands the metaphor straight away.
- ▸ As a light team health check between heavier formats.
- ▸ To review a pilot, an experiment or a new process.
- ▸ In large groups, since the three columns are easy to read and group.
⚠️ Avoid it when
- ▸ After a crisis, when people need room for frustration and the gentle tone might feel dismissive (Mad Sad Glad).
- ▸ When you need a forward-looking risk review (Sailboat or Speed Car with Abyss).
- ▸ When the team wants concrete behaviour changes rather than reflection (Start Stop Continue).
How to run a Rose Bud Thorn Retrospective step by step
Total time: about 38 minutes for a team of 3–15 people. Adjust the timeboxes to the size of your team and sprint.
- 1
Introduce the garden · 2 min
Explain roses, buds and thorns with one example each. Make clear that a bud is something with potential, not a vague wish.
- 2
Silent writing · 7 min
Everyone writes in all three columns, at least one card each.
- 3
Roses · 5 min
Read the roses and celebrate them. Ask which ones the team should make a habit.
- 4
Thorns · 8 min
Read the thorns and group them. Ask whether each thorn is a one-off or a pattern.
- 5
Buds · 6 min
Read the buds last, so the meeting ends on possibilities. Link buds to thorns they could fix.
- 6
Vote and act · 10 min
Three votes each on thorns to remove or buds to grow. Agree on two or three actions with owners.
Rose Bud Thorn questions and prompts for each column
Read a couple of these aloud if the board stays empty after the first minutes of writing.
Rose
- • What was the best moment of the sprint?
- • What are you proud of?
- • What made your work easier?
Bud
- • What new idea deserves more time?
- • What small improvement could become something big?
- • What are you looking forward to?
Thorn
- • What frustrated you or slowed you down?
- • What problem keeps coming back?
- • What would you remove if you could?
Rose Bud Thorn retrospective example
A customer support tooling team after a sprint in which they launched a new ticket view. Here is what their board looked like at the end of the writing phase.
Rose
- Support agents loved the new ticket view
- Zero hotfixes after release
- Great collaboration with the support lead
Bud
- Agents suggested keyboard shortcuts
- Our first usability test went well, let's do more
- A shared glossary with support
Thorn
- Flaky end-to-end tests blocked merges twice
- Unclear who approves UI copy
- Late feedback from legal
Action items they agreed on
- ☑️ Quarantine flaky tests and fix the top 3 (owner: Ben)
- ☑️ Run a usability test every sprint with two agents (owner: Ines)
- ☑️ Agree who approves UI copy and add it to the definition of ready (owner: PO)
Common mistakes and facilitation tips
Buds become a wish list
A bud should already exist in some form. 'A new office' is a wish; 'agents started suggesting shortcuts' is a bud.
Thorns about people
Keep thorns about situations and processes. Rephrase any card that singles out a person.
All roses, no action
A pleasant retro that changes nothing is a missed chance. Always leave with at least one action.
Using it every sprint
Rotate with other formats so cards don't become routine.
Variations and related templates
- Rose, Thorn, Bud: Same columns, ending on buds for a forward-looking close.
- Mad Sad Glad retrospective template: More emotional and better for difficult sprints.
- I Like, I Wish, What If retrospective template: Another design-thinking feedback format focused on ideas.
- Joy, Fear, Excitement retrospective template: Balances looking back and looking forward.
Rose Bud Thorn retrospective FAQ
What is a Rose Bud Thorn retrospective?
It is a three-column retrospective: roses are what went well, buds are opportunities that are starting to grow, and thorns are pain points.
What is a bud in Rose Bud Thorn?
A bud is something with potential: a new idea, an early improvement or an opportunity that needs attention to grow.
Where does Rose Bud Thorn come from?
It is a widely used reflection exercise in human-centred design, featured in the LUMA Institute's toolkit, and also common as a check-in in schools and camps.
How long does a Rose Bud Thorn retro take?
About 30 to 45 minutes. It is one of the quickest formats to explain and run.
Can I run a Rose Bud Thorn retrospective online for free?
Yes. Click 'Use this template' to open a Giftro board with Rose, Bud and Thorn columns. Share the link; nobody needs an account.
Run your Rose Bud Thorn retro now
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Related retrospective templates
I Like, I Wish, What If retrospective template
A constructive feedback format from design thinking: what you like, what you wish were different and what if we tried…
Mad Sad Glad retrospective template
Emotion-first retro: what made the team mad, sad and glad. Ideal after a stressful sprint or to check team morale.
Joy Fear Excitement retrospective template
An emotional check-in that looks back and forward: what brought joy, what the team fears and what excites it.
4Ls retrospective template
Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for. A balanced retro that captures lessons and what's missing, not just problems.
Start Stop Continue retrospective template
The classic three-column retro: what to start doing, stop doing and keep doing. Fast, clear, action-oriented.