Columns in this template
- 😡 Mad
- 😢 Sad
- 😄 Glad
On this page (10 sections)
The Mad Sad Glad retrospective asks each person how the sprint made them feel: what made you mad, what made you sad, and what made you glad? Most retro formats ask what happened. This one asks how it felt, which surfaces frustration, disappointment and morale that fact-based formats skip. It's the format to reach for after a hard sprint or a big change.
The three columns
| Column | What goes here | Example note |
|---|---|---|
| 😡 Mad | Frustration: things that shouldn't have happened, or keep happening | "Our deploy was blocked by the shared pipeline for the third sprint in a row." |
| 😢 Sad | Disappointment or loss: things that didn't go the way we hoped | "The reporting feature we spent a week on was cut the day before the demo." |
| 😄 Glad | Things that made you happy, proud or relieved | "Support told us the new search fixed their most common complaint." |
Mad vs Sad. Mad is energy: something is wrong and people want it fixed. Sad is loss: something didn't happen, or good work went unnoticed. Mad items usually lead to process changes. Sad items often just need to be acknowledged out loud, and that's an outcome too.
The format appears as a data-gathering activity in Esther Derby and Diana Larsen's Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great (2006), the standard book on running retros.
When to use it (and when not to)
Use it when:
- the sprint was hard and people are carrying frustration
- the team has just been through a change: a reorg, a new process, new people
- you sense tension that nobody is naming
- every few sprints, as a morale check between more analytical formats
Pick something else when:
- two people are in an open conflict. Mad Sad Glad can turn into a public argument. Deal with it one-to-one first, or bring in a facilitator from outside the team.
- trust is low and people can't post without their names. Feelings won't come out honestly, so fix the safety first.
- you need hard data or a root-cause analysis. Use What Went Well or run an incident review.
- you're tempted to run it every sprint. Feelings fatigue is real; alternate it with 4Ls or Sailboat.
How to run it live (45 minutes)
| Time | Step |
|---|---|
| 0–5 min | Set the stage: read the Prime Directive, review last retro's actions |
| 5–13 min | Silent writing in all three columns |
| 13–18 min | Read Glad out loud |
| 18–35 min | Discuss Mad and Sad themes |
| 35–42 min | Pick one or two themes to act on |
| 42–45 min | Close: one Glad each, out loud |
- Set the stage. Read Norm Kerth's Retrospective Prime Directive aloud. In short: whatever we find, we believe everyone did the best job they could with what they knew, their skills, the resources they had and the situation at the time. Then check last retro's actions in the Previous Retro tab.
- Write silently. Set the shared timer for eight minutes. Encourage people to turn off Show Name if they'd rather not have their name on a note.
- Glad first. Read every Glad note out loud. It warms the room and reminds the team what's going right.
- Mad and Sad, by theme. Drag related notes into groups and discuss the biggest ones. Ask "what happened?" and "what was hard about it?" before anyone asks "how do we fix it?". Don't solve every note.
- Choose what to act on. Vote on the Mad and Sad groups and pick one or two. Some Sad items need no action beyond being heard; say so.
- Close on a high. Each person says one Glad thing out loud, even if it's small.
How to run it async over a sprint
Feelings are most honest when you write them down at the time. "I'm frustrated" on Tuesday becomes "it was fine, I guess" two weeks later.
- Day 1: open the board as soon as the last retro ends. In Retro Rabbit, clicking Start New Retro opens the next board straight away.
- During the sprint: when something frustrates, disappoints or delights you, add a note that day. Use the board, Quick Notes on the Team Room page, or
/retro your noteif you've connected Slack. Turn off Show Name to post without your name shown. - Mid-sprint: if the board is all Mad, add a Glad note yourself. If it's empty, that's a signal too: ask the team in standup whether they feel safe writing here.
- Two days before the end: everyone votes on the notes they most want to talk about.
- The day before: the facilitator groups notes into themes and reads the CarrotIQ summary of each column.
- Retro day: keep a live call for this format if you can. Talking about feelings works better face to face than in a thread. A 25-minute call focused on the top two themes is enough when notes are already in.
More in how to run an async retrospective.
12 example prompts
Mad
- What happened this sprint that shouldn't have?
- What did you have to fight for that should have been easy?
- What keeps coming back, sprint after sprint?
- When did you feel your time was wasted?
Sad 5. What did you hope would happen that didn't? 6. What work do you feel went unnoticed? 7. What did we give up to hit the deadline? 8. Who did you miss working with this sprint?
Glad 9. What are you proud of? 10. Who made your sprint better, and how? 11. What was easier than you expected? 12. What made you laugh this sprint?
For more, see 60 sprint retrospective questions.
Facilitator tip and a common pitfall
Tip: ask about situations, not people. Before the meeting, ask everyone to write about what happened, not who did it. "Requirements changed after we'd started" opens a conversation. "Sam changed the requirements" closes one. If a note names a person, ask the author privately whether they'd like to reword it.
Pitfall: rushing to solutions. The moment someone shares a Mad note, someone else proposes a fix. The person who wrote it feels unheard, and the fix is usually wrong because nobody understood the problem. Hold solutions until step 5. "Tell me more" is the most useful thing a facilitator can say in this format.
How AI helps with this format
On Pro AI (and during the free trial), CarrotIQ does the summarizing so the facilitator can listen:
- Group names. Drag "pipeline blocked again" onto "waited two days for a deploy slot" and CarrotIQ names the group, for example "Deployment Pipeline Delays". Naming themes neutrally helps keep the conversation about situations, not people.
- Summaries. The Sprint Summary condenses each column into a couple of sentences, plus an overall summary. Comparing it across a few sprints shows whether the Mad column is getting shorter.
- Suggested action items. CarrotIQ Suggest drafts an action from the notes, weighting the most-voted ones and avoiding duplicates. It's a draft for the team to edit, not a decision.
Example action items
Feelings don't become tasks directly. Pick the theme, then find the smallest change the team controls.
| Theme | Action item |
|---|---|
| Mad: "Shared pipeline blocks our deploys" | "Elena brings three blocked-deploy examples to the platform team's office hours on Tuesday and asks for a dedicated deploy slot." |
| Sad: "Feature cut the day before the demo" | "Our product manager, Aisha, shares the reasons for the cut at Thursday's standup, and from next sprint scope changes after day 5 get flagged in the team channel." |
| Sad: "Work went unnoticed" | "Jun adds a 'shout-outs' slot to the sprint review agenda, starting this sprint." |
| Glad: "Pairing with support on search" | "Keep a weekly 30-minute call with support. Priya books it for the next four weeks." |
At the next retro, these appear in the Previous Retro tab, and anything older that's still open is under Old / Unresolved Items. More in retrospective action items that actually get done.
Use this template in Retro Rabbit
- Start a 14-day free trial. No card is needed.
- Name your team and choose Mad / Sad / Glad as your retro format.
- Tell the team they can post without their names, and that notes are welcome any day of the sprint.
You can switch the Team Room back to your usual format after this retro in Settings. See pricing for plans.
Related formats
- 4Ls: reflective, but calmer
- What Went Well: back to facts after a feelings retro
- Start Stop Continue: turn the themes into behavior changes
- Retrospective icebreakers for remote teams
- The complete guide to sprint retrospectives
- All retrospective templates
Frequently asked questions
What is a Mad Sad Glad retrospective?
A retrospective where team members sort their experiences of the sprint by how they felt: what made them mad, what made them sad, and what made them glad. It surfaces morale and frustration that fact-based formats miss, and it appears as a data-gathering activity in Esther Derby and Diana Larsen's Agile Retrospectives (2006).
What's the difference between Mad and Sad?
Mad is frustration at something that shouldn't have happened or keeps happening, such as a deploy blocked for the third time. Sad is disappointment or loss, such as a feature cut at the last minute or work nobody noticed. Mad usually points to a process to fix; Sad often points to something to acknowledge.
When should you use Mad Sad Glad?
After a hard sprint, after a big change such as a reorg or a new process, when you sense tension nobody is naming, or every few sprints as a morale check. It's less useful when you need a root-cause analysis or a detailed plan.
How do you make a Mad Sad Glad retrospective feel safe?
Let people post without their names, write notes about situations rather than people, start by reading the Retrospective Prime Directive, and make it clear that nobody has to explain a feeling. A facilitator from outside the team helps when trust is low.
How long does a Mad Sad Glad retrospective take?
Plan for 45 minutes for a team of five to nine. The discussion often runs longer than in other formats, so keep the action part short: one or two items is enough.
Is it Mad Sad Glad or Glad Sad Mad?
Both names are used for the same format. Some teams start with Glad to warm up and end with Mad; others start with Mad so frustration is out of the way. The order of discussion matters more than the name.
Run this retro in Retro Rabbit
Your team adds notes during the sprint, CarrotIQ groups and summarizes them and suggests action items, and unfinished items carry into the next retro.
14-day free trial · No credit card