I found that, being a special time set aside specifically for team arguments about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, the retrospective tends to pr

I found that, being a special time set aside specifically for team arguments about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, the retrospective tends to produce a much more literal version of self-destruction. I showed up long after they implemented it, so I'm not sure how they got there, but the most well-functioning Scrum team I ever participated in had effectively designated the nominal Scrum Master as a BDFL. The retrospective then became a shorter sort of town hall meeting where everyone aired their opinions, but, since we had a BDFL, we had no need to burn energy on consensus-building. Sadly, things quickly went to hell after she left and the team reverted to a more traditional consensus-oriented approach.