retro-synthesis processes retrospective notes — one or many — and produces a pattern analysis rather than a summary. Each recurring pattern is named, mapped to the sprints where it appeared, and classified as improving, stable, or getting worse. Action items are tracked across retros: resolved items are acknowledged; items that appear in multiple sprints without resolution are flagged with a count. With a single retro, the skill surfaces themes. With four or more, it surfaces systemic problems.
Individual retros produce action items that get written down and forgotten. retro-synthesis with multiple retros produces patterns — which are different in kind. A problem that appeared in three sprints isn't something to action-item; it's something to understand as a structural failure. The skill forces that distinction, and the follow-through tracker makes it impossible to pretend that repeated inaction is just an oversight.
Day 15 closes the strategy week because strategy is only as good as the process that executes it. The PM spent a week prioritizing, deciding, and aligning. Today they look back at what their team's process is actually producing and what it keeps failing to fix.