In my experience retrospectives are just lip service. Managers who attend use them as an opportunity to make excuses for the company and focus on what’s wrong with you, the employee, and what you can do better. People eventually realize that the smart thing to do is to stop making yourself an easy target for down-sizing by not speaking up. Then when someone has a complaint about the development process a manager can say, “If you had such a problem with it you should have mentioned it in the retro.”

Employers who want to hear from you will foster an environment that is open to discussion and even polite dissent. When an employer formalizes that mentality and slaps a label on it you can be sure that it’s a managerial con.