The First 90 Days – Book Highlights

Michael D. Watkins – Harvard Business Review Press

 

“Transitions into new roles [work responsibilities] are the most challenging times in the professional lives of leaders.” Whether you have new employees or promotions at your business, new roles, new responsibilities, and new opportunities are a transition. Making that transition successful is the purpose of The First 90 Days. Nearly 75% of more than 1,300 HR leaders surveyed agreed that the “success or failure during the first few months [90 days] is a strong predictor of overall success or failure in the job”.

The goal in every transition is to reach the break-even point as quickly as possible. That’s simply contributing as much value to your organization as you have consumed. You want to cross the gap from net consumer of value, to creating value.

What can we learn from book?

One key transition trap is unrealistic expectations. If you don’t understand the expectation of the role, or set expectations that are unrealistic, you can think you’re doing well, yet fail to meet those expectations. Negotiate and clearly understand these expectations, make certain there’re realistic. Failing to achieve the break-even point, and failing to meet expectations can derail the best intentions. Here’s the other side of the story. If your employees can easily achieve break-even and exceed expectations, your transition is likely to be successful. The book outlines the importance of planning your transition and setting goals to do the right things.

Here’s are 10 steps the book advises those involved in a transition to follow in order to achieve rapid momentum in a transition, reaching the break-even point quickly and exceeding expectations. 1. Prepare yourself – think the transition through, visualize the successful transition. 2. Accelerate your learning – learn everything you can about the business: markets, products, technologies, systems, structures, culture, and yes politics. 3. Match your strategy to situation – ask yourself why you are in this role, and what your responsibility is? 4. Secure early wins – identify opportunities to build early wins. Wins that are important to the situation, and your position. 5. Negotiate success – have the critical conversations with your boss on expectations, work style, resources, and personal development. 6. Achieve alignment – bring architectural developing and strategic intent to help build organizational achievements. 7. Build your team. 8. Create coalitions – you will need others to achieve success. 9. Keep your balance – you will need solid equilibrium in your new role 10. Accelerate everyone – everyone will be in transition because of your new role. You need to make not only your transition successful, but bosses and peers too.

The book provides insights in subsequent chapters on these 10 steps to achieve rapid momentum, and provides guidance on preparing, planning, and implementing a successful transition. Understanding how to achieve a success in any transition will provide capital in the form of future business resources [value oriented and expectation-centered employees], and when properly strategized, increased value in your business. If you have employees who want a promotion, or who you would like to promote, these 10 steps will guide them with the knowledge towards success in that transition.

Summary: The goal in every transition is to reach the break-even point as quickly as possible. That’s simply contributing as much value to your organization as you have consumed. You want to cross the gap from net consumer of value, to creating value. Failing to achieve the break-even point, and failing to meet expectations can derail any transition. Make sure your  employees in transition follow the 10 steps to achieve rapid momentum that will benefit your business. Have them read the book.