Book Review: The First 90 Days, Michael D. Watkins

27 Nov Book Review: The First 90 Days, Michael D. Watkins

I’d like to post my own review of an excellent book I just finished called The First 90 Days.  Written by Michael D. Watkins and first published in 2003 by Harvard Business Review Press, the book was conceived for corporate leaders in transition.  The central premise of the book is pretty straightforward but also brilliant – the first 90 days can make or break you.

To use the author’s own words;

“The president of the United States gets 100 days to prove himself, you get 90.  The actions you take during your first few months in a new role will largely determine whether you succeed or fail.” ~ Michael D. Watkins

If nothing else, the book has been a huge commercial success.  Not long after its release, it went on Business Week’s Bestseller list and stayed there for fifteen months.  In 2009 it was named one of the 100 best business books by 800-CEO-READ.  In 2006, the Economist magazine deemed The First 90 Days as “the onboarding bible.”  Its been translated into 27 different languages.

The author surveyed more than 1,300 senior HR leaders, 90% of which said that transitions into new roles are the most challenging times in the professional lives of leaders.  And nearly ¾ of those surveyed also agreed that “success or failure during the first few months is a strong predictor of overall success or failure in the job.”  So, even though a bad transition does not necessarily doom one to failure, it certainly makes success a lot less likely.

Another big challenge is what the author calls a “hidden transition.”  These can be even more dangerous because leaders do not even know they’re in a transition.  Here are some of the common pitfalls the author says leaders will typically face during transitions:

• Sticking with what you know. You believe you will be successful in your new role by doing the same things you did in your previous role, only more so.  You fail to see that success in the new role requires you to stop doing the things you used to do and start doing something new.

• Falling prey to the “action imperative.” You feel as though you need to take immediate action. You try too hard to put your stamp on the organization.  You are too busy to learn, and you make bad decisions and catalyze resistance to your initiatives.

• Unrealistic expectations. You don’t negotiate your mandate or establish clear, achievable objectives.

• Attempting to do too much. You rush off in all directions, launching multiple initiatives in the hope that something will stick.  People become confused, and no critical mass of resources get focused on key initiatives.

• Engaging in the wrong kind of learning. You spend too much time focused on learning about the technical part of the business and not enough on the cultural and political dimension of your new role.

• Neglecting Horizontal Relationships. You spend too much time focused on vertical relationships – up to the boss and down to direct reports – and not enough on peers and other stakeholders.  You don’t fully understand what it will take to succeed, and you miss early opportunities to build supportive alliances.

For all of these reasons, it is crucial to have a plan when undergoing a serious transition.  Watkins offers us a number of steps (I include only 3 below) to both lessen the likelihood of failure and reach what he calls the “break-even point” much faster.

• Prepare Yourself: Make a conscious break from the old job and prepare to fully embrace the new one.  Sometimes, the biggest pitfall is assuming that what made you successful in the past will continue to do so in the future.  The dangers of sticking to what you know, working extremely hard at it, and failing miserably are very real.

• Accelerate Your Learning: New hires need to climb the learning curve as fast as they can.  They need to be systematic and focused about deciding what to learn and how to learn it most efficiently.

• Secure Early Wins: In the first 90 days, you need to identify ways to create value and improve business results that will help you to get to the break-even point more rapidly.

The First 90 Days was written to help leaders diagnose their situations, define their core challenges, and design action plans to create momentum.  I highly recommend it for anyone starting a new role, a promotion, a horizontal shift or transitioning to a different country or cultural environment.  It can really expand your thinking.  It did mine.