You knew the job was dangerous when you took it. But congratulations! You survived the first 90 days.
No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy, and no onboarding plan survives the first day on the job. Helmuth von Moltke's Franco-Prussian War insight was that strategy is based on success of the tactics. On my return to full-time marketing, my first campaign inevitably would be to learn what I'd gotten myself into.
Whenever I take a new job the reconnaissance seems to get longer. There are many interviews; in one case the first review panel came only after beers with the team. (Fortunately this did not progress to tacos and tequilas.) As my circle of job coaches grows wider, I also get earfuls of advice before and after I accept the offer.
This time I also was armed with The First 90 Days, Michael Watkins' framework for how to hit the ground running. It struck a few chords—some reminders of jobs past, some warnings of jobs pending.
Get the culture right
Whatever future bosses and peers disclose, the new job is always a culture shock. I still see the Chicago Sun-Times copy desk in fever dreams: the gray concrete peeking through linoleum tile, the battered metal desks lining rows of lockers, the green glow of monitors under fluorescent light, the green eyeshade worn by gnomish senior copy editor Charles Swensingen. His own rookie story seemed to fit this aging midcentury setting: He arrived when editors signed manuscripts with a single initial, but the obvious ones were all taken. Years later, copyreaders simply passed yellow slips with computer filenames, yet Chuck still handed his ticket back to the slotman marked "Y."
I was blind to the implication: I was pushing too hard, trying to show my brilliance. The culture valued steady discipline. Since then I've eased into new roles: Learn the system and see if it works. Don't sweat the small stuff. Don't be a hero. Pick your battles.
My coaches channeled Lin-Manuel Miranda's Aaron Burr. Talk less. Smile more. Watkins advises his readers to match The state of the organization might not be what you thought. What seemed like a startup may resist disruption; an established firm might welcome some ready-fire-aim experimentation. Watch and listen for cues, and take
It's everybody's transition
The first goal of the first 90 days is to confirm why you were really hired. Not that there's a hidden agenda; hiring managers don't always articulate their criteria. Your most attractive quality may have been something missing in your predecessor, and you're the only person unaware of the contrast.
Solid ground for the new hire is to do what you've promised. Here's the time to be a hero. For years I'd been contracting with my new bosses as a copywriter. My blogging skills were a given, so I led in interviews with my tech credentials. These skills may have been just a nice-to-have, but my new bosses needed to know what else was in the toolbox. Luckily, they needed the whole inventory.
Watkins' big 90-days takeaway is to "accelerate everyone." Transitions aren't all about you: New co-workers have changes to go through as well, and are looking to you for answers. Project management was a key issue to resolve in this last transition. I had experience with Slack, Trello and other software solutions. The team dynamic showed me which solutions might actually get adopted.
Corporate purpose is having its moment. More organizations are rethinking and articulating their values. We all want to do good in the world. How do our jobs contribute? That should take the new hire a short time to answer but a long time to discover. The values we bring to work get us through the first 90 days and beyond.
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