Something to readWorking with your manager
The First 90 Days
A playbook for the first three months in a new role, written for new leaders
Why it’s worth your time
The first weeks in a new role tend to be when you know least and are watched most. Michael Watkins treats getting through them as something you can plan, which can be a relief if you're starting soon and feel like you're winging it. It was written for people stepping into leadership, and plenty of it can carry over to anyone starting a new job.
What to do in your first 90 days in a new job
The book · About 5 hours of reading · Buy or borrow
How to get it
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- Skim the checklists, then read what fits.
In the original 2003 edition, each section closes with a short checklist. Skim those first, then read the sections that match what you're walking into.
- Book a day-90 conversation with your manager.
In your first two weeks, ask your manager for 30 minutes. Ask what success looks like by day 90, what you should leave alone for now, and who you should get to know first. Afterwards, send the answers back in two lines.
You“Could we find 30 minutes this week? I'd like to make sure I'm aiming at the right things early. I'd love your view on three things: what success looks like by the end of my first 90 days, anything I should leave alone for now, and who I should get to know first.”
Good moments for this: the week before you start a new jobafter a promotionwhen you get a new manager
Keep going with Truest
Small actions add up. Truest helps you find the next thing worth doing, make the space to do it, and keep a record of your progress. It’s a private place to work on your career, and it’s yours, not your employer’s.
- It actually happensWe’ll put it on your calendar and remind you before it starts.
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Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
Read your team as the people you depend on, and early wins as small things your manager or peers will notice, like a fixed process or a cleared backlog.
What might make this harder
Send the three questions in writing and ask for short answers. A brief written reply is still something you can both point to later.
Questions people ask
What is The First 90 Days about?
Getting up to speed in a new role. In the original 2003 edition, Watkins organized the book around ten key actions for a new job.
Is The First 90 Days only for executives?
No. Its original subtitle aims it at new leaders at all levels, whether they're joining a new organization or moving within their current one.
Is there a newer edition of The First 90 Days?
Yes. The original came out in 2003; Watkins's IMD page now gives it a newer subtitle, about getting up to speed faster and smarter. The details given here come from the 2003 original, so a newer copy may name and order things differently.
What it says, and how it holds up
Starting a new job tends to come with a strange mix of goodwill and scrutiny: people are glad you're there, and they're watching what you do. Watkins, who was teaching at Harvard Business School when the book first appeared, drew on studying career transitions to argue that you can get through this stretch on purpose.
Jason Baumgarten, reviewing the original 2003 edition in Stanford Social Innovation Review, found it readable and full of helpful recommendations, but thin on links to the research behind them, so it's often hard to tell where a piece of advice comes from. Publishers Weekly reviewed it as well. Whatever edition you pick up, the move most worth carrying into a new job is agreeing early with your manager what the first months are for, because it ties your early choices to what the people above you are trying to achieve.
Sometimes the role you stepped into isn't the one you were promised. If the scope, the boss or the budget turns out different from what you were told, a plan to get up to speed is chasing a moving target, and the first task becomes agreeing what the job now is.
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Picked by Truest and described in our own words. The original belongs to its creator. Last updated October 9, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.