✦Career · 11 recordsFirst 90 days in a new job

The first three months decide how the next two years go, and almost all of it is learning rather than doing. This front-loads the learning and asks for exactly one delivered thing, on purpose.

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Goal

Land well in the new role Month 3

Understood the place, delivered something real, known by the people who matter.

Learn how it works Week 4

The first month. Almost entirely questions.

  • Write down what the team is measured onDo firstDay 5
  • Read last quarter's plans and reviewsDay 10
  • List what confuses me, and who could answer itWeek 2

Deliver one visible thing Month 3

One. Not a portfolio — a single finished thing people saw.

  • Agree with my manager what that thing isDo firstWeek 3
  • Ship itMonth 2

Routines

  • Write down what I learned todaydaily
  • Have one conversation with somebody newweekly
✦ It comes with a note

Ninety days

Month one is for questions. Nobody expects output, and the questions get harder to ask the longer you leave them.

Month two and three are for one delivered thing. One is enough — a single finished piece of work people saw is worth more here than three half-done ones.

✦ Questions

First 90 days in a new job, answered.

Three things, weighted heavily toward the first: what you need to understand, the single piece of work you will deliver, and who you need to know. Most plans fail by promising output in month one, when nobody expects it and the questions are still cheap to ask.
Because one finished piece of work that people saw is worth more in a first quarter than three half-done ones. The plan sets a single deliverable, agreed with your manager in week three, so the rest of the time can go on learning without guilt.
Yes, and the learning project matters more than people expect. An internal move changes what you are measured on and who you need, and the usual mistake is assuming you already know both because the building is the same.
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