Master Your Next Move: The Essential Companion to The First 90 Days
Michael D. Watkins
Harvard Business Review Press (April 2019)
In business, not every “journey” follows only one course. Here’s a map and compass for eight.
Many of those who did not read The First 90 Days probably did not remain in their position much longer than that. It offers an absolutely essential explanation of the most important dos and don’ts to keep in mind when attempting to get up to speed during the first three months in a new position. More specifically, they failed to respond effectively to eight sets of separate but probably interdependent challenges: accelerate their learning; match strategy to each situation and initiative; negotiate success; achieve alignment; build your team; secure early wins, create alliances, and manage yourself.
At some point, Michael Watkins shifted his attention to other challenges, the unique challenges posed by different types of transitions and how to apply essentially the same principles but within a different context. That is, Watkins examines the unique challenges of promotion, leading former peers, corporate diplomacy, onboarding, international move, turnaround, realignment, and business portfolio.
The two books are best viewed in combination: The First 90 Days provides a framework and tools as well as dos and dont’s to keep in mind that can guide and inform a successful transition; Master Your Next Move suggests which challenges will probably be encountered and how to adjust the framework and tools to accommodate them.
These are among the several dozen passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the scope of Watkins coverage:
o Relationship engineering (Pages 41-51)
o Corporate diplomacy (59-77)
o Alliances (68-69 and 72-73)
o Cultural adaptation (88-93)
o Alignment of expectations (97-104)
o Creating an onboarding system (100-105)
o Challenges of international move (107-127)
o Principles for international move (111-126)
o Business system analysis (133-147)
o Business model (140-144)
o Dynamic adaptations (145-147)
o Changing behaviors (161-163)
o Driving execution (176-183)
o Early success (177-182)
o Transition acceleration systems (189-197)
Credit Watkins with brilliant use of reader-friendly devices, notably an Introduction that really is well-worth reading and then re-reading as well as a “Checklist” section at the conclusion of Chapters 1-7 that will enable those who read the book to crystallize the key lessons and apply them to their and their organization’s needs, interests, concerns, objectives, and resources. This book will be at least 3-5 times as valuable if read in combination with The First 90 Day…and vice versa.
How well an organization completes the transitions it encounters will depend almost entirely on how resilient its people are. As indicated earlier, Michael Watkins focuses on eight of the most frequent transitions and suggests how to respond effectively to the separate but probably interdependent challenges associated with each. In essence, he has identified the WHAT, HOW, and WHY. It remains for each reader to absorb and digest the material to master their next move…and each of the other moves that are certain to follow.