Rating: 
Summary: just what I needed
Review: I was on day 6 of a new CEO job and everything was falling apart -- I encountered serious resistance to even minor changes that obviously needed to be made. Reading this book, I realized I had walked into a problem where management saw the company was in need of a turnaround, but the employees had no idea and saw their company as a steady success story. Every bit of this book is gold. From how to approach change implementation based on situation, to managing upwards, to making the mental switch to your new position, it's all been helpful.
Rating:
Summary: His earlier stuff is good too
Review: I work for a leading health care company and went through one of Watkins's transition forum programs here. If really helped me get off to a running start. We also got his negotiation book, Breakthrough Business Negotiation, which also was very helpful. I've since also read his book on influencing government and business strategy, Winning the Influence Game. Definitely helpful if you are dealing with issues of regulation and reimbursement as we are. It's nice to see him getting recognition for the First 90 days, but his earlier stuff is just as good, if negotiation or influence are important to what you do.
Rating: 
Summary: The First 90 Pages -- I can't believe I wasted money on this
Review: If I could give this book no stars, I would. This book is horrible. It contains everything William Zinsser warned us about in his classic book "On Writing Well." As a new manager I was keen to learn the "how's" of doing the job well. On the outside, this book appeared to be what I needed to help me. I should have read further than the first few pages. "A-Item" action lists, imminently notable ways of expediting your acceleration through your transition, persuading your "convincibles" to "acculturate" themselves to the company's mode of operation....? Huh? (I studied English in university, by the way.) I made it to about page 175 before I collapsed from the fatigue induced by my attempts to decipher what it was Watkins was trying to tell me. Buried among the euphemisms, coined jargon, and plain bad writing, I'm sure, are some valuable lessons for new managers. But untangling the language makes this read less enjoyable and more like a chore. Save your time and money. My advice: read Marcinko. He's brash, he's crude, and he writes much better. He's what I needed.
Rating: 
Summary: Good overview of a variety of mgmt topics for starting work
Review: Rather than "the first 90 days", this could also be called "A quick introduction to management theory". People who have done a lot of reading in this area will recognize situation-specific applications of Situational Leadership and a variety of other management techniques. Watkins does a good job of picking just what you need to know to get up and running in the first few months, adapting the info to the situation, and no more.
A couple of things that would've been nice to see were not just pointers in the appendix to a few books on strategy & leadership, but also to expanded coverage of the material he presented as well as how to handle some of the situations that come next (unless he's setting us up for the sequel -- "the next 90 days"?). I'd recommend it to new managers looking to get up to speed quickly, but with the caveat that you shouldn't use this as your only book. Also, I wasn't too fond of his Create Coalitions chapter, as it straddles the fine line between building consensus and politicing behind the scenes and, in my mind, falls a little on the latter. That's not a technique I'd advise lightly, and particularly not in the first 90 days when you haven't yet figured out nuances of the culture you're working in.
Rating:
Summary: Good advice, but needs more systemic treatment
Review: The book is structured on the proposition that the actions of a leader or manager in a new position during their first 90 days largely determines their ultimate success or failure. Further, a manager 'consumes value' in the early days while he or she is getting established, before being able to 'create value'. The shorter this period is, the better for both the company and the individual.
The author bases his case on five core propositions and ten success strategies (these are reflected in the chapter titles. The core propositions are:
1. The root causes of transition failure always lie in a pernicious interaction between the situation, with its opportunities and pitfalls, and the individual, with his or her strengths and vulnerabilities. (Transition failures happen when new leaders either misunderstand the essential demands of the situation or lack the skill and flexibility to adapt to them.)
2. There are systematic methods that leaders can employ to both lessen the likelihood of failure and reach the break-even point faster. (Every situation is unique, but the fundamentals of appropriate strategies are common.)
3. The overriding goal in a transition is to build momentum by creating virtuous cycles that build credibility and by avoiding getting caught in vicious cycles that damage credibility.
4. Transitions are a crucible for leadership development and should be managed accordingly. (Transition acceleration skills should be taught, so that talented people do not drown unnecessarily.)
5. Successful adoption of a standard framework for accelerating transitions can yield big returns for organizations. (A very large number of transitions occur each year in large organizations. The scope for improved productivity and results from better attention to improved transitions is enormous.)
The book develops these propositions by working through the success strategies in detail.
While the advice is valuable and well-structured, it is rather too much of a catalogue focusing on a series of individual strategies to follow, where the situation requires a systemic approach. In consequence, I question whether it is complete. For example, there is little direct discussion of a key issue for leaders in organisations which focus on the short term bottom line: a new entrant at every level very often faces the delayed unintended consequences of a predecessor's actions designed to produce a lift 'this quarter'. These longer term consequences may be deep-seated, potentially devastating - and well hidden. It could be argued that failure to identify and deal with these in time is the major underlying cause of perceived failure of new managers.
Rating:
Summary: just what I needed
Review: There are many original great ideas presented in this book which stand alone on their own merit. But perhaps the biggest idea of the book is for companies to view a job transition as any other business process- and subsequently look to optimize it. There are so many transitions in most companies in any given year, that having a process that makes more transitions successful and the new employees effective sooner should noticeably improve the bottom line. Most importantly, this book makes you think! Also noteworthy in this book is its straightforward organization- the book lays out 10 areas to consider during a transition, then dedicates a chapter to each, and concludes with a brief summary. The book also reads well, and has examples to clarify the 10 areas.
Rating:
Summary: Many great ideas to think about!
Review: There are many original great ideas presented in this book which stand alone on their own merit. But perhaps the biggest idea of the book is for companies to view a job transition as any other business process- and subsequently look to optimize it. There are so many transitions in most companies in any given year, that having a process that makes more transitions successful and the new employees effective sooner should noticeably improve the bottom line. Most importantly, this book makes you think! Also noteworthy in this book is its straightforward organization- the book lays out 10 areas to consider during a transition, then dedicates a chapter to each, and concludes with a brief summary. The book also reads well, and has examples to clarify the 10 areas.
Rating:
Summary: An antidote to sink or swim
Review: This book is not just for managers at the executive level. It's also for you and me. It's for functional managers, project managers, and supervisors. The book targets new leaders at all levels that are making the transition from one rung of the ladder to the next.
If you have just been promoted to a new leadership position (or expect to be soon), then this book is for you.
The book outlines ten strategies that will shorten the time it takes you to reach what Watkins calls the breakeven point: the point at which your organization needs you as much as you need the job. Here they are ... the ten strategies:
1. PROMOTE YOURSELF. Make a mental break from your old job. Prepare to take charge in the new one. Don't assume that what has made you successful so far will continue to do so. The dangers of sticking with what you know, working hard at doing it, and failing miserably are very real.
2. ACCELERATE YOUR LEARNING. Climb the learning curve as fast as you can in your new organization. Understand markets, products, technologies, systems, and structures, as well as its culture and politics. It feels like drinking from a fire hose. So you have to be systematic and focused about deciding what you need to learn.
3. MATCH STRATEGY TO SITUATION. There are no universal rules for success in transitions. You need to diagnose the business situation accurately and clarify its challenges and opportunities. The author identifies four very different situations: launching a start-up, leading a turnaround, devising a realignment, and sustaining a high-performing unit. You need to know what your unique situation looks like before you develop your action plan.
4. SECURE EARLY WINS. Early victories build your credibility and create momentum. They create virtuous cycles that leverage organizational energy. In the first few weeks, you need to identify opportunities to build personal credibility. In the first 90 days, you need to identify ways to create value and improve business results.
5. NEGOTIATE SUCCESS. You need to figure out how to build a productive working relationship with your new boss and manage his or her expectations. No other relationship is more important. This means having a series of critical talks about the situation, expectations, style, resources, and your personal development. Crucially, it means developing and gaining consensus on your 90-day plan.
6. ACHIEVE ALIGNMENT. The higher you rise in an organization, the more you have to play the role of organizational architect. This means figuring out whether the organization's strategy is sound, bringing its structure into alignment with its strategy, and developing the systems and skills bases necessary to realize strategic intent.
7. BUILD YOUR TEAM. If you are inheriting a team, you will need to evaluate its members. Perhaps you need to restructure it to better meet demands of the situation. Your willingness to make tough early personnel calls and your capacity to select the right people for the right positions are among the most important drivers of success during your transition.
8. CREATE COALITIONS. Your success will depend on your ability to influence people outside your direct line of control. Supportive alliances, both internal and external, will be necessary to achieve your goals.
9. KEEP YOUR BALANCE. The risks of losing perspective, getting isolated, and making bad calls are ever present during transitions. The right advice-and-counsel network is an indispensable resource
10. EXPEDITE EVERYONE. Finally, you need to help everyone else - direct reports, bosses, and peers - accelerate their own transitions. The quicker you can get your new direct reports up to speed, the more you will help your own performance.
This book is not only relevant on the individual level. This transition process for new managers happens so often that it should be handled with more professionalism by (big) organizations. Whereas we as managers try to work actively with introduction programmes and training for new employees, then many managers must face their transition challenge alone. It shouldn't be like that. The "sink or swim" approach should be doomed.
Peter Leerskov,
M.Sc. in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business
Rating:
Summary: Axe to grind?
Review: What's with the next review? A 1-star rant from a reviewer whose other reviews are for yoga books? This book has sold over 100K copies in just over a year on the market, was on the BusinessWeek bestseller list for 7 months in 2004, and is one of Harvard Business School Press' best selling books. It opened up a whole new area in leadership thinking and spawned a bunch of imitiators. So what's the story? Someone with a particularly dull axe to grind?
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