Book · 2003
The First 90 Days
by Michael D. Watkins
You start a new job Monday with a boss expecting results by day thirty, and this book is the plan for those three months.
What does Reddit think of The First 90 Days?
Seventeen recognized references is a small sample, but the ones displayed agree with unusual consistency for r/ExperiencedDevs, a subreddit that argues about everything. Three separate excerpts recommend it by name for new-job or new-manager transitions, and none push back. The ↑68 excerpt frames it as tactical: take notes on every conversation early, because that's the foundation the rest of the advice builds on. The ↑60 comment adds a specific value beyond content — the book is apparently well-known enough among 'professionalized managers/execs' that citing it signals you've done the reading. One outlier context: r/Entrepreneur's single mention (↑38) recommends it for training new hires generally, a different use case than the career-transition angle the dev subreddits favor. Nobody in the sample treats it as outdated advice, corporate-speak filler, or a rehash of something better.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · A default recommendation for new managers and new hires transitioning jobs
- · Cited as credibility currency among 'professionalized managers/execs'
- · Take-notes-on-everything as the one tactic that keeps getting repeated
- · Recommended across dev and non-dev subreddits alike, for slightly different reasons
Common praise
- + The ↑68 excerpt boils the whole book down to one habit: take notes on every conversation from day one.
- + A ↑60 commenter says it helped them 'read the room' in a new job, a specific and unusual thing to credit a business book with.
- + r/Entrepreneur's single mention (↑38) says the concepts show up in training programs at multiple top-tier companies.
Common criticism
- − The corpus here is thin: 17 recognized references total, mostly recommendation threads rather than after-the-fact reviews.
- − Every displayed excerpt is a suggestion to read it, not a report back on whether it delivered; the sample doesn't show anyone weighing in after finishing it.
Who it's for
Grab this the week you accept a new role, not after you've already stumbled through month one; the ↑68 excerpt's whole pitch is about front-loading the notes and impressions you'll need later. Moving into a manager or leadership seat specifically? r/ExperiencedDevs' repeat citations lean that direction, though one commenter (↑25) says the individual-contributor takeaways held up too. Building credibility with senior execs matters to you? The ↑60 mention that this book is well-known among 'professionalized managers/execs' suggests citing it signals you've prepared. Onboarding a new hire instead of starting a job yourself is a slightly different use case — r/Entrepreneur's mention (↑38) is about training programs, not personal transitions.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for The First 90 Days?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“1. Read The first 90 days 2. Find the other staff engineers and watch what they do. 3. Lots of 1:1 meetings with people at all levels to figure out wtf is going on.
“Humility. I think there's a book called the first 90 days that is good. Basically, just don't do anything big listen for awhile. Build trust. Then, build a track record. The first change you should introduce should be the most popular thing that will have the …
“Would definitely recommend giving The First 90 Days a read, but if you read nothing else in this post remember this: Take notes about everything and every conversation you have early, and what your impressions are. This founda…
“Not the commenter suggesting "The First 90 Days", but +1ing it. The book helped me understand how to read the room in a new job. It's also fairly well-known by professionalized managers/execs, so it's something that can be referenced as well.
“Checkout the book The First 90 Days if you are looking for more structure to your approach.
“Congratulations! Such a good question. Here are some things that immediately come to mind: * Get to know your manager. Ask about their preferred communication styles (e.g., do they prefer email, face-to-face chats, Slack, etc.). How often would they like updates about your work? * After you settle …
“I'm the director of a research and data science department and I'm certainly not the strongest on the team in terms of technical skills (and quite possibly … continue to work. But do so with quiet introspection. There will be a time to share your thoughts with your manager, but for the time being ju…
“I would also recommend a book for you. This one is great and I’ve been at several top tier companies that have trainings built on some of the concepts. First 90 Days
“There’s a pretty good book called The First 90 Days. Add it to your reading list. The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, Updated and Expanded
“The First 90 Days, can’t recommend the book enough. It’s mostly geared towards leadership adjustment, but I’ve taken away great things being just a dev.
“I read through The First 90 Days. It has a lot of really good advice about who to set meetings up with, how to learn who knows what info, etc.
“I’d recommend a book called The First 90 Days (even if you’ve already started the job), it really helped me focus on what kinds of things I could achieve in the first few months, and evaluate the most important things to do…with advice for different sizes of teams and what ‘stage’ a business was in.…
“totally agreed... take a look at "The First 90 Days" for how to approach this when entering new roles:)
“I do a 30-60-90 day plan with all new hires so the expectations are clear. There's also a pretty good book about this. In general what I include in these plans: ## First 3 days * Setup various software accounts and HR sy…
“The First 90 Days, by Watkins. Simple and powerful frameworks for navigating business and business relationships. Really helps devs put their work in context.
Convinced? Pick up The First 90 Days
What else does r/ExperiencedDevs read?
Other books mentioned in the same sub, ranked. Shared-sub overlap with this title breaks ties.
The First 90 Days — frequently asked
Is The First 90 Days worth reading before starting a new job?+
Yes, per every displayed excerpt recommending it. The ↑68 comment reduces its core advice to one habit: take notes on every conversation early, since that becomes the foundation for the rest of the transition. No excerpt in the sample argues against reading it before day one specifically.
Is The First 90 Days only useful for managers?+
No. A ↑25 r/ExperiencedDevs commenter says it's mostly geared toward leadership adjustment but that they still took away real value as an individual contributor. The displayed sample skews toward management use cases, but that one excerpt argues the book travels beyond that audience.
What's the one thing to remember from The First 90 Days?+
Per the top-voted excerpt (↑68): take notes about every conversation early on, including your own impressions, because that record becomes the foundation for the rest of the transition. That's the single piece of advice the sample singles out above everything else in the book.
Is The First 90 Days well known outside of tech?+
The sample suggests yes. A ↑60 r/ExperiencedDevs commenter calls it well-known among 'professionalized managers/execs' specifically, and r/Entrepreneur's own mention (↑38) says its concepts show up in training programs at multiple top-tier companies. That's outside-tech visibility, at least in these two data points.