Start here.
A curated path through the site, depending on where you are. Three stages, five posts each. Read them in order — or jump to the stage that matches your situation.
Take the First-90-Days Quiz.
Six questions. Three minutes. You’ll get a personalized one-page plan for your first thirty days.
Take the quiz →You haven’t started the job yet.
You’ve accepted the offer. Start date is sometime in the next four weeks. Read these before day one.
- 01
Introducing Cubicle to Corner Office
Read this first — because the unspoken rules are the real rules, and almost nobody is going to explain them on day one.
- 02
The First 90 Days OS: your Week 1 boot sequence
The OS-level view — what the first ninety days actually look like, and why day one is already late.
- 03
Week 1 Checklist: how to look competent in your first seven days
Copy this. Print it. It’s the list of boring-but-essential moves that make you look prepared in week one.
- 04
Chart your industry's landscape (so you're not just doing tasks)
Give yourself a weekend. Map the company’s industry so you stop doing tasks and start understanding the board.
You’re in your first 90 days.
You’ve got a badge. You’ve got a Slack login. You’ve also got a vague sense that you’re under-delivering. Read these in order.
- 01
Manager 1:1 agenda (the one that makes you look prepared)
Start here if you have a 1:1 this week. Walking in with an agenda is 80% of looking prepared.
- 02
How to ask questions at work (script and examples)
If you’re worried about looking dumb, this is the script that lets you ask hard questions without sounding junior.
- 03
Status update template: the six-line update that buys you trust
Six lines. Sent weekly. This is the single highest-leverage email a first-year professional can write.
- 04
Should you send an email or a Slack?
The call nobody teaches you. Get the channel wrong and the content barely matters.
- 05
Meeting rules: 7 habits that make you the person people want in the room
Seven habits that make you the person people want in the room. No meeting-skill tax required.
You’re past 90 days and something feels off.
You’re not drowning. You’re just not landing. These are for the murky middle when your boss isn’t explicitly unhappy but you can’t tell if you’re winning.
- 01
The 30/60/90 Plan That Doesn't Make You Look Like a Try-Hard
Reset the plan. A mid-flight 30/60/90 beats most performance reviews.
- 02
SMART goal setting (the version that actually works at work)
If your goals feel fuzzy, they are. This is the un-fuzzy version that actually gets read.
- 03
The secret to good 1:1 meetings (how to make every session count)
Upgrade the 1:1. If it’s a status meeting, you’re doing it wrong.
- 04
What is an executive summary? (and how to write one)
If you have to present up, read this before you write the doc — not after.
- 05
Workplace competition: healthy hustle vs. toxic tug-of-war
If a peer is turning into a rival, this is the read. Healthy hustle vs. toxic tug-of-war.
Read the book.
The blog is a dip-in-when-you-need-it reference. The book is the full 317-page operating system for your first corporate year — templates, scripts, and checklists in one volume you can hand to an intern.