executive-onboarding-playbook

What it does

Plans a VP or CPO 30-60-90 day diagnostic onboarding path, structured as a three-phase process (Diagnose in Month 1, Validate in Month 2, Act with Evidence in Month 3). It emphasizes observing before diagnosing, asking questions before making declarations, surfacing unwritten strategy, and building a body of evidence from diagnostic conversations to guide decisions in Month 3. The playbook outlines concrete steps for Phase 1 interviews, Phase 2 reality checks, and Phase 3 sharing findings, implementing context maps, and starting executive alignment.

How it works

• It guides the user to treat the role as an external consultant assessing the organization before making changes. It prescribes interviewing direct reports and cross-functional peers, taking detailed notes, letting information come to you, and resisting action in Month 1.
• It instructs mapping unwritten strategy by asking targeted questions and surfacing hidden priorities and constraints.
• It defines Phase 2 steps: reality-checks with the boss, mapping unwritten strategy, completing a people assessment, and identifying 3-5 high-leverage changes.
• It defines Phase 3 steps: sharing the organizational assessment with key stakeholders, running a Cascading Context Map, continuing people conversations, and building executive alliance via regular alignment with CRO, CFO, and CMO. It references related techniques in other SKILLs for the context map and alliance.

When to use it

Use when entering a new executive product role (VP or CPO) to avoid premature change. It is framed for the first 90 days with the goal of diagnostics and evidence-based decisions rather than quick execution.

What it can touch

This skill directs the user to conduct interviews, take notes, map unwritten strategy, perform reality checks with a manager, and communicate findings. It mentions creating documents like a detailed notebook and delivering an interpreted organizational assessment, but does not specify external tools beyond referencing related SKILLs for context mapping and alliance building.

Caveats

The material emphasizes that skipping phases guarantees reversals and that one should not act on incomplete understanding. It positions the Month 1 learning phase as essential and cautions against making broad transformations before evidence. License information is NOASSERTION.