30-60-90 Day Plan

Structure your first 90 days around listening, aligning, then executing

Deb Liu
Succeeding as an introvert, building zero-to-one, and PM'ing your career like a product | Deb Liu

30-60-90 Day Plan

"It's focused on listening and learning first and then doing... In those 90 days it's like you got to get used to the environment. You want to have some impact at the start. You want to have a couple quick wins, but you want to understand the lay of the land." - Deb Liu

What It Is

The 30-60-90 Day Plan is a structured approach to onboarding at a new company or role. It divides the first three months into three distinct phases: listening (days 1-30), aligning (days 31-60), and executing (days 61-90).

The framework addresses a common mistake: new hires either move too fast (making decisions without understanding context) or too slow (never earning the right to have impact). The 30-60-90 plan creates intentional space for learning while still building toward contribution.

Deb Liu developed this framework when joining Ancestry as CEO after 11 years at Facebook. She documented her process in real-time, including the mistakes she made along the way.

How It Works

Days 1-30: Listening Focus

Goal: Understand the organization, build relationships, identify patterns

  • Conduct a listening tour (Deb spoke with 60+ people in 30 days)
  • Take extensive notes during every conversation
  • Ask: "What's one thing I can do to help you this week?"
  • Summarize findings in a "state of the union" document
  • Get a few quick wins to demonstrate value

Key Question: "What do people feel are the biggest challenges?"

Days 31-60: Aligning on Vision

Goal: Build consensus on direction, validate your understanding

  • Share back what you heard to show you're listening
  • Propose a view of the problems worth solving
  • Get buy-in from stakeholders on priorities
  • Identify where there's agreement and disagreement

Key Question: "Do we agree this is the set of problems we want to tackle?"

Days 61-90: Executing

Goal: Start having meaningful impact, implement early priorities

  • Begin execution on aligned priorities
  • Build on relationships formed in earlier phases
  • Establish your working patterns and expectations

Key Question: "Do we agree this is how we want to move forward?"

How to Apply It

  1. Share the plan with your manager - Get alignment on expectations before starting; negotiate for listening time if there's pressure to ship immediately

  2. Schedule the listening tour early - Block calendar time in the first week for conversations; people give new hires grace for about a month

  3. Ask one specific question - "What is one thing I can do to help you this week?" creates reciprocity and manageable commitments

  4. Create a summary document - Write up themes, challenges, and wish lists you heard; send this to the organization

  5. Follow through visibly - Deb tracked one person's five-item wish list and notified him when all five were complete years later

  6. Diagnose before you treat - The "new person card" expires after 60-90 days; if you don't understand the problems by then, you'll make costly mistakes

When to Use It

  • Starting a new job at any level
  • Moving to a new team within your company
  • Taking on a new scope or responsibility
  • After a reorg when you have new stakeholders
  • When coaching others through transitions

Source

  • Guest: Deb Liu
  • Episode: "Succeeding as an introvert, building zero-to-one, and PM'ing your career like a product | Deb Liu"
  • Key Discussion: (00:50:37-00:55:04) - The 30-60-90 day plan framework
  • YouTube: Watch on YouTube

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