Path
First Ninety Days
A plan for landing somewhere new without losing the surveyor's eye.
Problems
I'm in week one somewhere new.
First week somewhere new
Week one is the only week you can see a place clearly — a new job, city, flat, or team. Most people rush to look competent and lose the surveyor's vantage. The next move is to record the strangeness and write the manual others would otherwise learn by accident.
Time to start
15 minutes
First step
Start the survey
Do this first
Write what you assumed before you arrived on The First Week Survey datum strip.
Choose what to do next
Start here
Tool
Decision Filter
Choose which early commitments to take, defer, or decline.
Printable
The First Week Survey
Record signs, smells, rules, and people while the place is still strange.
Game
Life Principles Arena
Practice choosing when new-place values collide.
Reading shortlist
Best books for this problem
Radical Candor
Helps you ask for and give clear feedback while norms are still forming.
Atomic Habits
Turns a new environment into cues for the identity you want to practice.
Four Thousand Weeks
Keeps week-one urgency from turning into a permanent overcommitment.
One week of action
7-day action sequence
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1
Set the datum
Write what you assumed before you arrived on The First Week Survey datum strip.
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2
Log two observations
Add two dated observations classified as sign, smell, rule, or person.
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3
Draft the manual
Fill Operating Conditions and Inputs on The Personal User Manual.
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4
Name known issues
Write three quirks and one troubleshooting row so people stop guessing.
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5
Ask one clear question
Use Radical Candor energy: ask one person what success looks like in week four.
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6
Filter a yes
Run Decision Filter on one early commitment you feel pressure to accept.
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7
Note to six-months-you
Write the foot note on the survey and schedule a reminder to reread it.
Keep going
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Direction
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Context