Creating a Learning Plan

Your learning agenda defines what you want to learn. Your learning plan defines how you will go about learning it. It translates learning goals into specific sets of actions ”identifying promising sources of insight and using systematic methods ”that accelerate your learning. Your learning plan is a critical part of your overall 90-day plan. In fact, as we will discuss later, learning should be a primary focus of your plan for your first 30 days on the job.

The heart of your learning plan is a cyclical learning process in which you collect information, analyze and distill it, develop hypotheses, and test them, thus progressively deepening your understanding of your new organization. Obviously, the specific insights you decide to pursue will vary from situation to situation. You can begin by looking critically at the learning plan template

in the accompanying box and deciding which elements make sense for you, which do not, and what is missing. In the next chapter, we will explore different types of transition situations and return to the subject of what you need to learn and when.

Learning Plan Template

Before Entry

• Read whatever you can find about the organization s strategy, structure, performance, and people.

• Look for external assessments of the performance of the organization. You will learn how knowledgeable, fairly unbiased people view the organization. If you are a manager at a lower level, talk to people who deal with your new group as suppliers or customers.

• Find external observers who know the organization well, including former employees , recent retirees, and people who have transacted business with the organization. Ask these people open -ended questions about the organization s history, politics, and culture. Talk with your predecessor if possible.

• Talk to your new boss.

• As you begin to learn about the organization, write down your first impressions and eventually some hypotheses.

• Compile an initial set of questions to guide your structured inquiry once you arrive .

Soon After Entry

• Review detailed operating plans, performance data, and personnel data.

• Meet one-on-one with your direct reports and ask them the questions you compiled. You will learn about convergent and divergent views, and about them as people.

• Assess how things are going at key interfaces from the inside. You will hear how salespeople, purchasing agents , customer service representatives, and others perceive your organization s dealings with external constituencies. You will also learn about problems they see that others do not.

• Test strategic alignment from the top down. Ask people at the top what the company s vision and strategy are. Then see how far down into the organizational hierarchy those beliefs penetrate . You will learn how well the previous leader drove vision and strategy down through the organization.

• Test awareness of challenges and opportunities from the bottom up. Start by asking frontline people how they view the company s challenges and opportunities. Then work your way up. You will learn how well the people at the top check the pulse of the organization.

• Update your questions and hypotheses.

• Meet with your boss to discuss your hypotheses and findings.

By the End of the First Month

• Gather your team to feed back your preliminary findings. You will elicit confirmations and challenges of your assessments, and will learn more about the group and its dynamics.

• Now analyze key interfaces from the outside in. You will learn how people on the outside (suppliers, customers, distributors , and others) perceive your organization and its strengths and weaknesses.

• Update your questions and hypotheses.

• Analyze a couple of key processes. Convene representatives of the responsible groups to map out and evaluate the processes you selected. You will learn about productivity, quality, and reliability.

• Meet with key integrators. You will learn how things work at interfaces among functional areas within the company. What problems do they perceive that others do not? Seek out the natural historians. They can fill you in on the history, culture, and politics of the organization, and they are also potential allies and influencers .

• Meet with your boss again to discuss your observations.