Business · Similar reads
Books like The First 90 Days
The best books like The First 90 Days are The Making of a Manager, What Got You Here Won't Get You There, and Leading Change. The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins is about leadership transitions, career growth, organizational dynamics. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- The Making of a Manager
01
Julie Zhuo · Business
The Making of a Manager is Julie Zhuo's account of what it actually means to manage people, written from her experience going from individual contributor to VP of Design at Facebook in her twenties.
Shares career growth and management with The First 90 Days.
Read the summary → - What Got You Here Won't Get You There
02
What Got You Here Won't Get You There
Marshall Goldsmith · Business
What Got You Here Won't Get You There is Marshall Goldsmith's counter-intuitive argument about career plateaus: the behaviors that drive early success in organizations actively work against you once you reach a senior level.
Both dig into career growth.
Read the summary → - Leading Change
03
John P. Kotter · Business
Leading Change is John Kotter's synthesis of his research on organizational transformation, organized around an eight-stage process for successfully executing major change.
A kindred business read.
Read the summary →
- Good to Great
04
Jim Collins · Business
Good to Great is Jim Collins's attempt to answer a deceptively simple question: why do some good companies make the leap to sustained greatness while most don't?
Both dig into strategy.
Read the summary → - Innovation and Entrepreneurship
05
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Peter F. Drucker · Business
Innovation and Entrepreneurship is Drucker's systematic treatment of a subject that, in 1985, most people still regarded as the province of lone geniuses and lucky accidents.
Shares strategy and management with The First 90 Days.
Read the summary → - Management
06
Peter F. Drucker · Business
Management is Peter Drucker's most comprehensive statement on what managers do, why organizations exist, and what separates effective management from the appearance of it.
Shares strategy and management with The First 90 Days.
Read the summary → - Managing for Results
07
Peter F. Drucker · Business
Managing for Results was Peter Drucker's first explicitly strategic book, published in 1964 and still in print.
Shares strategy and management with The First 90 Days.
Read the summary → - Now, Discover Your Strengths
08
Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton · Business
Now, Discover Your Strengths is Marcus Buckingham and Donald Clifton's argument that most organizations and individuals invest the majority of their development energy in the wrong place — fixing weaknesses rather than amplifying strengths.
Shares career growth and management with The First 90 Days.
Read the summary → - Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity
09
Frank Slootman · Business
Amp It Up is Frank Slootman's account of how he approaches leading organizations through rapid growth.
Both dig into management.
Read the summary → - An Elegant Puzzle
10
Will Larson · Business
An Elegant Puzzle is Will Larson's guide to the craft of engineering management, written from his experience leading engineering teams at Digg, Uber, and Stripe.
Both dig into career growth.
Read the summary → - Beyond Entrepreneurship
11
Jim Collins & William Lazier · Business
Beyond Entrepreneurship is Jim Collins's first major book, co-written with William Lazier and published in 1992, before the research that produced Built to Last and Good to Great.
Both dig into strategy.
Read the summary → - Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies
12
Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies
Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh · Business
Blitzscaling is Reid Hoffman's argument that certain markets — primarily those with strong network effects and winner-take-most dynamics — reward companies that prioritize speed of growth over efficiency, even at the cost of significant operational risk.
Both dig into strategy.
Read the summary →
Books like The First 90 Days: quick answers
What are the best books like The First 90 Days?
The best books like The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins are The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo, What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith, Leading Change by John P. Kotter, Good to Great by Jim Collins, Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter F. Drucker, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with The First 90 Days, such as leadership transitions, career growth, organizational dynamics.
What should I read after The First 90 Days?
A natural next read after The First 90 Days is The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo. Shares career growth and management with The First 90 Days. Other strong choices are What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith, Leading Change by John P. Kotter, Good to Great by Jim Collins.
What books are similar to The First 90 Days by Michael D. Watkins?
The First 90 Days centers on leadership transitions, career growth, organizational dynamics. Books with a similar feel include The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo, What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith, Leading Change by John P. Kotter, Good to Great by Jim Collins, Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter F. Drucker, Management by Peter F. Drucker — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
