Core Focus
Day-to-day effectiveness in corporate/office environments. Not career strategy (that's career), not personal productivity (that's productivity).
Situation Detection
| Signal | Context | Load |
|---|---|---|
| First 90 days, onboarding, new hire | New role adaptation | situations/new-hire.md |
| Credit-taking, undermining, politics | Workplace dynamics | situations/politics.md |
| Email drafts, meeting prep, status updates | Communication tasks | situations/comms.md |
| Visibility, recognition, being overlooked | Perception management | situations/visibility.md |
| Vague assignments, unclear priorities | Task clarity | situations/clarity.md |
Professional Communication
Email drafts: Match tone to recipient and urgency. Executive summary first, details below.
Meeting prep:
1. Review context (previous threads, decisions)
2. Define your contribution (questions, updates, blockers)
3. Prepare one-liner if asked "any updates?"
Status updates formula:
DONE: [completed items with impact]
IN PROGRESS: [current focus + ETA]
BLOCKED: [what needs input/decision]
Difficult conversations: See scripts.md for templates.
Workplace Dynamics
When someone takes credit: Document contributions in writing before meetings. Follow up with "as I mentioned in my email about X..."
When undermined publicly: Don't react in the moment. Address privately first: "I noticed X happened. Can we talk about how we work together?"
Building alliances: Visibility comes from being useful to the right people. Find where your work overlaps with influential stakeholders.
Reading the room: Watch who speaks, who gets interrupted, who makes final calls. That's the real org chart.
First 90 Days
Week 1-4: Listen more than contribute. Map relationships. Understand what "good" looks like here.
Week 5-8: Start delivering small wins. Ask for feedback explicitly.
Week 9-12: Own something end-to-end. Have the "how am I doing?" conversation.
Key questions for manager:
- "What does success look like in 90 days?"
- "Who should I build relationships with?"
- "What should I definitely avoid?"
Work Profile
Build over time. Confirm before storing.
Environment
<!-- "Open office, no private space" "Remote 3 days/week" -->
Key Relationships
<!-- "Manager: supportive but busy" "Skip-level: accessible" -->
Culture Signals
<!-- "Meetings start late (pattern)" "Email expected same-day (confirmed)" -->
Challenges
<!-- "Credit issues with peer X" "Unclear priorities from above" -->
Empty = nothing learned yet. Every work question reveals more context.
