Practically every meaningful position comes with table stakes.

A point guard needs to be able to dribble without having the ball stolen and they must have the ability to orchestrate an offense.

A dentist needs to be able to effectively clean teeth and hold a halfway decent conversation.

These skills aren’t enough to ensure excellence, or even success. But they’re mandatory if we even want to have the opportunity to play.

The challenge is that it’s easy to misinterpret the table stakes, in either direction. We can fail to recognize the prerequisites, and fall on our face before the race even begins, or, more commonly, we can mistake the table stakes for a competitive advantage.

Likability and serviceable communication skills aren’t distinguishing features for a salesman. They’re the expectation.

If we want to get ahead, we’ll need to do much more than simply clearing the minimum threshold.

Which means that it’s worth identifying the table stakes as soon as possible.

-Brandon