Finally, I ask our managers to weigh one other critical factor as they handicap the prospect. Do they believe the candidate has the capacity to become one of the top three performers on our team in his or her job category? If people cannot ever develop into one of our top three cooks, servers, managers, or matre ds, why would we hire them? How will they help us improve and become champions? Its pretty easy to spot an overwhelmingly strong candidate or even an underwhelmingly weak candidate. Its the whelming candidate you must avoid at all costs, because thats the one who can and will do your organization the most long-lasting harm. Overwhelmers earn you raves. Underwhelmers either leave on their own or are terminated. Whelmers, sadly, are like a stubborn stain you cant get out of the carpet. They infuse an organization and its staff with mediocrity; theyre comfortable, and so they never leave; and, frustratingly, they never do anything that rises to the level of getting them promoted or sinks to the level of getting them fired. And

Setting the Table by Danny Meyer