Latest / Career Skills with Fexingo: Hard Skills, Soft Skills, and Future-Proofing Your Career / Why Skill Stacking Creates Your Unfair Career Advantage
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to run something by you. Imagine you're an engineer — good at writing code, probably in the top 25 percent of developers you've worked with. But you're also a decent writer and a pretty good public speaker. What do you think happens to your career? Luna: I think you become a lot more visible than the engineer who's in the top 5 percent at coding but can't string a sentence together. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the core idea behind skill stacking — the deliberate combination of multiple non-elite skills to create a unique professional advantage. It's not about being the best in the world at one thing. It's about being pretty good at two or three things that rarely overlap in one person. Luna: I first heard this from Scott Adams, the Dilbert creator. He's talked about how he's not the world's funniest cartoonist, not the best writer, not the sharpest business observer — but he's in the top 25 percent of all three, and that combination made him a phenomenon. Lucas: That's the exact framework — the top 25 percent rule. And I think it's one of the most underused career strategies out there. Most people spend years trying to become elite at a single skill, but the math on being elite is brutal. To be in the top 1 percent of anything usually takes ten thousand hours of deliberate practice and a fair bit of natural talent. Luna: Right. Meanwhile, being in the top 25 percent of a skill is far more achievable. You can get there with focused effort over a couple of years, especially if you already have some baseline competence. Lucas: So let's talk about what makes a skill 'stackable'. I think there are three criteria. First, it should be a skill that's valuable in your industry — not a niche party trick. Second, it should be non-rival — meaning mastering it doesn't conflict with or dilute another skill you're building. And third, it should be rare in combination with your other skills. Luna: Non-rival is key. You can't really stack two skills that require completely different mental models if they compete for the same time and energy. But writing and coding? Those are complementary. They reinforce each other. Lucas: Let me give you a concrete example from the software world. Consider a front-end developer who's also a skilled UX designer. Individually, there are thousands of good front-end developers and thousands of good UX designers. But how many people are genuinely strong at both? That combination is rare, and it makes that person incredibly valuable to a product team because they can bridge the gap between design and implementation. Luna: And they don't need to be elite at either. If they're in the top 25 percent of both, they can produce work that's better than what a top 10 percent designer and a top 10 percent developer can produce separately, because they avoid the communication friction and handoff errors. Lucas: Exactly. That's the compound effect. And this applies way beyond tech. Think about a financial analyst who's also a good storyteller. The ability to take complex data and turn it into a compelling narrative is rare. Most analysts are number-crunchers who can't write a coherent paragraph. The ones who can? They get the promotions, the speaking slots, the client face time. Luna: I've seen this in marketing too. A marketer who understands data analytics AND can write creative copy is a unicorn. Most people lean one way or the other. Lucas: So how do you actually figure out what skills to stack? I recommend doing a quick skill audit. List your top three skills that you're genuinely above average at — not your hobbies, but things that have direct professional value. Then ask yourself: which two of these are the rarest combination in my field? Luna: And be honest about it. If you're a decent project manager and a decent negotiator, that's a strong stack. But if you're a decent project manager and a decent spreadsheet user, that's table stakes for most roles. Lucas: That's a great point. The rarity of the combination is what gives you the edge. You want skills that, when combined, create a category of one — or at least a very small category. For me, it's been a mix of data analysis, writing, and business strategy. That's not a common trio, and it's served me well. Luna: Alright, if we've helped you think through a career move or decision, here's the thing — these episodes stay ad-free because of listener support. If today was useful to you, the simplest way to keep that going is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small gesture that makes a big difference. And it really does keep us independent. So if you've gotten value from the show, consider tossing a coffee our way. Luna: Now, let's talk about a common pitfall. People sometimes interpret skill stacking as 'I need to learn everything'. That's the opposite of the strategy. Lucas: Right. The trap is trying to stack too many skills, which dilutes your depth in all of them. The optimal number seems to be two to three. More than that and you're spreading yourself thin, and you never reach that top 25 percent threshold in any of them. Luna: So it's really about focused breadth. You want to be broad enough to combine, but deep enough to be credible. Lucas: Exactly. And there's a practical way to test your stack. Find a project or a problem that requires both skills. If you can tackle it faster or better than someone who only has one of those skills, you've found a good stack. Luna: I'd add that you should also look for feedback from people who've seen you apply that combination. If colleagues or clients say things like 'You're great at explaining technical stuff to non-technical people,' that's a signal your stack is working. Lucas: That's a strong indicator. I also think it's worth paying attention to what you enjoy. If you're good at two things but you hate doing one of them, you won't sustain the effort to stay in the top 25 percent. Enjoyment is part of the equation. Luna: So stack skills that you actually like practicing. That's sustainable. Lucas: Let me share a personal example. Early in my career, I was a decent writer and a decent analyst. But I noticed that most analysts wrote terrible reports — dense, jargon-filled, hard to follow. So I focused on becoming a clear, concise writer. That combination — strong analysis plus strong writing — opened doors that neither skill alone would have. Luna: And you didn't need to be the next Hemingway or the next Nate Silver. You just needed to be better than the average analyst at writing, and better than the average writer at analysis. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the whole game. The bar is surprisingly low when you combine skills that don't normally overlap. Most people compete in a single dimension. If you compete in two or three, you're playing a different game. Luna: So what's one action step someone can take today? I'd say do that skill audit I mentioned earlier. Write down your top three professional skills, rank them by how good you are relative to your peers, and then identify the two that are rarest in combination. Lucas: Then spend the next three to six months deliberately improving the weaker of those two skills. If you're a strong project manager but only an average data analyst, take a course or a side project that builds your data skills. The goal isn't to become a data scientist — it's to move from the 50th percentile to the 25th percentile in data analysis. Luna: And that shift alone can change how you're perceived. Because suddenly you're not just the project manager — you're the project manager who brings data-driven insights to every conversation. Lucas: One more thing — don't neglect soft skills in your stack. Communication, empathy, negotiation, leadership. Those are often the most stackable because they amplify every hard skill. A brilliant engineer who can also communicate well is worth ten brilliant engineers who can't. Luna: Absolutely. And those soft skills are harder to automate or outsource, which makes them future-proof. Lucas: So to wrap it up, the takeaway is this: stop trying to be the best at one thing. Aim to be very good at two or three things that work well together. That's your unfair advantage. Luna: And if you already have a stack, let it evolve. Skills change, industries change. Every year or two, re-audit and see if your stack still gives you an edge. Lucas: Great advice. I think we've given listeners a solid framework. Next time, we'll talk about how to market your skill stack effectively — because having the advantage is one thing, but people need to know about it. Luna: Looking forward to that. For now, go build your stack.