What's Your Plus / Minus?

Whether playing basketball or the game of life, "if you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else." This quote from Booker T. Washington may seem counterintuitive, but it encapsulates a very basic principle -- excelling as a team player -- that helps fuel dramatic organizational achievement.

In an otherwise pedestrian regular season basketball contest, game 69, of the Golden State Warriors season vs. the Washington Wizards we were given “the lesson” in an individual’s value to his team.?Jonathan Kuminga, a rookie who some day will likely be a star, had 12 points and 8 rebounds.?Meanwhile, his teammate, Draymond Green had 6 points and 7 rebounds.?If you just looked at the box score or maybe even were casually watching the game, you might think that Kuminga completely outplayed Green.?And you would be wrong.?Dramatically wrong.

Whether we are talking about basketball, or your career, perception and reality are often too very different things.??Often what is overtly focused on and rewarded are individual achievements.?What is lost is nuance.??But can you quantify nuance, an individual’s contribution to a team’s effort??Well, there’s a lot of value in making an NBA team better – winning – and so someone has.?It’s called +/- (Plus/Minus).

Plus/Minus is a simple but powerful basketball metric that measures an individual’s overall value to the team.?Sure, every team needs a star to score points, but winning teams need players to do the hundreds of little things that ultimately decide if your team is performing well.?Simply, while a player is in the game did his or her team score more points (Plus) or less points (Minus) than their opponent.?That’s it.??

Great teams have players, who if you only look at the “eye catching” stats, like points or rebounds, would never be noticed.?Kuminga, despite scoring 6 more points and having 1 more rebound in the game than Green, was not valuable.?The Plus/Minus stat tells a completely different story. ?Draymond Green was Plus 24 (if he played the whole game his team would have won by 24 points) and Jonathan Kuminga was Minus 10 (if he played the whole game his team would have lost by 10 points).?

It's not the individual highlight reel that matters to the team.?It’s the cumulative total of a lot of things that we can’t quantify -- that create enormous team value on the court.?In basketball this means:

Sacrifice:

• Taking a charge – a defensive maneuver that puts your body at risk of a violent collision by intentionally establishing position in front of another player in order to keep the other team from scoring.
• Passing – intentionally not taking a “good” shot (maybe a semi open 10 footer) that would help pad your individual stats in order to get someone else on the team a “great” shot (wide open corner three).

Communication/Team Work:

• Backing up a teammate -- rotating off of the person you are guarding to try to stop someone who has gained an advantage on a teammate and has what appears to be an easy shot.
• Calling out screens -- letting your teammate know that another player is trying to set a screen on them so that they can get into position to stop an easier shot.

Effort:?

• Risking injury by diving on a hardwood floor to try to secure a “50/50” ball that no one has control of.
• Setting a screen – an offensive tactic that enables a teammate to get an easier shot by obstructing (or screening) a defender so they can’t easily defend the shooter.

That’s basketball.?That’s a game.?Could this concept translate to business??Have you ever worked for a great company??What makes them great???Here are some of the little things that are hard to measure but deliver company value.?

Sacrifice:

• People – mentoring.?You typically get paid for your individual contribution, but some people naturally take others under their wing and mentor them just because. I was a beneficiary early in my career (thank you Robert Hill) – helping me become a professional.
• People – being open.?Some people are always willing to help out even when they are on a personal deadline – answering the “dumb” questions, provide feedback on aspects of the job, and more.

Communication:

• Email – you’ve seen the emails with no longer relevant subject headers, endless forwards and more…make the extra effort on your emails so they are clear and concise.
• Sharing – you’ve seen people guard information and contacts to gain personal advantage…have you shared valuable info that has no direct benefit to yourself?

Effort:?

• Feedback – it’s easy to let things slide…but team players risk their reputation by providing feedback and perspective vs. letting things that aren’t working go.
• Get Stuff Done – Some people in the office always seem so busy…John Wooden used to note “Never mistake activity, for achievement.”?Do things because they add value to the company not because they make you look good.?

Basketball has figured out a clear and effective way to measure an individual’s value to the team – Plus/Minus.??What is that metric for your role in your business???And what would your Plus/Minus be?

Chris Carvalho has been blessed to be an executive and board member at some of the most iconic (Lucasfilm) and impactful (Roblox) entertainment and technology companies in the world.?One of his favorite sports quotes is of long forgotten baseball player Eddie Stanky, whose manager noted “He can’t hit, he can’t run, he can’t field, he can’t throw.?He can’t do a damn thing – but beat you.” And a special assist to?@Donald Wong?of #googlecloud,?a long time friend and former colleague who broached the subject and helped me think it through.

#AndreIguadala #DraymondGreen #KevonLooney #EddieStanky #+/= #NBA #businessmetrics #teamvalue #evaluation #performanceevaluation #plus/minus

More from Chris:

• What does Your Customer Want??Three Lessons
• 25 Thoughts to Guide Your Career and Life
• Five Life Lessons from Dr. Seuss
• All LinkedIn Posts by Chris