Why the Steph Curry Shimmy Might Be the Right Approach to Work
Last week, I found myself down a rabbit hole of basketball statistics in the middle of the night (see the timestamp below). I came across this surprising fact: DeMar DeRozan, a guard on the Sacramento Kings, is just one place behind the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
It was a surprising fact because the two players are miles apart when I think of their place among the greats and their public profile. In his 17 years in the NBA, Steph Curry has won four championships, made 11 all-star teams, been named Most Valuable Player twice, and is widely considered the greatest shooter of all time. And even if he hadn’t accomplished those things, I’d bet that most people know Curry from seeing him in numerous national TV commercials for Google, Subway, or JPMorgan Chase.
On the other hand, DeMar DeRozan, who joined the NBA the same year and has had an objectively successful career with six all-star appearances, three All-NBA teams, and an Olympic gold medal, does not have nearly the same profile as Curry. I’d guess that very few outside of strong basketball fans even know who DeRozan is.
Yet, here they are next to each other on the all-time scoring list.
Curry is objectively a better player, as the head-to-head comparison above shows. But I suspect the vast difference in their public profiles is also driven by the fact that Curry is the most accomplished shooter of three-pointers in NBA history, which is only second to the dunk shot in the most exciting plays in the game.
In contrast, DeRozan applies his trade in mid-range jumpers—shots that are efficient but would rarely make a game’s highlight video. The reason he’s even close to Curry on the all-time points list is that he has played over 160 more games, almost ten extra games per year throughout their careers.
Steph is the guy who brings excitement and flair while on the big stage. DeRozan is more the guy who shows up at work consistently and does an above-average job in a workmanlike way.
Surely, in any arena of work, both types of people are essential for an organization’s success. However, one type often gets the majority of the recognition and rewards.
The comparison between Curry and DeRozan made me think of a client’s recent predicament. Despite leading her teams to several years of solid business results and growth, she was overlooked for a larger opportunity at work in favor of someone who is better at the excitement and flair parts of the job, like pitching innovative ideas.
Our task was to figure out what to do about that setback, which raised questions like these:
Should I focus on building the infrastructure for a new long-term capability, or just do the demonstration pilot to get top leaders interested?
When preparing for meetings with customers, should I spend time helping others get ready to show up well, or should I spend the extra time coming up with clever ideas and other ways to make myself stand out?
Essentially, should I focus on the steak or the sizzle?
We didn’t resolve the issue. It’s not that one approach is better or worse than the other, and having the sizzle without any steak doesn’t work over the long run. Instead, the only thing we concluded is that flashiness and flair are often just as important as the core results when it comes to what’s remembered and rewarded.
Thus, the Curry approach—being good enough to deliver real results and taking the time to do context-appropriate, attention-grabbing celebration dances—is probably the right solution for getting ahead.
