Imagine if your favourite NFL coach ran your Monday morning ops meeting (yes, that would be Mike MacDonald or maybe Chuck Knox from days gone by).
There’d be energy. There’d be clarity. There’d probably be intensity. But above all, there would be structure. Because in football, especially in the NFL, reviewing performance is sacred.
It’s the difference between a team that learns and adapts… and one that just keeps losing the same way (hello Browns and Jets fans).
Now imagine applying that same rigor, rhythm, and real-time adjustment to your business operations. What if you treated your ops review the way an NFL team treats game film, play-calling, and player performance?
Here’s what that might look like, through the lens of leadership, KPIs, and a little Seattle Seahawks swagger.
1. Film Don’t Lie: The Power of Data + Context
NFL coaches don’t just look at the scoreboard. They watch every play from two angles, in slow motion, with annotations. Why? Because results don’t tell the whole story. The process matters.
Same in business. A missed target doesn’t mean failure. A met goal doesn’t mean success. What matters is how you got there, and whether it’s repeatable.
If your ops review is just a summary of numbers, you’re missing the film.
- Are we reviewing the decisions behind the results?
- Can we see where the plan broke down or overperformed?
- Are we learning from the game tape, not just the scoreboard?
Takeaway: Don’t just report results. Review the execution.
2. Every Player Has a Role, and Accountability
NFL teams don’t just review “team performance.” They break it down by unit: offense, defense, special teams. Then by position. Then by player. Because clarity drives accountability.
If your business KPIs are so broad that no one owns them, you’ve already lost the down.
- Can each person see how they contributed to the outcome?
- Are metrics mapped to specific roles and units?
- Is there room for ownership without blame?
Great coaches, like Reid and McVay, balance support with standards. They don’t micromanage, but they make expectations unmistakable.
Takeaway: Metrics should be personal enough to matter, and collective enough to inspire.
3. Halftime Adjustments Win Games
The best teams don’t just plan. They adapt. Halftime is where strategy meets reality, and adjustments are made in real time.
Too many businesses treat KPIs as fixed targets instead of feedback. They wait until the quarter’s over to react. But by then? The game’s already played.
Seahawks fans know this well; we’ve seen our team make big second-half surges (and, okay, a few blown leads). The key is having the agility to course-correct without waiting for the perfect answer.
- Are you reviewing often enough to make real adjustments?
- Do you have “in-game” metrics vs. only quarterly summaries?
- Can you shift strategy without panicking?
Takeaway: Build in space for real-time adjustment. Static reviews = missed opportunities.
4. There’s a Weekly Cadence: Win or Lose
NFL teams don’t skip film study because they won. They don’t cancel practice because they lost. There’s a weekly cadence, rain or shine, with time to reflect, correct, and reset.
Ops reviews should be the same. Not a punishment. Not a panic room. Just part of the rhythm.
I’ve worked with teams that only review performance when things go wrong, the sole focus (and I mean sole), is on anything that’s red. This builds a culture of fear, not clarity. The best teams I’ve seen treat reviews like training: regular, structured, and safe to learn.
Takeaway: Make your ops rhythm unshakeable. No emotion, just execution.
5. The Coach Sets the Tone
You can tell a lot about a football team by watching the sideline. Calm? Chaotic? Focused? Detached? Coaches don’t just call plays, they set the emotional temperature.
Same in business. If the leader enters an ops review defensively, rushed, or distracted, the team follows suit. But if they bring curiosity, composure, and conviction? That ripples out.
Andy Reid is famous for his steady energy, even in chaos. That’s not just charisma, it’s intentional. And it gives players the confidence to focus on performance, not politics.
Takeaway: Leadership presence in review meetings matters. Be the calm in the chaos.
Bonus: Know When to Punt
Sometimes, you have to punt. Not every initiative works. Not every metric will be green. The goal isn’t perfection, it’s field position.
A great ops review doesn’t avoid failure, it learns from it quickly and minimizes damage. Then it flips the field and moves forward.
Final Thoughts
I love football. And I love operational excellence. They’re not so different, really.
- Both are team sports.
- Both reward structure, rhythm, and review.
- And both demand clarity in the face of chaos.
If more businesses ran their operations reviews like an NFL coaching staff, equal parts data, discipline, and adaptability, they’d move faster, learn better, and probably win a lot more games. I say probably, since, as Simon Sinek wrote, Football, like all sports, is a Finite Game. Smart businesses are better off playing the Infinite Game. If not, you’ll end up seeing a lot of turnover of executives and leaders on some teams each year, as they weren’t successful in the segment they were competing in.
So this Monday or Tuesday, when you step into your ops meeting, ask yourself:
Are we watching the film, or just staring at the scoreboard?
And maybe, just maybe… chew a little gum and channel your inner Pete Carroll.