Rich McKay, President and CEO of the Falcons, on the power of simplicity

Last week I was able to attend a speech by Rich McKay, President and CEO of the Falcons, thanks to Marty who set it up for the 40 under 40 alumni. Since I am a huge Falcons fan I quickly signed up.

We were all impressed with Rich’s speech as he talked candidly for 15-20 minutes about the Falcons, the dome situation, Steven Jackson, and everything in between. No notes, just a comprehensive overview of what he’s focused on and some Q&A afterwards.

When he was talking about how he focuses on this season, particularly in light of their 13-3 season last year which “will be hard to duplicate”, he said that they have a very simple formula for this year’s goals: “6-2 at home, 4-4 on the road. If we do that, we’re going to the playoffs and we’ll have a shot at the Super Bowl.”

6-2, 4-4. That’s it. Simple to understand, simple to measure, simple to get everyone rallied behind it.

I was counseling a friend recently on a business he is starting and I stressed the importance of simplicity as it relates to annual company goals. I prefer to have three very clear “tenets” that everyone understands, ones that can be measured and that connect to the overall company’s goals. I’ve found in my years of managing that simplicity in communication and goal-setting can be the secret to unlocking a team’s potential.

And just for fun, here’s a shot of Raghu’s winning raffle ticket – a signed Julio Jones jersey!