Book Review of "The Checklist Manifesto" - How to Get Things Right
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande is a simple book about using a time-tested but simple technique for avoiding mistakes in complex processes, using a checklist.
The sub-title of the book tells it all: "How to Get Things Right.
" Dr.
Gawande is a surgeon and professor at the Harvard Medical School, and he recounts stories of doctors who made simple mistakes that could be corrected by using a simple checklist.
He also points out how the use of checklists by pilots has made flying much safer.
Aviation checklists actually originated during WWII when one of the first four-engine bombers, the B-17, was being introduced.
After several early test fights ended tragically, a group of test pilots devised some simple checklists to make sure that small but important steps were not overlooked when flying this new complex machine.
After the pilots began using checklists, they went on to fly B-17 airplanes almost 2 million miles without an accident.
Checklists have been used in aviation ever since.
Here are some other examples of how checklists can be used to maximize performance: Use of checklists to guide unskilled workers: A simple example of a checklist is a recipe used to prepare a meal.
Even untrained chefs who can follow a detailed recipe can produce similar results to an executive chef who uses the same recipe.
Similarly, untrained medical personnel in undeveloped countries can be effective in administering basic medical treatment or drugs for specific diseases when they are provided with a checklist.
Use of checklists to guide highly skilled workers: In hospitals, even experienced surgical teams often make simple, but potentially life-threatening mistakes; however, when provided with a checklist which they routinely follow, the incidence of mistakes drops dramatically.
Use of checklists to manage complex projects: Building modern skyscrapers is an ultra-complex construction project.
Not only are the architectural plans complex, but building materials need to be delivered at the site and assembled in the proper sequence to the architect's specifications so that the end result will be structurally sound and aesthetically appealing.
Custom formed steel girders need to be properly installed and concrete must be delivered at the right consistency and temperature to be poured and formed so that it can cure properly.
Construction companies and general managers who supervise the work on site use complex computer programs that print out work schedules, checklists, that make this all possible.
Dr.
Gawande explains how simple checklists can be used to maximize performance especially in situations where complex tasks are being performed.
Checklists can be very effective tools as proven in the aviation industry; however, getting good results with checklists takes discipline on the part of those who are performing the tasks.
Unless they are consistently used, then they will not be effective.
Nevertheless, checklists can be a simple low-tech solution to improve performance in many situations, and The Checklist Manifesto concisely explains how checklists are an effective intervention to "get things right" in a variety of settings.
This book is interesting and easy to read.
Read The Checklist Manifesto yourself and discover how checklists have made a big difference for others.
Perhaps you can use a checklist in your work to "get things right," too?
The sub-title of the book tells it all: "How to Get Things Right.
" Dr.
Gawande is a surgeon and professor at the Harvard Medical School, and he recounts stories of doctors who made simple mistakes that could be corrected by using a simple checklist.
He also points out how the use of checklists by pilots has made flying much safer.
Aviation checklists actually originated during WWII when one of the first four-engine bombers, the B-17, was being introduced.
After several early test fights ended tragically, a group of test pilots devised some simple checklists to make sure that small but important steps were not overlooked when flying this new complex machine.
After the pilots began using checklists, they went on to fly B-17 airplanes almost 2 million miles without an accident.
Checklists have been used in aviation ever since.
Here are some other examples of how checklists can be used to maximize performance: Use of checklists to guide unskilled workers: A simple example of a checklist is a recipe used to prepare a meal.
Even untrained chefs who can follow a detailed recipe can produce similar results to an executive chef who uses the same recipe.
Similarly, untrained medical personnel in undeveloped countries can be effective in administering basic medical treatment or drugs for specific diseases when they are provided with a checklist.
Use of checklists to guide highly skilled workers: In hospitals, even experienced surgical teams often make simple, but potentially life-threatening mistakes; however, when provided with a checklist which they routinely follow, the incidence of mistakes drops dramatically.
Use of checklists to manage complex projects: Building modern skyscrapers is an ultra-complex construction project.
Not only are the architectural plans complex, but building materials need to be delivered at the site and assembled in the proper sequence to the architect's specifications so that the end result will be structurally sound and aesthetically appealing.
Custom formed steel girders need to be properly installed and concrete must be delivered at the right consistency and temperature to be poured and formed so that it can cure properly.
Construction companies and general managers who supervise the work on site use complex computer programs that print out work schedules, checklists, that make this all possible.
Dr.
Gawande explains how simple checklists can be used to maximize performance especially in situations where complex tasks are being performed.
Checklists can be very effective tools as proven in the aviation industry; however, getting good results with checklists takes discipline on the part of those who are performing the tasks.
Unless they are consistently used, then they will not be effective.
Nevertheless, checklists can be a simple low-tech solution to improve performance in many situations, and The Checklist Manifesto concisely explains how checklists are an effective intervention to "get things right" in a variety of settings.
This book is interesting and easy to read.
Read The Checklist Manifesto yourself and discover how checklists have made a big difference for others.
Perhaps you can use a checklist in your work to "get things right," too?
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