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Quick Book Rec: The Checklist Manifesto
Apr. 14th, 2010 10:08 amI don't have time for a full-on book review, but I have to take a moment to praise Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto, which is about how short, basic checklists aren't just useful tools, but literally lifesaving devices.
He is a surgeon and mostly talks about his attempts to get checklists into the surgical repertoire, and the drastic benefits in dropped infection and death rates when they are used, backed up with personal anecdotes and specific studies.
But he also talks about how they have been used in other aspects of life, such as tracking pilot checklists from their invention to handle the B-52 bomber after a test flight crash through to their necessary use in the Miracle on the Hudson.
In addition, he talks about how checklists can be used to empower people who notice that a mistake is about to be made, and where checklists have to be abandoned in favor of the experience and judgement of the people on site. (The Miracle on the Hudson comes up again here, as well as the different responses to Katrina rescue as shown by FEMA [centralized, unable to move quickly, out of touch] and, of all places, Wall Mart [which sent down the order "Do WHATEVER you have to do to help and we will back you up!"])
And finally, he talks about how people have a psychological reaction against checklists and refuse to use them... even though the rest of the book has spent some time not just extolling, but proving their usefulness.
At no point does he spoon-feed a series of checklists for daily life. This is a book about their general development and application, not a self-help manual.
A slender book (or a short listen) but a thought-provoking one.
He is a surgeon and mostly talks about his attempts to get checklists into the surgical repertoire, and the drastic benefits in dropped infection and death rates when they are used, backed up with personal anecdotes and specific studies.
But he also talks about how they have been used in other aspects of life, such as tracking pilot checklists from their invention to handle the B-52 bomber after a test flight crash through to their necessary use in the Miracle on the Hudson.
In addition, he talks about how checklists can be used to empower people who notice that a mistake is about to be made, and where checklists have to be abandoned in favor of the experience and judgement of the people on site. (The Miracle on the Hudson comes up again here, as well as the different responses to Katrina rescue as shown by FEMA [centralized, unable to move quickly, out of touch] and, of all places, Wall Mart [which sent down the order "Do WHATEVER you have to do to help and we will back you up!"])
And finally, he talks about how people have a psychological reaction against checklists and refuse to use them... even though the rest of the book has spent some time not just extolling, but proving their usefulness.
At no point does he spoon-feed a series of checklists for daily life. This is a book about their general development and application, not a self-help manual.
A slender book (or a short listen) but a thought-provoking one.
