Quick Book Rec: The Checklist Manifesto

[neadods]

I 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.

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Huh, I use mental checklists constantly - doing research, actually writing, shopping, working - think the only thing I don't have a mental checklist for is dating - and that's 'cos I don't!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Part of the point of the book is that if you don't write it down, your chances of forgetting a vital check that you know is much higher.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I've never forgotten anything vital so far.

[tacnukesoul.livejournal.com]

You sound just like one of the anti-checklist surgeons - they believe they don't "need" checklists and can just work out of their heads. Which works, until it doesn't.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

But I use checklists - I just don't write them out because if I do, I don't look at them - which pretty much defeats the object of having the thing. Any time I've ever written an actual shopping list, I've failed to look at it and forgotten something. When I make a mental shopping list, I don't forget anything. So I don't see any sense in wasting paper.

[jaylake.livejournal.com]

Second down on my to-read pile, once chemo lets go of my brain in late June. (Sigh.)

[neadods.livejournal.com]

It's a surprisingly easy read (but I have to admit, I had it read to me - I have more time for audiobooks than to sit and read).

[tamnonlinear.livejournal.com]

I'm currently reading it. I've enjoyed his other books, Better and Complications as well, and he seems to have a very good balance of pragmatism and compassion, and draws from all over the place.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

He reminds me of my engineer father, relentlessly presenting evidence for his thesis.

[redpanda13.livejournal.com]

My boss says the best way to get a client to actually answer her questions in an email is to list them by number rather than write them as sentences in paragraphs. If they're on a list, people tend to pay more attention to each one.

That said, I had a friend who would answer my questions in her reply letter, but I always had to go back and look up what I'd asked, because her answers were in the form of "Purple, six, North Carolina, no, yes, and twice a week."

[neadods.livejournal.com]

her answers were in the form of "Purple, six, North Carolina, no, yes, and twice a week."

*amused snort*

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

I have a checklist for packing my stuff for a con or crafts fair. I don't always take everything that's on it, but it's all there to be either checked off or lined out. And you know what? EVERY SINGLE TIME that we've been in such a rush that I didn't bother with the checklist, something got forgotten -- sometimes critical, sometimes not. And this is despite me also being in obsessive "do we have everything?" mode.

Checklists WORK. And they work better than keeping it all in your head.

And why the hell did LJ log me out between now and an hour ago when I was last reading? It's a good thing I noticed.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I've always been a compulsive listmaker. The first two apps I've downloaded for the ipod touch were a database (the same one I had on the palm pilot) and a nest-able checklist creator.

re: checklist

[acciochocolate.livejournal.com]

Without checklists, I'd be lost. I keep them in my head, on the 'puter, in a notebook, etc. This looks like a book for me. Thanks for the rec!

Re: checklist

[neadods.livejournal.com]

It's a fascinating book.

And one of the first apps I bought for the new Touch was one that lets you make nesting checklists.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an interesting read, if only to find out why folks have a psychological reaction against using checklists...

(I never manage to make mine exhaustive enough!)

[neadods.livejournal.com]

One of my hopes with the iTouch app is that I can build master lists and edit them on the fly. "I forgot to bring x to the con... well, I'm putting it on the list now for next time."

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, that makes sense.

[stunt-muppet.livejournal.com]

I'm still training myself to make lists, since even though I know they help I'm not used to making them. Thanks for recommending this book - it sounds like just what I need.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I make my lists twice.

The first is over time - I've already started to doodle things that I need for ChicagoTARDIS and the Stratford trip, for example - first mentally going through what I need to get through each day (clothing, toiletries, etc.) and slowly adding to it as ideas strike me (how about dried fruit to eat in the car instead of M&Ms.).

The second and best is immediately *after* an event, when memories of what would work better or what I forgot are still fresh in my mind. My Christmas trip home list, right down to the food and equipment I'm bringing, was written December 26 of last year. I'll adjust it for clothing later, but the cooking part has been set.

To make sure I don't lose them, the lists are written down in my daily calendar. As soon as the iPod touch is set up, they'll be moved there as well. The low-tech version (which I've done with all the Christmas recipes) is to simply put up a private, backdated, tagged post on LJ so I can find it from whatever equipment I might be using at the time and so there's more version control.

/compulsive listmaker