{"id":8276,"date":"2014-06-05T07:19:22","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T12:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=8276"},"modified":"2014-06-05T07:19:22","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T12:19:22","slug":"book-review-the-checklist-manifesto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=8276","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Checklist Manifesto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right\/dp\/0312430000\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1401918909&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+checklist+manifesto\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-8277\" alt=\"818086_orig\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/818086_orig.jpg\" width=\"434\" height=\"648\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/818086_orig.jpg 434w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/818086_orig-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 434px) 100vw, 434px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you know me at all, you know that I love lists and I love to check things off lists. \u00a0Dr. Atul Gawande&#8217;s <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right\/dp\/0312430000\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1401918909&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=the+checklist+manifesto\" target=\"_blank\">The Checklist Manifesto<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>explains why checklists are so critical to a commitment to excellence. \u00a0I&#8217;ve often heard people talk of checklists as being suffocating and limiting their creativity. \u00a0I find them to be just the opposite, they allow me to be more creative because I truly have to remember less. \u00a0My focus can be invested in relationships and things that have eternal value if I have made a commitment to systems and strategies that help me take care of the details. \u00a0Long ago I heard someone say &#8220;automate the important&#8221;. \u00a0If something is important and must be taken care of, don&#8217;t leave it to chance. \u00a0A checklist is a statement that I am committed to doing something the right way the first time.<\/p>\n<p>I highlighted several things while reading and have posted my notes below&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It\u2019s tempting to believe that no one else\u2019s job could be as complex as mine. \u00a0But extreme complexity is the rule for almost everyone.<\/li>\n<li>Four generations after the first aviation checklists went into use, a lesson is emerging: checklists seem able to defend anyone, even the experienced, against failure in many more tasks than we realized. \u00a0They provide a kind of cognitive net. \u00a0They catch mental flaws inherent in all of us\u2014flaws of memory and attention and thoroughness. \u00a0And because they do, they raise wide, unexpected possibilities.<\/li>\n<li>First, how could they be sure that they had the right knowledge in hand? \u00a0Second, how could they be sure that they were applying this knowledge correctly?<\/li>\n<li>Under conditions of complexity, not only are checklists a help, they are required for success. \u00a0There must always be room for judgement, but judgement aided\u2014and even enhanced\u2014by procedure.<\/li>\n<li>The checklist cannot be lengthy. \u00a0A rule of thumb some use is to keep it to between five and nine items.<\/li>\n<li>The wording should be simple and exact and use the familiar language of the profession.<\/li>\n<li>Even the most expert among us can gain from searching out the patterns of mistakes and failures and putting a few checks in place.<\/li>\n<li>We don\u2019t like checklists. \u00a0They can be painstaking. \u00a0They\u2019re not much fun. \u00a0But I don\u2019t think the issue here is mere laziness. \u00a0There\u2019s something deeper, more visceral going on when people walk away not only from saving lives but from making money. \u00a0It somehow feels beneath us to use a checklist, an embarrassment. \u00a0It runs counter to deeply held beliefs about how the truly great among us\u2014those we aspire to be\u2014handle situations of high stakes and complexity. \u00a0The truly great are daring. \u00a0They improvise. \u00a0They do not have protocols and checklists. \u00a0Maybe our idea of heroism needs updating.<\/li>\n<li>Discipline is hard\u2014harder than trustworthiness and skill and perhaps even than selflessness. \u00a0We are by nature flawed and inconstant creatures. \u00a0We can\u2019t even keep from snacking between meals. \u00a0We are not build for discipline. \u00a0We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail. \u00a0Discipline is something we have to work at.<\/li>\n<li>When we look closely, we recognize the same balls being dropped over and over, even by those of great ability and determination. \u00a0We know the patterns. \u00a0We see the costs. \u00a0It\u2019s time to try something else. \u00a0Try a checklist.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; If you know me at all, you know that I love lists and I love to check things off lists. \u00a0Dr. Atul Gawande&#8217;s The Checklist Manifesto\u00a0explains why checklists are so critical to a commitment to excellence. \u00a0I&#8217;ve often heard people talk of checklists as being suffocating and limiting their creativity. \u00a0I find them to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,35,25,28,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-creative","category-education","category-integrity","category-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}