The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right

Useless book

Atual Gawande is an American-raised indian Born surgeon practicing in Boston and he is also a writer for the New Yorker he has written 3 books, all three of them excellent. Complications his first is a revelation, better his middle one I enjoyed less, and this third one, the Checklist, is spellbindingly good Gawande is no mere doctor he was also a Rhodes Scholar (i.e seriously bright) earning a PPE in Oxford England in the late 90s. To me, it seems that this is the secret to his appeal, he is a seriously intelligent and gifted academic, who later turned to the practical art of surgery. So he is very well rounded. The central feature of his writing is to convey to the layperson that there are no easy choices, no bravura macho surgeons who can reliably fix everything. He is searingly honest about the shortcomings of medecine and his own shortcomings in particular, relaying again and again over all three books where he has screwed up, often very badly. These accounts read very well as fair accounts of how difficult it is to actually do any significant surgery on anyone without killing them, or making them iller. He is neither too harsh nor seeking to exculpate himself. He starts with the premise that (nearly) all doctors want to help, but that medecine can be horribly complicated and difficult, that they make mistakes and they are sometimes out of their depth, and that they are all learning on the job. What is magnificent about checklists is that, you'd think there wouldn't be much to say about them, that could hold your interest for very long. In this you'd be seriously wrong. it turns out that our prejudicial views on checklists (we don't like them and find them patronising) is in inverse proportion to how useful they are regardless of your levels of commitment to excellence, ingenuity or sheer brilliance. In the heat of an emergency many of the things that go wrong are EXACTLY the kinds of things that simple checklists can help you spot when your mind skips steps to focus on what you think is essential. in this book, Gawande focusses on the usefulness of checklists in medecine, commercial flying, architecture/engineering and finance and he does a masterful writerly job of keeping you engaged and enlgightened as he slowly builds a very compelling case for dropping the prejudice and adopting the checklist in more and more areas of life. One fascinating aside to me, is that the going through a checklist with other people (say before operating) was no mere mechanical procedure, but that it had a 'activating effect' of equalising the status and hierarchy of all concerned, suddenly you were no longer just some nurse or mere technician in awe of the surgeon. In fact, taking responsibility for your own part of the checklist made you a vital member of a team, and it was this team building spirit that made people work better together, think better and most importantly handle disasters with far greater focus as they knew each other and didn't waste time on blame or evasion. Much more commonly checklists even prevented disasters because since everyone felt part of a team, the junior members were not so intimidated into not pointing out errors which could later develop into disasters. It's a list on a piece of paper, but adhering to it in this public and collegiate way, had a profound impact on the psychology of the practitioners solidifying their sense of being part of a team and therefore being steadfast in calling things as they saw them, rather than simply deferring to authority and keeping quiet (a frequent cause of all types of disasters). Gawande is a good friend of Malcolm Gladwell, but he is no mere wannabe, Gawande has his own unique authorial voice and he comes across as a genuinely likeable, clever decent and highly sophisticated but down to earth human being. He is such a good writer that not least of his skills is how funny he sometimes is when he points out the absurdities of human foibles (especially his own) and of taking on any ambitious human endeavour. He is no pious preacher.

Greta book that help me with getting the things right!

Good one, covering practices across industries. If followed properly, life changing book.

This is a wonderful book! Descriptions of how checklists can help are provided for surgeries, airlines and building skyscrapers in this easy to read book. As an investor I can see how checklists can help in that field as well as many others. A checklist can help make a very difficult job a little easier by ensuring that more critical items are not missed. As I age and the inevitable surgeries appear on the horizon I am pleased that checklists in surgery theaters have taken root and are being widely used. A very simple tool that can help eliminate or reduce catastrophic errors. The book will leave you thinking about applications in your own field of expertise. I believe that can only lead to improvements in a wide range of activities. This is a book that will help in any endeavor where complications can occur and should be eliminated early on in the process. A very worthwhile read.

Le checklist sono uno strumento molto umile e spesso trascurato ma giocano un ruolo fondamentale in molti ambiti della nostra esistenza, dalle sale operatorie degli ospedali alle cabine di pilotaggio degli aerei di linea. Ogni giorno contribuiscono ad evitare errori tragici ed a salvare vite. Ho imparato ad usarle per gestire compiti molto complessi e che vengono eseguiti di rado - una situazione nella quale il training e la memoria sono di poco aiuto - e ne ho poi esteso l'utilizzo a molti altri ambiti della vita privata e professionale traendone notevoli vantaggi. In questo libro, il Dottor Atul Gawande è riuscito a presentarle ed a spiegarne l'uso in modo veramene ammirevole. Credo che tutti coloro che devono gestire situazioni complesse dovrebbero imparare ad usare questo strumento e dovrebbero leggere questo libro. Consigliatissimo.