The Checklist (2007)

The Checklist Manifesto is one of the few "pop" business books that fundamentally changed some of the ways I work. I manage a decent sized teams and it's almost become an inside joke with my team that I expect a checklist for any process anyone executes.

It often seems trivial, but the few times it has helped catch something critical that we would otherwise assume just worked has more than paid for itself. There is a bit of fluff in the book, but there's also great actionable advice in there.

Not necessarily related, but having read several of Atul Gawande's books, I would highly recommend them. I think they all address about how to at least attempt to eliminate some errors from any workflow. (Though, I may be biased with some background in the Pharmaceutical field.)

I personally would recommend "Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science"[1] , mainly because I like that he briefly addresses how it's sometimes hard to quantify knowing that something will go wrong, and that you almost have to acquire experience/a gut instinct of when to go the extra mile.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Complications-Surgeons-Notes-Imperfec...

Creating a checklist for my morning routine has been such a great time-saver and anxiety-reducer for me. I have everything on there, even the most obvious items such as "eat breakfast", and all I need to do once I wake up is tick things off from start to finish. I haven't forgotten to take my umbrella or laptop charger since, and it's relieving knowing that - because I've checked everything off - there's nothing left for me to do. No more worrying about having forgotten something.

Does anyone here have insight into how widely Pronovost's ideas have been implemented since the article was published?