The Checklist Manifesto

How to Get Things Right

By: Atul Gawande

Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd

Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling author of Being Mortal and Complications reveals the surprising power of the ordinary checklist.

We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies - neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the US Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple 90-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third.

In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from homeland security to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds.

An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential listening for anyone working to get things right.

©2009 Atul Gawande (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Every clinical practitioner should read

A must read. Checklists are a clear roadmap to save lives highly recommended as are all his books are

Collection of stories of checklist usage

The book is a collection of stories about checklists used in different industries and how they made a difference from saving lives to increasing profits. Since the author is a doctor, most of the stories are about healthcare. Contrary to the subtitle, the book does not provide guidance on how to create a checklist. From the stories, it's apparent that the checklist should be simple so people will use it; it should contain a few vital steps to address likely problems and high-risk concerns. For example the checklist for surgeries, the team introduce themselves (so people feel comfortable speaking up if they notice a mistake), they verify they have completed the steps for preventing infection (common complication), they say what procedure will be performed (sometimes the wrong operation has been performed), and they say what is needed if the worst-case scenario occurs (e.g., how many units of blood need to be on standby). A good checklist requires using it in the field and refining it. Taking measurements of "before" and "after" with the checklist can persuade some skeptics to use the checklists (like a 40% reduction in infection rate).

Awesome

My brother said this book was amazing and it lived up to the hype. Narrated well, the story shows the complexity of so many fields and gives hope to us humans that trying harder is not necessarily the answer to fallibility.

Nothing Surprising

Personally, I don’t think it to be a surprise that humans are fallible and inconsistent in our judgments. So, it is nothing new that a simple standardized procedure such as a checklist would help us perform more consistently. The stories and examples in the book are very emotionally charged. While I have deep empathy for those involved I didn’t gain much insight into the creation, use, or development of checklists. A person with sufficient training in system modeling, process control, etc can read between the lines and conceptualize uses beyond the ones mentioned in the text. If you are looking for a systematic method for creating good checklists this is not the book for you. Instead I encourage you to track and keep record of your failings, find common root causes and make a check for that on your list.

Great Book!

I was asked to read this book by my job and did not think I would enjoy it. I was wrong. It was amazing and made me review the way we work at my job and in my business.

Great business read

Not only is this great for your business this book ensures I will ask anyone operating on me or a loved one if they have a checklist. Details are the difference between life and death and success or failure. I really enjoyed this and will be reviewing my personal business checklists.

Started using checklist for my employees now

What made the experience of listening to The Checklist Manifesto the most enjoyable?

Started using checklist for my employees now and it works! It seems so easy, but saves so many headaches down the road. In the book he substantiates why it works and explains how to do it.

Excellent read!

All in healthcare should read this book. Other fields would also benefit. Healthcare has been slow to adopt proven methods from other industries of safety. Gaining more traction over the recent years.

Revolutionary but not new

This engaging story takes you through what should be a fairly simple sell. Use checklists like pilots and avoid disaster (actual or metaphorical).
This tells of how a simple concept can be pushed back from areas that need it most. If doctors, lawyers and engineers can use them to prevent catastrophic failures then why can't we use them in our jobs or lives.
Well read and inspiring, this is a book that I will be recommending to many of my colleagues.

A message that the surgical team should listen!

Any additional comments?

The fact that we can decrease the mortaliti in 45% and the morbidity in 39% just by investing one minute is amazing