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

Fascinating

Repetitive at times but totally worth the short read.

Checklists are a very scalable and portable solution to complicated problems

Simple topic but splendid execution

When a Harvard surgeon spends time writing a book on CHECKLIST it’s surely must be worth his time. I awe at way this guy can handle so many hats he wears daily. Great book, nice insights. Worth my time

Simple truths prove to be profound

With everyone up in arms these days about the state of education, it would seem that Atul Gawande MD's little book, Checklist Manifesto' would be finding its way into standard teaching regimens, and yet it has not.

I used this book and the advice it offered by way of anecdotal evidence, and my students ate it up. To be certain, they initially resisted, however it did not take long for them to see the utility of using checklists as part of their every day learning regimen.

Sometimes, throwing money at a problem is not the answer. Sometimes, the answer is drilling down to find out what has worked for others. Rather than wasting time reinventing the wheel, we do ourselves a huge favor by seeing what is at hand. Assessing how we can use what we have in lieu of wasting precious time and energy we improve our chances at success by figuring how to make slight adjustments to tweak what we have to our needs.

That is what Dr. Gawande is showing us. This book will benefit anyone who takes the time to read it. Moreover, it costs nothing more than the price of the book and a genuine interest to apply what seems do elegant and yet do simple.

Must read for mangers and biz owners!

Amazing detail into insightful checklists and how to produce them effectively. I've been using the strategies for a few months now and have completely revamp all check lists in my service comoany.

Where was the ‘How to create your own Checklist’ chapter?

I was hoping that a discussion of how to get started with Checklist would be included here.

Wonderful book and listening experience!

The title might make this seem boring- how interesting can a book about lists be? But it's great! Gawande provides varied anecdotes and portraits of the success of checklists from a plethora of fields: flight, medicine, construction and even fine dining. Finding out why Van Halen insisted that the brown M&M's be removed was very insightful.

A great book!

Solid stories. Practical advice is limited.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. However, the practical advice on creating/using checklists is limited to one chapter (mostly chapter six, some in chapter nine). Ton of interesting stories from multiple displines on the benefits of using checklists.

Outstanding!

While it's not easy to get on the same page with everyone who matters, it's really important and effective in all the right ways.

Checklists are another way to up your game...if what you're responsible for has any worth at all.

Worth it.

I found this book intriguing and compelling. The stories are fascinating and compliment the message well. If your life is hectic, and you could use some help with using your expertise more efficiently, this book is for you.

Fascinating and life changing

This book truly takes something that sounds mundane and makes it riveting. Through real-life stories of dramatic successes and failures, through humble realism, the book makes its case. The stories are fascinating in themselves. Well researched, well written. The argument that no one is above checklists is airtight. I’ll be acting on it in my life.