JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

Checklists provide an effective method for avoiding error. They trigger the right action by the right person at the right time. Effective checklists activate the specialized knowledge most applicable at a particular point in time, and optimize communication between different sets of specialists. In this way, checklists help avoid one of the principal challenges of modern organizations: the ‘silent disengagement’ that results when specialists only keep their narrow tasks in mind instead of focusing on broader team or organizational outcomes.

In advocating for the checklist, Gawande is not minimizing the importance of human discretion. On the contrary: in conditions of uncertainty – when a surgeon is operating on a patient, or a building is being constructed, or a venture capitalist is picking an entrepreneur to back – human judgment is vital. The goal of the checklist is not to eliminate discretion but to help ensure the optimal mix of procedure and discretion. Gawande notes that good checklists help balance competing principles: freedom and discipline, craft and protocol, specialized ability and group collaboration.

Read The Power of Checklists at 3QD.

I’m a great believer in checklists. I have notebooks full of checklists. Just writing the daily to-do list makes me feel like I’ve already accomplished something.