fuchsbau

The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande

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• Substrat: checklists establish a higher standard of baseline performance
  • checklists have 4 advantages: simple, measurable, transmissible, low-tech
• embracing a culture of teamwork and discipline is the ultimate goal
  • making people say something at the start activates their sense of participation
  • checklists are opportunities to communicate as a team
  • dispersing responsibility sends a message that everyone is responsible
• how to build trust in checklists:
  • collect data on baseline performance first
  • have managers with final decision-making power involved in roll-out
• good checklists
  • simple, brief, precise (fit on index card; focus on killer items)
  • bad checklists spell out everything (treat people as dumb)
  • "teambrief" & "everybody knows each others' names" are good items
  • visual cue to finish checklist can be helpful (e.g. nurse removes metal tent over surgical instruments)
• 2 reasons for failure in situations under our control: 1) ignorance, 2) ineptitude
  • for nearly all of history mostly ignorance; today, often ineptitude
  • common dangers: faulty memory, distraction, false confidence
• 3 types of problems: simple, complicated, complex (checklists helpful for complex problems)
  • simple: baking a cake from a mix; simple recipe exists
  • complicated: sending rocket to moon; interacting simple problems
  • complex: raising a child (no 2 alike - but rockets are) or daily life
• other
  • 4 data points to assess health: body temperature, pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate, subjective pain rating
  • investment checklist items (in a study, only 1 in 8 investors applied checklists)
    • revenues over- or understated due to boom/bust?
    • verify you read footnotes on cash flow stmts
    • review stmt of key mgmt risks
    • review financial stmts of prev. 10 ys
    • look whether cash flow and costs match reported revenue growth
    • review fine print of mandatory stock disclosures