What We're Reading: Edward

Checklist Manifesto: how to get things right

by Atul Gawande

The B-17, Flying Fortress, was so complex a plane that experienced pilots kept crashing the plane. Pilots were able to make the B-17 successful by creating a checklist of things that needed to be done to fly the plane properly. Checklists are a tool used to make sure that the right things are done at the right time. Checklists have spread as the world has become more complex. Gawande, a surgeon, shows how checklists have improved surgery and health care in general. They are powerful tools. Have you used a checklist to accomplish a difficult task?