I'm becoming more of a list maker all the time. Lists make me more efficient and keep me from forgetting things I really want to accomplish in a day. So finding an online recommendation for The Checklist Manifesto, How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande intrigued me enough to order it from my local library.
It wasn't the consummate way to create and complete to-do lists that I expected, but took off in quite a different direction. The author uses some of the best checklists known to make a case for using them in any arena where safety and efficiency is warranted. We all realize pilots use checklists before flying airplanes. Gawande gives examples of how these checklists save lives. His stories keep the reader's attention on what he's going to say next. The take away from this book is how checklists used in hospitals are preventing mistakes in surgery and elsewhere. If I have to have surgery I want to ask the doctor if he uses such a checklist. Gawande convinced me that, although often times checklists seem to be rote, the times they save lives is worth the effort involved.
Gawande builds his case for checklists with case histories that are page turners and research data that convinces instead of glazing over the eyes of readers. This is a nonfiction book I can recommend.
The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande, Metropolitan Books, 2009.
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