The Checklist Manifesto Summary (5/10)

In the spirit of The Checklist Manifesto, I will keep this summary short.

High stakes mean that margin of error is low. Surgeons and pilots must minimize error because of high stakes. They love checklists.

If your work doesn’t save lives, it’s okay. You can still improve the quality of what you produce. Use checklists to do that.

There are 2 types of checklists:

DO-CONFIRM — everything is done from memory, then stopped and checklist is checked

READ-DO — you carry out the tasks as you read

Before starting checklist:

• Set clear objectives
• Define a pause point to put checklist into action
• Choose type of list – Do-confirm/ Read-do List
• Designate person to put checklist into action

Developing Checklist:

• Keep it short. Less than 10 items
• Focus on Killer Items (critical points)
• Use Simple Language
• 1 Page Only
• No Clutter, distracting colors
• Sans Serif Font

Testing Checklist:

• Get feedback from experience
• Make sure it fits workflow and detects errors at the right time
• Make sure it is not time consuming
• Re-test and fix until it works consistently
• Fix schedule for future fixes

YARPP List

Related posts:

1. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Summary (7/10)
2. Choose Yourself Summary (6/10)
3. The Founder’s Dilemmas Summary (8/10)
4. The New New Thing Summary (8/10)