The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right

I found this book much more interesting than a lot of nonfiction books I've read lately, but it still had that same feeling of "I want to convince you that this thing is good, so I'm going to spend 200 pages telling stories about people who were already convinced".

The stories were actually interesting, though. Demonstrating how experts in construction, aviation, and medicine rely on checklists so they won't trip over the mundane aspects of their jobs. I guess the point is to show that these respected professionals use checklists, so the reader shouldn't feel as if they were beneath them.

I could have used a bit more advice on how to make a useful checklist. There was some in a few places, but it was definitely not the point.

Frankly speaking, it got somewhat dull by the end of it;
it may be something about the translation (Polish version) but I doubt it, it is slightly characteristic of the 'business-like' brochures like this one as the target audience is evident.
But enjoyed it a lot, especially the cases described in a very lively manner - got me into aeronautics & construction books, and couldn't resist :D

This is exactly the type of book that you would want a COVID transition advisor to the new presidential administration to write. Glad he found the time to serve on the board between endocrine surgery, Harvard teaching, and his multiple director and chairman positions.

Yeah, it's 200+ pages about checklists—but Atul Gawande's writing and entertaining stories make it fly by. I did laugh when he wrote "One more aviation story, this one relatively recent", but I didn't find the stories boring or repetitive at all. Through the undeniable efficiency of checking off boxes, this book advocates for the implementation of simple systems wherever possible. Also discussed is room to act and adapt, introductions and roll calls, improvisation, and separating complexity from routine.

It seems kind-of crazy that someone can write an entire book on checklists. But Atul Gawande has done just that, and in a way that is interesting and informative. His argument is geared toward the use of checklists in surgical situations. However, he does address other situations where checklists would improve outcomes. Overall, a good read.

This book could be much shortened. In fact much of it is just rambling... If you're looking for how to make good checklists this book won't really tell you. You're left reading between the lines and drawing your own conclusions from the stories the author tells about why checklists are important.

One big idea: make simple checklists for important, but easy to forget processes. It'll reduce your errors, and free up your brain to think about the harder parts of the problems you're solving.

I'd have rated it higher if there were more guidance on how much is "enough" in writing a good checklist, or if it were even shorter. Gawande goes back and forth between medicine and aviation in his examples, and he could perhaps consolidate the narratives a bit better.

pro-libertate.net/20160103/285-read-checklist-manifesto

An excellent book which describes in detail why you should be doing one simple thing for your complicated tasks: making checklists.

The kind of book that should be 50 pages and cost $1.99, but essentially everyone who does complex tasks should own/read.

Simple, inexpensive, reliable tool that can eliminate a huge percentage of your problems. Sounds like good ROI. Why, then, is it so hard to get people to adopt checklists? Gawande has some ideas, but more importantly he offers proof upon proof -- in his gentle, convincing style -- of just how well checklists can work in real-world situations. This is important stuff.