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.