The Checklist Manifesto

January 11, 2010
Atul Gawande

We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, more advanced technologies: neither seems to prevent grievous errors. There is a remedy in the most humble and simple of all techniques: the checklist. We can identify successful people in many fields who turn to checklists to pull off some of the most difficult tasks, and places where the impact of the checklist is huge:
-in the complex world of surgery, a simple ninety second checklist has cut the rate of fatalities by a third
-a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units that has virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection
-a restaurant where checklists allow a kitchen and dining room to run like a finely tuned symphony
Aside from the great successes there is an inevitable resistance to accepting the discipline of a checklist-a tension between the autonomy experts want and the sense of discipline success actually requires.

Speaker Details

Dr. Atul Gawande is a general surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a staff writer for The New Yorker, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. He is also a MacArthur Fellow and the bestselling author of two previous books on medical reform: Better and Complications. Gawande has published research studies in areas ranging from surgical technique to US Military care for the wounded to error and performance in medicine. He is the director of the World Health Organization’s Global Challenge for Safer Surgical Care.