In his latest bestseller Atul Gawande shows what the simple idea of the checklist reveals about the complexity of our lives and how we can deal with it.
The modern world has given us stupendous know-how. Yet avoidable failures continue to plague us in health care government the law the financial industryin almost every realm of organized activity. And the reason is simple: the volume and complexity of knowledge today has exceeded our ability as individuals to properly deliver it to peopleconsistently correctly safely. We train longer specialize more use ever-advancing technologies and still we fail. Atul Gawande makes a compelling argument that we can do better using the simplest of methods: the checklist. In riveting stories he reveals what checklists can do what they cant and how they could bring about striking improvements in a variety of fields from medicine and disaster recovery to professions and businesses of all kinds. And the insights are making a difference. Already a simple surgical checklist from the World Health Organization designed by following the ideas described here has been adopted in more than twenty countries as a standard for care and has been heralded as ??the biggest clinical invention in thirty years?? (The Independent).
Amazon.com ReviewAmazon Best Books of the Month?? December 2009: With a title like The Checklist Manifesto?? it would be natural to expect that Atul Gawande is bent on revolutionizing that most loved-hated activity of workers the world over: the to-do list. But it's not the list itself he wants to change; the"e no programmatic steps or tables here to help you reshuffle daily tasks. What you'll find instead is a remarkably liberating and persuasive inquiry into what it takes to work successfully and with a personal sense of satisfaction. The first thing you'll realize is that it takes more than just one person to do a job well. This is a toppling revelation made all the more powerful by Gawande's skillful blend of anecdote and practical wisdom as he profiles his own experience as a surgeon and seeks out a wide range of other professions to show that a team is only as strong as its checklist--by his definition?? a way of organizing that empowers people at all levels to put their best knowledge to use?? communicate at crucial points?? and get things done. Like no other book before it?? The Checklist Manifesto is at once a restorative call to action and a welcome voice of reason. --Anne BartholomewOver the past decade?? through his writing in The New Yorker magazine and his books Complications and Better?? Atul Gawande has made a name for himself as a writer of exquisitely crafted meditations on the problems and challenges of modern medicine. His latest book?? The Checklist Manifesto?? begins on familiar ground?? with his experiences as a surgeon. But before long it becomes clear that he is