Book Review: The Checklist Manifesto

The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things right by Atul Gawande, MD.

As pilots, we normally find checklists to be secondnature.  Even if called upon to createchecklists most of us can do a pretty reasonable job.  But what about those who are not pilots?

Checklists are an anomaly in many workplaces, includinguntil recently, the medical field.  Dr.Gawande describes his journey in learning about the checks necessary to buildcomplex high rises, visits Boeing Aircraft headquarters, and relates his experiencesfrom testing and implementing checklists around the world with the World HealthOrganization (WHO).  More than “just”checklists, this book also has a sharp focus on good Crew Resource Management(CRM) skills.

This book is recommended for anyone new to the concept ofchecklists and CRM, as well as those who have been tasked to create checklists;several resources are provided for the latter. For many years now, we’ve seen flight school aircraft checklists become longerand longer – quite possibly making them less effective!  Gawande explains why in his book.

From the checklist’s humble beginnings in the US Army AirCorp in 1935, this straight forward and interesting read tracks the developmentof a tool many of us take for granted.