"The checklist is one of the most
high powered productivity tool ever discovered. If you don't have a checklist,
you're much more likely to forget something."_Brian Tracy
Few years ago, in
the city where I lived, a five-story building near completion fell and crumbled
to the ground in an instant. It was a colossal loss of lives and money.
As investigation
revealed, the collapse was totally preventable; it happened because the site
engineer had neglected an essential step in the process of construction.
This incident is
what inspired today’s article. And it is intended to safeguard us from a preventable
mistake like this in the construction of our own projects. So, I am going to
share a practical tool that we can benefit from, if we are willing to use it, in
any area of our lives.
Though it is not
something extraordinary by definition but its value can be huge. What I am referring
to, is just a simple list of all the steps necessary that we
outline—beforehand—for the realization of any outcome that we desire.
To get the idea of
its value, we need to recognize that, the heavy loss suffered in the above narration
would have been avoided, if the site engineer had rightly made use of a
checklist.
Atul Gawande
is a renowned surgeon who published a book entitled: ‘The Checklist Manifesto:
How to Get Things Right.’ In the book, he writes:
“Checklists
turn out...to be among the basic tools of the quality and productivity
revolution in aviation, engineering, construction - in virtually every field
combining high risk and complexity.”
And he
continues by saying that: “Checklists seem lowly and simplistic, but they help
fill in for the gaps in our brains and between our brains.”
As humans
we are far from perfect. Not even the smartest and the brightest of men is completely
free from making a mistake or omitting a step in a process. No one is
infallible, except God, the Almighty.
So to ensure
necessary safeguards when the stakes are high, it is important that we make use
of a checklist.
Steven
Levitt, the co-author of the book, ‘Freakonomics’ thinks in this direction. He
admits: “No matter how expert you may be, well-designed checklists can improve
outcomes.”
Evidently, forgetfulness
can cause things to go very wrong. This is true, whether we are looking at the
construction industry, the airline industry, medical sector or any business for
that matter; this is even true in our personal lives.
So if we
want to function at our best in any capacity, checklists need to become our functional
companion.
Let’s Prepare Our Checklist Now
The thing
to keep in mind about an effective checklist is that it should be designed
based on what is essential. To be
clear, an essential step is a step that can cause a trouble if missed or
forgotten.
Therefore, the main
goal of a checklist is to prevent human error, thereby ensuring that we do
things the right way at the very first time.
To create an
effective checklist, we should avoid making the list too long as Atul Gawande concludes
in his book:
"Good
checklists are to the point, and easy to use. They do not try to spell out
everything. Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and
important steps."
Now, if we
adhere to checklists, things will go quite right. We won’t have to think about every
single step. Since the steps are already written and organized, we can easily direct
all our attention to what really needs to get done.
Finally,
with the right use of a well-designed checklist, we can ensure high-level
consistent performance in any field of practice, even the most convoluted ones.
