Book Review: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande

This book was music to my ears! Using examples from the fields of building, aviation and, finally, medicine Surgeon Atul Gawande explains how a simple checklist saves lives.

This was the April book for the York Business BookClub and was met with enthusiasm right around the table. What was most interesting is how in an increasingly complex world of specialists the checklist does not restrict expertise or creativity, but it frees up the mind. In every job there are routine things that always need doing, by making them in to a checklist it takes it out of the head of just one person and enables the team to take responsibility for these tasks.

A good checklist evolves and responds to mistakes. It is simple, is not a record-keeping exercise and needs to have break points.

All of us will be taking the ideas from this book back to our businesses. Of course, none of us work in life or death situations, but we were all clear that we can offer a better service and be more efficient by introducing relevant checklists.

According to the BookClub facilitator, Ros Jones,  Sir Clive Woodward has just discovered and recommended this book too.

If you would like to join a Business BookClub in either York or Scarborough, you can read more here.