In this excellent Quartz summary ‘Checklists‘, the history and benefits of this tool are explained in detail. The most amazing is the level of benefits that can be extracted from such a simple tool, that we should certainly use more often.
As to benefits: “In the WHO’s initial pilot study of eight hospitals in eight international cities the checklist was associated with a one-third reduction in deaths and complications from surgery.” And checklists have only become mainstream in medical care in the 2000’s with a WHO initiative!
The history is interesting too: “it was systemic complexity that gave rise to the first formal checklist in the 1930s.” – when crew realized they needed to have checklist before taking off on a new, ultra-complicated bomber airplane. Therefore, checklists are a tool to tackle complicated or even complex situations.
We often underestimate the power of such tools when dealing with repetitive, but complicated situations. Let’s systematize checklists!
