TOW #12 The Checklist Manifesto

            We often use checklists for simple procedures like running errands on the weekend or completing homework.  Yet what if we applied the checklist to more complicated processes, such as running a hospital or disaster-recovery efforts?  In his book, The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande proposes applying checklists to nearly every facet of our lives, no matter how difficult or complex they may seem.  Gawande is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and has written for publications such as The New Yorker and Slate. 

In the various works he has published, Gawande describes his life as a surgeon and how his model for efficiency has greatly improved the success of the hospitals at which he operates.  For example, the second chapter of his book details how medical staff at the Johns Hopkins I.C.U. managed to bring down the rate of infections from 11% to 0% after introducing a five-point checklist.  Gawande once again employs logos to illustrate the checklist’s effectiveness by citing a study that details the effect of instituting a hospital checklist on post-surgery complications.  He writes, “In seven out of eight, it was a double-digit percentage drop. This thing was real.”  Gawande also includes various other anecdotes to emphasize the importance of checklists, including the story of army pilot checklists in 1935.  Throughout the beginning of the book, Gawande’s eloquent and well-substantiated opinion that checklists are a vital part of our society rings clear.  In this way, he hopes to inspire others to include checklists in their daily lives as well.