The Checklist Manifesto
How To Get Things Right
by Atul Gawande · first published 2010
58% recommend37% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Short, readable case for checklists as a way to get things right, drawing on aviation, surgery and construction. Suits engineers, managers and anyone building reliable processes, including the human side of teams.
Common criticism: Some find it padded; the original New Yorker article covers the core idea
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Reveals the surprising power of the ordinary checklist now being used in medicine, aviation, the armed services, homeland security, investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds.
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…material is derived from this real life account of being embedded in Baltimore's homicide unit: https://books.google.com/books/about/Homicide.html?id=N8LS0b... All of Atul Gawande's books, notably: The Checklist Manifesto [1]: http://atulgawande.com/book/the-checklist-manifesto/ Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance: http://atulgawande.com/book/better/ [1] You can read the essay that this book is based on in the New…
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗This is described in the book called "the checklist manifesto". Very good book by the way. https://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right/...
on “Post-surgical deaths in Scotland drop by a third, attributed to a checklist” ↗Atul Gawande wrote the Checklist Manifesto (http://gawande.com/the-checklist-manifesto) which goes into a lot more detail about all this. I would thoroughly recommend reading it if you want to improve how you get stuff done.
on “The Checklist (2007)” ↗Have you ever read The Checklist Manifesto[0]? I may be reading too much into this post, but the lessons you learned from this interview process have frighteningly close parallels to the lessons in the books. I doubt the book had any influence…
on “The Hiring Post” ↗I'd like to mention two books because I can't decide which is greatest (they're very different): - The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (often quoted here, and rightly so; it's short and really really great) - How to Live, or A life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell (a fantastic take on Montaigne's essays by a contemporary…
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗…with that DanielBMarkham it's "the people part of things is where you'll screw up", so I'd focus on communication and team-building as much as processes. I've found a few books really useful: * The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6667514-the-checklist-ma...) * Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6452796-drive) *…
on “Ask HN: Dev promoted to more strategic role in startup. What literature?” ↗Non-fiction: * 'Better' by Atul Gawande (also his 'Complications' and of course 'The Checklist Manifesto') * 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' by Bill Bryson. Fiction: * 'Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders' by Neil Gaiman * 'The Name of the Wind' by Patrick Rothfuss Graphic novels ("comics"):…
on “Ask HN: What are the best books you've read in the past year?” ↗Here's the book on this topic- The Checklist Manifesto https://smile.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Righ...
on “GitLab Database Incident – Live Report” ↗…WITH checklist: Nurse: Dr, you missed step #4. Dr: I'm sorry, you are correct. We all agreed that was a necessary step and I missed it. As have others in sibling threads, highly recommend Gawande's Checklist Manifesto.
on “Post-surgical deaths in Scotland drop by a third, attributed to a checklist” ↗…and work together. 3. "High Output Management" by Andrew Grove on overall technical management. 4. "Measure What Matters" by John Doerr on setting objectives and measuring their progress. 5. "The Checklist Manifesto" by Atul Gawande on thinking through replicable processes. 6. "Who" by Geoff Smart on hiring. 7. "Start with Why" by Simon Sinek and "The Culture Code" by Daniel Coyle on creating culture and reasons…
on “Ask HN: What makes a good technical leader – any recommended books?” ↗I can thoroughly recommend reading Atul Gawande's "Checklist Manifesto". The premise, on the face of it, is mundane, but the stories that back up the claims are thoroughly enjoyable to read. http://atulgawande.com/book/the-checklist-manifesto/
on “Surgeon Atul Gawande selected as CEO of new health care company from Amazon” ↗Required reading: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande.
on “How to Get Startup Ideas” ↗http://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right/d... This is a book on the topic you brought up. Doctor's have too much ego to follow a checklist. It doesn't make sense however since extremely smart people in the military and nasa…
on “Why do we regulate driving more than some medical procedures?” ↗This dovetails nicely with Atul Gawande's book "The Checklist Manifesto". Certainly we can't completely automate medical diagnosis and treatment, but we could go a lot further than we have thus far.
on “The Wrong Stuff: NASA Astronaut on Making and Fixing Mistakes” ↗Good list. I'd add 'The Checklist Manifesto' by Atul Gawande ( http://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right/d... ), about how experts with decades of experience in highly complex tasks can still benefit from simple, short and obvious…
on “Ask HN: What books to read on developing mental models and increasing cognition?” ↗