Checklists
Did you know that simple checklists save lives? Check out this 6-minute TED talk to learn why checklists lowered death rates by 47% in surgery situations in one amazing intervention.
This idea has been developed further by the person who gave the talk, Dr Atul Gawande, in his book, “The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Done Right”. For those of us who aren’t ready for a full book on the topic, this 7-minute animation gives a great overview of how certain low-error industries (aviation and construction) use checklists to deliver extreme value.
The proper use of checklists may be one of the largest factors separating amateurs from professionals in many jobs, and is likely a skill that can aid someone making a career or industry transition. Hence, they are of interest to those of us working on career acceleration.
The animation notes that checklists are used to certify the completion of deliverables within projects and ensure that process quality remains at a high level. This relates to a great quote on professionalism:
There are three qualities that make someone a true professional. These are the ability to work unsupervised, the ability to certify the completion of a job or task and, finally, the ability to behave with integrity at all times.
― Subroto Bagchi
Checklists can really help someone “level up” the skill of certifying the completion of a job or task while minimizing error rates and the need to be managed.
Tunapanda Institute has been using a modified version of holacracy for over 3 years to manage our various teams (called “circles” in holacractic terms). As we go into a phase of updating our circles’ visions, metrics (OKRs), projects, and processes we also need to ensure that our checklists align to the needs of the organization and each circle.
The holacratic tactical meeting process (the process which ensures that most work is done) includes it’s own “ordered checklist” that helps meetings proceed smoothly without forgetting things. One item in that process is the “checklist review”.
This article on Tactical Meetings 101 is an excellent refresher that explains the science behind these meetings. It states the goal of the “checklist review” component is to: “bring transparency to recurring actions”.
Transparency is very important in self-managing teams/organizations as it enables trust. However, this is only true when there is a culture that allows people to learn from their failures, rather than feel shame when they don’t live up to their full potential.
So remember: in an innovative place where it’s safe to try things and fail -> transparency brings trust -> checklists bring transparency. Thus, high-quality checklists can drive high-quality innovation.
