Checklists

I finished reading a fascinating book--The Checklist Manifesto--by Atul Gawande.  The concepts in this book support Harry Wong's word about the importance of procedures.  The following are some excerpts from the book. 

#1  They [checklists] remind us of the minimum necessary steps and make them explicit.  They not only offer the possibility of verification but also instill a kind of discipline of higher performance. 

#2  First, how could they be sure that they had the right knowledge in hand?  Second, how could they be sure they were applying this knowledge correctly?

#3  ...under conditions of complexity, not only are checklists a help, but they are required for success.  There must always be room for judgment, but judgment added--and even enhanced--by procedure.

#4  Good checklists, ..., are precise.  They are efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations.  They do not try to spell out everything...Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps--the ones that even highly skilled professionals using them could miss.  Good checklists are, above all, practical. 

#5  We don't like checklists.  They can be painstaking.  They're not much fun...It somehow feels beneath us to use a checklist, an embarrassment.  It runs counter to deeply held beliefs about how the truly great among us--those we aspire to be--handle situations of high stakes and complexity.  The truly great are daring.  They improvise.  They do not have protocols and checklists.
Maybe our idea of heroism needs updating.

#6  The fear people have about the idea of adherence to protocol is rigidity.  They imagine mindless automatons, heads down in a checklist...But what you find, when a checklist is well made, is exactly the opposite.  The checklist gets the dumb stuff out of the way, the routines your brain shouldn't have to occupy itself with...

#7  All learned occupations have a definition of professionalism, a code of conduct... they all have at least three common elements.  First, is an expectation of selfessness...Second is an expectation of skill: that we will aim for excellence in our knowledge and expertise.  Third is an expectation of trustworthiness: that we will be responsible in our personal behavior toward our charges. 
Aviators, however, add a fourth expectation, discipline:  discipline in following prudent procedure and in functioning with others...
Discipline is hard...We are not built for discipline.  We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail.  Discipline is something we have to work at.