The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780805091748)

The New York Times bestselling author of Being Mortal and Complications reveals the surprising power of the ordinary checklist.

We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies--neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third.

In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds.

An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential reading for anyone working to get things right.

Author: Atul Gawande
ISBN-10: 0805091742
ISBN-13: 9780805091748
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
Language: English
Published: 12/22/2009
Pages: 224
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.70w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal Prepub Alert 09/15/2009 pg. 44
Publishers Weekly 11/30/2009 pg. 39
New York Times Book Review 01/24/2010 pg. 7
Harvard Business Review 03/01/2010 pg. 130
People Weekly 06/21/2010 pg. 63
BookPage 12/01/2010