The New York Times bestselling author of Better 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.

Delivery was promt and the condition of the book was as promised, used but looks like brand new!

Save your money and time - you don't need to read this book. The premise is simple - checklists help reduce errors in complex tasks. The author then wastes your time telling stories about how different industries use checklists and lo and behold it reduces errors. The author makes a good point and this simple idea is helpful and can be used across more professions, but this should have been a 20 page e-book, not a full length book.

Persuasive and compelling from start to finish, Gawande has written a gem. Who knew that checklists could be so interesting, or so important as an organizing principle to enable better professional performance? The singular achievement of this book is to convince you that checklists can (and should) apply to many more endeavors than just aviation's famous pre-flight checklist. Given the pedestrian ho-hum associations I had of checklists it's remarkable to be convinced of the radical improvements enabled by something so simple. Far from being robotic instructions that switch off thinking, a well implemented checklist empowers performance and innovation, especially in any complex undertaking. Gawande repeatedly illustrates the power of checklists by using case histories drawn from his own professional world (he's a practicing surgeon: wow, such interesting things happen in an operating room!). But he also draws from many other professional walks of life, everything from skyscraper construction to hedge fund analysis. Like only the best kind of non-fiction writing can do, Gawande's book doesn't just show you the data and pattern of a better idea, it promotes and enables insights as you read the book. I had many ah-ha! moments when I could connect the dots and see exactly how to profitably use checklists in my own work. Manifesto indeed!

This book is about the value of the "lowly" checklist. It is written by a working surgeon, a two-time author, a contributor to the New Yorker, and a consultant to the World Health Organization on, among other things, checklists. It is, as I write. the #1 best selling book on Amazon in the subcategory of Surgery.

It talks about how checklists have, and are, in real life around the world saving lives, eliminating mistakes and saving hospitals and patients millions of dollars. The breadth of the impact is extraordinary.

While this book will be fascinating from a medical or social sciences perspective, and would make great cocktail party conversation fodder, that is not why I recommend you read it.

Underneath that level of content, the book is about change, personal organizational and global. It brings together various professions, beyond medicine to illustrate it's points. It is also about quality, quality improvement and the value of documented work processes

As a leader these two issues - change and quality are both highly important. To read about them in an enlightened, entertaining and highly thought provoking way from a book that isn't completely "about" those subjects makes it even more valuable.

This is a book to read and enjoy. It may make you more interesting at your next dinner party. It may change the way you think about health care and your next surgery. It can also make a difference in your ability to lead.

This book is highly recommended. Get your copy today.

Great read, if a bit frightening in what it reveals about the worldwide medical establishment!

Medicine aside, Gawande's highly intelligent handling of the issue of how to address the challenges of complex work without "dumbing it down" is an important point in eliminating the causes of incredibly common yet mundane errors in many industries.

Anyone in the business of improving performance must read this book to get the valuable insights and validation from around the world on how to best craft and use checklists. Even people who believe they're already familiar with checklists (like myself) will learn something new -- whether it's a better way to view the role of checklists or merely a useful way to introduce the idea to users.

The book provides clear examples of what happens when checklists don't work and why as well as what happens when checklists do work and how to make them work. There is no room for arrogance when getting things done right equals lives on the line. There is also no room for worrying about "compliance" when what's important is results.

Not using checklists could mean the difference between life and death (literally). Using checklists poorly can still cost lives and more commonly, business losses.

This is a business book as much as it is one about "getting things right". Getting things right is an early step in the path towards excellence. In fact, it's one of the first steps. And, you can't get things right if you do the "easy" stuff poorly.