Are you desperate to execute a task flawlessly? More so when it mandates execution of simple sequential actions — mostly repetitive. As while doing so there is a high probability of you missing some steps, either inadvertently or due to overconfidence — resulting in catastrophic failures and even life-threatening situations. Checklists are routinely used in industries (like aviation, medical) where mistakes can result in loss of life and damage public property. How unfortunate would it be if an accident occurs due to the pilot failing to execute even one of the many simple actions needed to fly the aircraft? Some recent accidents in the aviation industry are attributed to this fact. See the recent blog ( The Importance of Checklists: 4 Accidents That Checklist Use Could Have Prevented) pointing to this fact.
Checklists are all part of our lives but mostly in an unstructured form. We tend to unconsciously memorize and follow them with a reasonable accuracy. These are called mental checklists. But sometimes we fail to execute some crucial steps, thereby leading to serious mistakes. This slippage could be on account of two reasons. First, the task in hand is not repetitive in nature (to be executed every day) and therefore all the steps (leading to the completion of the task) are new — making it difficult if not impossible to just rely on memory. Second, our memory might fail on account of the slightest of distractions or changes in the external environment — resulting in us missing very simple steps which we had been executing flawlessly. For example, a slight shift in the “wake-up time”, or change in the location of resting place, can cause stress, thereby resulting in us missing steps which under normal circumstance was so easy to execute.
So if we risk failures in tasks that we perform daily, then think how difficult it will be to ensure flawless execution of those tasks which are not routine in nature. That is why drafting a formal checklist to guide through the steps are so important. These checklists are also useful to prevent mishaps when the opportunity costs are very high. For example writing exams, making board presentations etc. One has to make a lot of advance preparation for these events, and a mess up can be very painful.
Checklists do not need any skills or intelligence to draft. It is just an aggregation of obvious and simple steps which are trivial to identify. But if used properly, can prevent mistakes which we cannot afford to commit. As not doing so can lead to huge inefficiencies and loss of opportunities, especially for which we have prepared heavily. Hence, do not trust your memory in situations when you are desperate to execute flawlessly. Use Checklist!
