As testers, we often use checklists, such as a Definition of Done, so I was drawn to this book when it was suggested at the Profound Deming Bookclub.
Atul Gawande tells the story of how he was asked by the World Health Organisation(WHO) to develop a global programme to reduce avoidable deaths and harm from surgery and used a checklist to do so. He used knowledge from other professions to create the checklist.
Ineptitude and ignorance are causes of failure. We can reduce failures caused by ineptitude by applying “the knowledge we have consistently and correctly”. [1]
As a result of a test flight for a Flying Fortress that resulted in an air crash, a checklist was created for pilots. The checklist enabled the plane to be flown safely.[2] A checklist reduced infections in Michigan’s hospitals [3]. The construction industry has checklists that specify communication tasks which make everyone work as part of a team that takes each other’s concerns into account. [4]
Checklists “are not comprehensive how-to guides”. “They are quick simple tools aimed to buttress the skills of expert professionals”[5]
The first checklist that Gawande created for the WHO was too long, and lessons were taken from the aviation industry to improve it. A new checklist for the WHO was tested in eight institutions around the world. The test showed that the checklist was successful. The team was concerned that this was due to the Hawthorne Effect, but they could prove that it was not. The checklist “aimed for a team conversation” [6] and it had improved communication. The improvement in communication was the key to the improved results.[7] The two-minute WHO checklist helped teams embrace a culture of teamwork and discipline[8]. The WHO checklist has saved and is saving, many lives.
Some people may feel that checklists are “beneath us”. If that is how you feel you should remember that Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberg used checklists to save lives when birds hit his plane over New York.[9]
The WHO checklist was created by drawing on the experience of professionals from more than one industry. Checklists can improve communication and help teamwork. This book can be used to help testers create checklists by learning from the experience of others, for instance by creating checklists that help to improve communication within their team.
References
[1] The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (2011, p10)
[2] The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (2011, p34)
[3] The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (2011, p44)
[4] The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (2011, p65)
[5] The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (2011, p128)
[6] The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (2011, p137)
[7] The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (2011, p156)
[8] The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (2011, p160)
[9] The Checklist Manifesto How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande (2011, p173)
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