Andre Metzger
Even if you're sold on the value, beware checklist creep. A checklist doesn't mean huge binders full of obsessive and likely counterproductive ISO 9000-style process documentation. As Pronovost says, "One mistake I've seen in health care is that people will produce these 200-page process guidelines that nobody ever reads." You're not trying to create a high-resolution photograph of the status quo. In fact, if the status quo worked perfectly, you wouldn't need a checklist, you'd need a bonus.
Checklists help us avoid blind spots in complex scenarios. Hospitals have saved thousands of lives by following a simple five-step process for inserting IV lines. Where could your business benefit from a checklist?
Checklists simply make big screwups less likely. "We wanted people to standardize on the mission-critical elements--the areas where we have the strongest evidence," Pronovost says. "And these things that are mission critical, we've got to do them every time."
What does your business have to do every time? Put it in a checklist. You may not save a life, but you'll avoid a painful blind spot.
Read more Made to Stick columns
Dan Heath and Chip Heath are the best-selling authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.
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Recent Comments | 14 Total
March 15, 2008 at 5:32pm by Syamant Sandhir
A very nice post.
An example comes to mind, while developing the experience of a bike service centre , a checklist was sought to be designed for diagnosing the bike . The best service advisor could ask only about 15 percent or so questions in a role play situation. The same person when asked to list the questions in a checklist added more in much the same amount of time.
It turned out to be the best way to get over resistance in implementing a checklist. The downside was that it became monotonous and the rigour was lost at a later point in time. But it was addressed.
Its important though that the checklist does not become plastic and retains the warmth of the customer promise.
April 21, 2008 at 9:11am by
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If I had a choice, I wouldn't go to any hospital that didn't use our LifeWings safety system.
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