Habit of checklist a cure of many ills

After he landed US Airways Flight 1549 on the icy waters of the Hudson, Captain Chesley Sullenberger was lauded as a hero for guiding his 155 passengers to safety. But what about the role of his co-pilot, Jeffrey Skiles, and his checklist? The events of January 15 in New York might well have resulted in casualties were it not also for Mr Skiles’ faithful execution of his emergency engine-failure and water-ditching checklists. Gary Klein, a cognitive psychologist, says such lists are vital to those who make critical decisions under pressure: “The Hudson River pilots didn’t have a half-hour to decide what to do with the engines. Instead they need a checklist that has been compiled by people who have seen these situations before and considered the ways to respond.”

Lists of repetitive yet critical steps in stressful situations are familiar to airline pilots, firefighters and wedding planners. But managers in sectors including finance and healthcare are also beginning to be persuaded of the merit of low-tech prompts that require no more than a sheet of A4 and a pencil.Mr Klein, chief scientist of Applied Research Associates, a software supplier to the US military, says checklists are more than just a memory aid. “They are a safeguard against interruptions and they help teams co-ordinate. If you can trust everyone on your team or crew to follow the checklist, it makes everyone’s actions predictable.”

“Checklists clarify and make explicit what the expectations are. But you also need to create a culture that allows and encourages cross-checking.” Dr Pronovost prescribes different types of checklist according to the nature and risk-profile of the task (see below). The most basic is a series of read-and-do actions completed by just one person.