The Checklist Manifesto
"Four generations after the first aviation checklists went into use, a lesson is emerging: checklists seem able to defend anyone, even the experienced, against failure in many more tasks than we realized. They provide a kind of cognitive net. They catch mental flaws inherent in all of us—flaws of memory and attention and thoroughness."
— Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto (2009)
Introduction
| The Checklist Manifesto | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Full title | The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right |
| Author | Atul Gawande |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Patient safety; Quality assurance in health care; Process improvement |
| Genre | Nonfiction; Self-help |
| Publisher | Metropolitan Books (Henry Holt and Company) |
Publication date | 22 December 2009 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover, paperback); e-book; audiobook |
| Pages | 224 |
| ISBN | 978-0-8050-9174-8 |
| Goodreads rating | 4/5 (as of 10 November 2025) |
| Website | us.macmillan.com |
Chapter summary
This outline follows the Metropolitan Books first U.S. hardcover edition (22 December 2009), ISBN 978-0-8050-9174-8.[1][2]
I – How to Get Things Right
🧩 1 – The problem of extreme complexity.
📝 2 – The checklist.
🏗️ 3 – The end of the master builder.
💡 4 – The idea.
🧪 5 – The first try.
🏭 6 – The checklist factory.
🧭 7 – The test.
🛡️ 8 – The hero in the age of checklists.
🆘 9 – The save.
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References
- ↑ "The Checklist Manifesto". Macmillan. Henry Holt and Company. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
- ↑ "The checklist manifesto : how to get things right (First edition)". WorldCat. OCLC. Retrieved 10 November 2025.