14 KEYS TO CREATE A CHECKLIST

LET'S IMAGINE YOU ARE A senior manager and you have the opportunity to increase productivity, workers' safety, team morale and become a more effective team.

Just like with the TV infomercial there is more!

This opportunity will close more sales, increase the top line, reduce re-work and increase the profitability of the organisation. And it is not going to cost you big bucks- for new tooling, equipment, training and more personnel.

You would be crazy, if not negligent, not to at least find out more about this wonderkid of a development ? Yes? Yes!

Atul Gawande (@Atul_Gawande) in his book Checklist Manifesto writes of the origin of Checklists. A successful surgeon and author Gawande draws on his own experience to operate, literally, in a world of growing complexity.

At first, he writes of his own experience in the world medicine but broadens it to take in all areas of our community and life. Gawande was concerned by the exponential increase of surgical operations worldwide combined with complexity and specialisation of medicine, resulting in millions of deaths and disabilities that were not decreasing with the economies of scale.

With investigation, Atul realised, that level of death and disabilities from surgery came not so much from the fault of ignorance of knowledge, this was progressively being addressed by training and research break through, but the simple known aspects overlooked. What Gawande called ineptitude, where the knowledge exists but failed to be applied correctly.

Atul was asked by World Health Organisation (WHO) to improve Patient Care but without the support of a budget to invest in equipment or major training. He proposed Checklists be trialled in 8 hospitals in both developing and developed countries.

The result was a significant reduction in death and disabilities. It is now being rolled out in hospitals globally.

Checklists are not a To Do List.

Related but TO DO LIST is an endless list of things- both important and non important. A transactional, an analogue process which is often largely filled with just stuff (technical term is Crap).

A Checklist is concise and brief, comprising important items which MUST be done that moves us towards our Purpose or Goals. It is strategic 'must do’, having significant effect if it is not exercised.

Importantly Checklists will have a major effect on an organisation's results if the concept is understood and implemented in a correct manner. Its application doesn't require new million dollar machinery. Does not affect CapEx. In fact the cost to implement is minuscule . It's ROI incredible and impressive.

But it does require a much greater effort. It requires THINKING and Discipline to commitment.

But any CEO or Senior Manager has the courage to implement will be rewarded by great results and accolades.

Embracing Checklists will:

• Gain more prospects and clients-if included on a sales representatives Sales call Checklist, i.e. Last action before end of call: 'Ask for Referral’.
• Prevent error in prescribing drugs in Emergency (which happened to the writer’s relative and was fatal).
• Reduce rework (e.g., as simple as 'measure twice, cut once’).
• Get one last sale: 'Fries with that?'
• Facilitate cross selling ( ‘now is there anything we can further help you with…financial planning?"
• Focus employees in meetings (" Lets be clear on the purpose of todays meeting").

What's in it for me?

• Brings Focus to yourself, managers' and team as to what is important and what should be in focus
• Gives senior managers influence right to the frontline on correct process and procedures
• Ensures safety guidelines and shows diligence by senior managers to ensure they are complied- considering serious penalties for not following can be jail time.

14 Keys to Checklists 

1/ Know the difference between a Checklist and To Do List (often used wrongly and interchangeably).

2/ Ask what is the purpose of introducing a Checklist.

3/ Know that Checklists are limited to finite number of points - this could vary depending on the process but kept ideally kept to a minimum (a manageable and critical 5-7 items in many areas).

4/ Expressed in simple easy to understand language.

5/ Items included are 'must do', strategically aligned with the purpose and goals.

6/ Does not include items not regarded as important that would be done as a matter of course.

7/ The Checklist should be tested and trialled in operation until the correct items and number included are agreed.

8/ Implemented with a training program so there relevance and importance is understood and contrast to a To Do List.

9/ Can be Do and then Checkoff, or Check then Do.

10/ Could take a couple of minutes ( 90 seconds to 2 minutes- ideal to administer or complete).

11/ Checklist may be undertaken at pause points ( aircraft crew before pushback and then cockpit crew immediately before takeoff ).

12/ Could be adopted by a single person as a reminder and personal disciple to stay on track and help with their personal focus, or as an effective medium to coordinate a high performing team.

13/ Slowly introduce into your business where you can supervise the introduction.

14/ Must become a habit through repetition and used 100% at all times by senior management. ( Who are not exempt, or above the process because of rank.)

Be warned. As simple and as effective as Checklists are they will not be embraced by all in your business. There will be some who question their value, of having some of the items included and why it has to be strictly followed EVERY time.

These people, who are likely to pushback, should be consulted early and asked for their input, and understand why their support is crucial to the adoption of the new process of Checklists. They are often the most senior and most experienced. But also the most influential in adoption of change.

Atul Gawande acknowledges the pace and complexity of change has driven the necessity.

The volume and complexity of what we know has exceeded our individual ability to deliver its benefits correctly, safely, or reliably. Knowledge has both saved us and burdened us." 

It is a long way and time from the origin of Checklists, back to a 1936 crash of the prototype US military plane. An event which shaped the pre flight lists we are all familiar with flying, that have saved possibly millions of lives.

The origin of Checklists can be seen in the link to a preceding post:

http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/how-old-ww2-bomber-can-effect-your-bottomline-d-keith-millar/edit

In summary, senior managers willing to implement the merits of Checklists will not be disappointed with outstanding results and accolades on offer for their leadership.

if you found this blog interesting and of value we invite you to LIKE and SHARE for others also to gain from the benefits of CHECKLISTS. 

OTHER POSTS INCLUDE:

• Darwin Awards for Sales people
• What is your Coaching philosophy
• Remarkable People leave their mark

Checklists saves Lives and Dollars

 

Okay, okay I am a convinced.

"To what?” You ask.

To the importance and the necessity in today’s complex world of #Checklists.

There very existence has directly affected our freedom, the way we travel and our and our families’ health, big time.

Please let me explain. Beginning with a plane crash.

On October 30, 1935 at Wright Air Field in Dayton, Ohio a prototype military aircraft took off captained by Boeing’s most experienced test pilot, Major Ployer Hill.

This was no ordinary bomber. Nor was it just a run of the mill test flight (if there is such a thing).

The new super bomber was powered by 4 powerful engines, which would allow it to fly faster and twice as long than previous bombers and carry 5 times more bombs than the military requested. But this major advancement would come at a supreme price in that it was far more complex than any comparable military aircraft flown.

The flight was a trial to win the lucrative contract to be awarded by the US government at the lead up to the second world war.

The bomber crashed shortly after take off killing the experienced test pilot and another of the five member crew. Seemingly putting an end to the bombers possible inclusion in the US air force. In a subsequent inquiry it was deemed the aircraft with its four engines to complex for ordinary human beings to fly irrespective of their experience and capability.

End of story. Not quite.

A group comprising Boeing engineers, and a group of experienced test pilots, addressed the idea of complexity advocating and later to be adopted the measure of a checklist to overcome the frailty of the human memory and ability for the brain to operate in a high pressure environment. The result was the advent of the pre-flight checklist. The forerunner of what we all know and what gives us comfort in knowing that before each flight, there is a group of people at the pointy end running through a check list.

“Okay we have two engines, check, two wings-a starboard and a port, check…” Maybe not to that extent but those items critical to the well being and safety of the souls aboard.

Just like the many commercial applications that have spurned from the aviation and space industry you would have expected the Checklist to be another common day application in the making (remember plastic, teflon, navsat came from such developments).

Not so.

Fast forward 75 years.

The explosion of surgical operations worldwide (in 2004 230 million operations annually) resulting in 3-17% complication rate leaving 7million disabled and one million dead.

And has not seen an improvement from such scaling up the explosion in surgical operations. It was of such concern that the World Health Organisation wanted to address this major problem, but with no budget.

Hmm! Big problem. The question was how could surgery become safer but without the resource of money to promote the idea.

Enter a young surgeon with Bollywood  looks, not only the Brad Pit of his game but a fellow professor at Harvard Medical School.

Atul Gawande ( @Atul_Gawande), the learned professor, come surgeon had been seeking the answer why there were so many injuries and death from surgery.He saw that errors came in two forms. The first from insufficient knowledge and the second from incompetence, or ineptitude as he phrases.

Further training and better equipment could address the first. However the complexity of surgical operations resulted in the flourishing of ‘dumb’ errors by skilled surgeons and their surgery team who should have known better. It was in the ‘dumb stuff by experienced theatre staff that this proportion of theses errors were outgrowing the first of insufficient knowledge.

Atul began to develop on the idea of a Checklist adopted into surgery in early 2000 by surgeon Dr Peter Pronovost. The concept borrowed from Boeing, the sophisticated TO Do List and Project Management tool builders used to create the complex Skyscrapers , and dated back to the 1935 Boeing bomber prototype crash.

With WHO support and encouragement Gawanda arranged a trial run in 8 hospitals
 globally- spread over developed nations and poor countries. 

With no budget it relied on the goodwill and visionary of both Gawanda and the respective hospital management. The results were outstanding.From these initial results the Checklist program has rolled out globally and still the results outstanding, and an obvious success.

His greatest challenge was the ego, and gravitas of the surgeons and their teams who saw the Checklist as below them and challenged that they weren’t experienced to know what they were doing. On the contrary it was that they were highly skilled and experienced that they used short cuts and overlooked boring incidentals and the most basic but critical decisions and process. Even Gawande admits to mistakes he made while surgery that nearly killed a patient only saved because his surgery team followed the checklist.

The Checklist is more than a To Do List, it is concise list of key (i.e. Gawende calls killer steps) that must be followed.

It is surprising that it has taken three quarters of a century to be broadly adopted by the business community.You will ask: Has its application to business and management realised the sort of benefits experienced by the aviation and medical sector? You betcha.

It is has as much potential to affect productivity and decision making just as when Bethlehem Steel owner Charles Schwab parted company with serious money to reward a consultant to review how the steel work process can be improved. And the humble spiral note book become the 'it ‘ business accessory of the day.

Where else could the Checklist have relevance and major impact? Just about every aspect of life when applied. It has the potential to increase results, save money and has been shown save lives.

Such a tool when adopted could help close more sales, reduce rework, increase health and safety effectiveness , improve the performance of athletes, even help improve the results of investment decisions (as outlined by Gawande). And more, only limited by our imagination.

So what is the secret to developing a Checklist:

• It is simple and concise ( with no more than 7 items)
• Unlike a To Do list it only lists the critical points that must be undertaken ( Gawanda calls these killer items)
• Ideally used in groups of 2 or more people relies on people knowing each other and their roles
• Must be user friendly
• Can be Check and Do or Check then Do, in its form
• Takes 90 seconds to 2 minutes max. to complete
• Tested and refined in real life situations
• Can be done at specific pause points ( planes do it before they push back from the terminal then just before they rumble down the tarmac)

In summary the complexity that we now find ourselves apart has gone beyond the capability of one human being ( irrespective of how smart he or she could be).

Without an aid such as Checklist to human frailty and fallibility of the human memory. As Atul in his book #Checklist Manifesto makes mention the Checklist can best be used when there is humility by the decision makers in critical and complex stages and no longer the domain of one superhuman being.

If you are a leader in any area of the economy and looking to quantum improvement, and want to reap the reward of not relying on major investment or cost. With an effective communication and implementation program the Checklist is a no brainer. Even 75 years later after the initial Checklist came into use, it is still the potential force majeure.

Even in writing this blog using a Checklist:

• Identify topic
• Research and draft key points
• First draft
• Final Draft , sub edit, proof, spell & grammar check
• Headline- test
• Image- test

Seems okay . Now press Publish.

DARWIN AWARD for Sales people

I LOVE THE DARWIN Awards.

I can't imagine people being that, well... stupid!

Surely they must be urban myths and cannot be true.

Self selection giving evolution a helping hand by taking themselves out of the gene pool.

Maybe there should be a chapter for Sales people who put a lot of thought and effort into being sensationally unsuccessful in their pursuit of sales.

I have compiled a list of fatal sales process flaws and likely lack of success with a prospect even before they sit down. A self selection process that will certainly take them out of the gene pool of sales success, very quickly.

1/ What a stroke of luck, a car space next to the entrance.

Sales people are notoriously running 'just' on time, which often is judged as 5-7 minutes late. Rushing across town from one prospect to the next. Storming into the prospect's car park they will take the first available car park as close to the reception as possible to save those precious seconds.

Not seeing the sign which reserves the space for the Managing Director. In fairness sometimes there is no sign but it is 'common knowledge' that this is sacred land. The trespasser is unlikely to learn fast enough for future visits.

2/ Man I need a rest while I wait.

I will go on record that if you sit down in the reception area waiting for your client to come out of their office to meet for the first time you will not get the sale. Yes that is right. Tired or not, sitting whilst waiting for your prospect puts you in a major disadvantage when rising up as the prospect appears,the salesperson juggling iPhone briefcase, work papers as she simultaneously extends her hand like a circus soleil juggler. An awkward look the hapless salesperson immediately on the back foot. If you got a sale the last time you took to sit waiting, it is because they were desperate for what ever you were selling and not an overly bright monkey could have got the sale.

Even if you are tired and dying to take a few minutes off your feet. Don't.

3/ Yes Missy I am here for Mr Smith, Can you let him know!

Whilst I am sure most people are polite to the receptionist, sometimes salespeople do treat them patronisingly. Maybe its because of their age or their work is perceived as menial. Or maybe they have rushed across town and are a little off handed as a result. Never less a big mistake.

I was taught early in my career whilst not every one in an organisation can say YES everyone can say NO. You will never know what is said after you leave. Even a subtle enquiry by the receptionist to the manager. " Bob, who was that man?" says the receptionist. "Why?" says Bob. " Oh nothing, just he wasn't very friendly when he came in", she says. " Oh!" Says Bob. Strike one and now counting.

4/ Whoa, what a great set of...!

Even if the young receptionist is attractive, best keep those thoughts private. Moreover they shouldn't be shared with likes of the newly met prospect on the long walk to the meeting room.

Nepotism is not only found with the Bushs' and Clintons' in Washington, but is alive and well in small businesses where the owner's or manager's daughter might be earning some extra cash between university studies.

Its likely that when the salesperson calls back they may be patched through to the janitor or never to locate the manager they once met. Whilst also never comprehending why that once perky receptionist now sounds so offhanded.

5/ Chew gum at your leisure, Punk.

UK Skiffle king Lonnie Donegan sang about the taste qualities of chewing gum loosing its potency overnight, and medical research has found chewing gum can improve your memory, your health and even your sex life.

But chewing gum gives the impression of a badass, and mixed with pursuit of new business will prove fatal. In a professional environment  it shows a person with attitude. And who wants to buy from a person with attitude?

6/ Carrying baggage

Some people can’t let go the baggage they carry in and through the day.

A bad start with your partner or kids leaves the house and travels with you to your calls. Sometimes not easy but you have to leave your troubles at the front door, and if you must, pick them up when you return home. That black cloud follows you around and prospects see it like an aura surrounding you.

Similarly a bad end to the prior meeting can affect the next. You see it in sports athletes who make a major error on the field, and keep replaying it in their mind, as they try to focus on the next play.

7/ The Salvos your preferred designer Brand

My mum, no doubt like yours, preached the benefit of wearing clean underwear, and being in an accident. I think that the last thing I would be worrying about after involved in an accident. But that’s mothers for you.

Whilst very few salespeople I imagine turn up in their jocks their attention to their outer dress may leave a lot to be desired.

Unpressed shirts, "do you send your shirts out to be crumpled or do you it yourself?" you might ask. Slept-in suits (remember your dry cleaner is your friend not your enemy), un-cordinated ties and unclean well worn shoes. Whilst the state of someone's dress is apparent, the killer is the unpolished shoes. Maybe its part of my conditioning from, yes my mum the same one hang up on clean undies, but I automatically look at a person's feet, and can result with a damning perception of the standard and detail of the work even before a word has been said.

As they say you only have one chance to make a first impression.

8/ Wet fish handshake, a sweaty bod

Kinesthetic sense is a major, even subliminal, powerful way we perceive the world.

A light touch when we meet somebody can positively affect the outcome and success of a new relationship.

But the opposite can also occur with our first contact, the handshake.

We, often unconsciously, place a lot of immediate and long lasting importance on this. It should not be bone jarring, particularly with a male and a women meeting.

Nor should it be an insipid grip which reminds of handling a trout at the local fish market. Yuk!

Also important is the shape of the handshake. The attempt at a 'power handshake' by having your hand on top is a non-no. Whilst satisfying someones need for command and control is it is likely to kill the prospect of the sale

Also ignoring the olefatcor factor will have you on the nose. Arriving sweaty from the drive, or with a bad case of BO will certainly have the sales person memorable but for the wrong reasons. Deodorant is a must, and if you do wear perfume/ after shave a light dab rather than a heavy handed wallop.

9/ Dress for the Role not for Yourself

Many join in on the causal Friday dress code. And many don’t.

Irrespective of their code you should always aim to be slightly better dressed than the standard at the work site. Otherwise you might just get your days mixed ( "What I thought Friday was your dress down day?")

Some sales people dress to please their selves, not for the role. Let the sales results prove which is the preferred.

Don’t get me wrong I certainly am not a conservative in my style of address, nor am I big on conformity or uniform.

That is not the point.

Being dressed for the role is important and to be treated with common sense.

Also a creative person or tradesperson can give detrimental perception, even if they  turn up in a suit may be over dressed

Dress for the role.

Summary

These 'don'ts" might sound  pedantic and insignificant. Agreed. But they rightly or wrongly form the opinion of ourselves and our service or product.

I must admit that some, not all, I have been guilty of and found how important they were the hard way

People may buy our product or service, but in the end they buy from people. They buy from us.

And they're acceptance of us rests with how we mirror their perception and acceptances of their world.

Give yourself your best chance for success and not a reason to be rejected,  even before you sit with client to understand the problem.

Otherwise you may join the growing list of Darwin award winners.

7 Things I would tell a Younger me

 

What would you say to your younger self?

This is a question I pondered when I saw a photograph recently of a young man taken 30 years ago.

A picture of a young man with the innocence and bright eyes of hope and expectation.

About to graduate business school and enter a world with different rules and an environment harsher than the one he had grown up and protected from.

A photo I had never seen before, and couldn’t remember being taken, and one that rocked me some because the subject’s perceived naivety.

I wanted to ask him at that moment of time, what he hoped for, believed in, and what the future held?

In return I would give him the heads up. Maybe give him the edge to get ahead faster, further but not rob him of the challenge and exuberance of personal independence.

I saw as my 7 pearls of wisdom.A list that would not overwhelm him but serve him all his life. Give him a short cut.

"Keith, can I have a moment? Why yes” he says. "Who are you? You look familiar?” He adds.

"Lets say I know you and thought some words of advice might help. it could save you a lot of time, and emotion." I add.

"Yes, okay sounds okay."

“Please . If I could leave them with you, but then I must rush and won’t be able to discuss them.

"But we’ll catch up in the future.”

“Okay.” He looks bewildered and puzzled but respectful as I knew he would be.

I begin.

1/ What goes around, Comes around

Don’t worry where you start, it only matters where you finish. Over time those who finish first, will finish last and vice versa.

Life is unpredictable. Play the hand you are dealt. Never compare yourself with another be it money, skill, family, looks or material

goods. Because when we compare, we draw comparison with someone’s best with our worst. A comparison that will never win for you.

If you hang in there, and want it badly enough, you will achieve it, have it, or become it over time.

2/ Don’t become Good, become Great

The world is full of good people. Good has become the new normal of mediocre. If you think people are scared of failure wait to you find how people

are more afraid of something else. Success. Of being great. Why you might ask? You will be warned by others, people who are your closest

in a bid to save your from hurt, disappointment. Don’t aim so high. Have realistic expectations they will say. They know if you become great at something it threatens their own standing. Their own self esteem and acceptance of mediocre. The most competition takes place at the ‘good' level. Its rarified air where the “great’ populate. Aim for the stars. Live your dreams Remember the competition is at its most at the level of good.

3/ When the Student is ready, the Teacher will come.

You are about to graduate from RMIT. Good. Now the learning starts. You think now you have finished that you should be entitled to top dollar from the getgo.

Son the learning is only now about to start. Your ‘piece of paper’ just gets you into the game. It is no guarantee you will get a job, and if you do, you will feel you are underpaid for that job, fore in your mind it doesn’t match the level of effort and training you have had. You are about to learn a major life lesson, unless you are joining the public service, which you aren’t, you are paid in arrears for results not time. Your best employers' will select you on your attitude and not on your skill.

You are about to become part of one of the most dynamic periods of human existence and change will be exponential.You will be both challenged but rewarded if you keep ahead of the change continuum. The only thing you must do is become a life long learner. Many will not. There is the opportunity.

4/ In Credit we Distrust.

With prosperity, which you will be front centre of, will come all sort of ‘toys’ and 'must haves'. What’s more you will want it all, and now. You will not earn enough fast enough to pay for them all. Enter credit. Eager. Seducing banks and financial institutions.

You will appease your conscious knowing that there is arguably good debt and bad debt. I will not be able in your early years to stop you falling under the spell of such economic devices. But I do say to you seek out and learn to understand the concept of Compound Interest. Better known as the 8th wonder of the world.

5/ To have good friend, be a good friend

You have established good relationships with many friends, through family school and soon work. Many of these people will wash through your life, just as you will with them. That is not a disadvantage or a negative but whilst you have common goals your relationship will be tight and meaningful.

But as time, jobs and roles change so will the range and composition of these colleagues and associates. But a handful will mean more to you than others. But good friendships don’t just happen. They must be worked on continually and pro-actively.

Don’t wait for others to contact you, and remain aloof and remote. You must be willing to be a good friend first, to have good friends who will be there for you.

6/ Be a Goal setter, but also appreciate Happenstance and Serendipity.

You will be bitten early the need for lists and goal setting. In fact you will become a goal setting fanatic, that will rise to another level the day you find out about SMART.

But don’t become a good luck denier. Appreciate yes you do make some of your own luck, but there is a major part of life made of serendipitous occurrences and randomness.

Being in the right place at the right time. Meeting your future wife, a night you worked in a bar she walked in with friend, the day you called in in the off chance of seeing a mate and his boss offering you a job that would change your future. Your parents moving to he other side of town when you were 17 years, an action that was deliver your 15 minutes of fame.

So be on the look out for those opportunities that others may just call luck.

7/ You have but one thing. Time and not enough of it.

Understand as change accelerates in the very near future, it has an invert relation with Time. Relatively it becomes shorter.

You have arrived on Earth, and like everyone else, you have arrived with one thing (other than the fear of loud noises) and that is Time.

You have the same number of minutes in the hour, hours in the day, and days in the year. Your life will be run by the clock. Whilst people speak of getting more time, they can’t

You should look to leverage your own. Leveraging your money for greater return, in the least amount of time. Saving your own time by employing others, to leverage your skills and through the time and specialist training of others.

Minimising the wasting of your time through mechanical devices (whether that be through inventions of the future Microwaves, Computers, Blowers, and faster cars and jet planes.- on second thought forget I said blowers!)

When you apply your own time treat all things equal, but some things more equal than others. Base your allocation of your time according to priorities which flow from your goals. The challenge is to stop distractions ( your’s and other people’s) and appreciate Vilfredo Pareto’s 80/20 rule.

But remember its latter than you think. But not to late to learn.

Finally. Life is Short. Enjoy it. Don’t take it or yourself to seriously.

Laugh.Laugh often. Laugh louder and longer. And most importantly enjoy the ride! I know it is going to be a great one.

"Keith don’t worry if these things don’t make sense now. They will eventually.’ I finish.

"Oh no!” He says. " Some sound helpful. But I guess I am a different type than you.”He adds. "You seem a little heavy and too serious.And if you don’t mind me saying. A little spooky! I could never be you."

"Bye the way who is it we know in common?" He asks inquisitively.

"Sorry Keith, got to run. We will meet I am sure sometime in the future.” I finish.

"Wait, wait before you go!! “ He yells after me.

"Hey you left something.

"This rectangle thingy. With the bitten apple…"

"Hey you…."