The Simple Genius of Checklists • Hacker News Board

Re: The Simple Genius of Checklists

#51

Post by cco » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 5:50 PM UTC

blunte wrote: post #29

But where does one begin to identify the parts of life where a checklist would reduce cognitive load? In IT, some cases are obvious (such as deploying new releases). However, if a process is so repeatable that you could have an accurate checklist, then you could probably automate the process and eliminate the need for the checklist. I would love to know what parts of my life I could relegate to checklists so I could…

Packing for a vacation or camping trip is a very good candidate. If you live in a winter climate you can create a good winterizing checklist. Weekly home upkeep is another.

Re: The Simple Genius of Checklists

#52

Post by newhotelowner » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 7:25 PM UTC

OedipusRex wrote: post #36

Waterluvian wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds like a fun afternoon project for a web or mobile dev. If nobody replies with a quality app that does this, I'm going to make it for myself and share it here.

This is my weekend project this week, ha. I'm reading Checklist Manifesto and decided there wasn't any good app for it. I'll post back here when it's done.

Love to try it out.

Re: The Simple Genius of Checklists

#53

Post by kemitche » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 7:35 PM UTC

blunte wrote: post #29

But where does one begin to identify the parts of life where a checklist would reduce cognitive load? In IT, some cases are obvious (such as deploying new releases). However, if a process is so repeatable that you could have an accurate checklist, then you could probably automate the process and eliminate the need for the checklist. I would love to know what parts of my life I could relegate to checklists so I could…

> However, if a process is so repeatable that you could have an accurate checklist, then you could probably automate the process and eliminate the need for the checklist.

To flip this on its head though, writing (and following) a checklist for a process is perhaps a good first step to automating it.

Re: The Simple Genius of Checklists

#54

Post by dragonwriter » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 7:38 PM UTC

blunte wrote: post #29

But where does one begin to identify the parts of life where a checklist would reduce cognitive load? In IT, some cases are obvious (such as deploying new releases). However, if a process is so repeatable that you could have an accurate checklist, then you could probably automate the process and eliminate the need for the checklist. I would love to know what parts of my life I could relegate to checklists so I could…

> However, if a process is so repeatable that you could have an accurate checklist, then you could probably automate the process and eliminate the need for the checklist.

The checklist is (a key part of) the documentation for the automated solution, and would not, as such, stop being necessary just because the automated solution existed; it would be a key resource for change management.

Automation eliminates the need for the people acting on the checklist, not the checklist itself.

Re: The Simple Genius of Checklists

#55

Post by runjake » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 7:46 PM UTC

Checklists were life in the USAF working on heavy bombers and the nuclear PRP program.

I’ve done a procedure 100 or a 1000 times? Still going down the checklist in the Tech Manual every single time.

Humans can’t multitask well and if you miss a step, people can die and planes could crash.

Re: The Simple Genius of Checklists

#56

Post by appleiigs » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 7:51 PM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #26

RedNifre wrote: post #23

Can anybody recommend a good checklist app for Android? When I search for "checklist" I only find ToDo-List apps that call themselves "checklist" app. What I'd like is something where you can set a per-checklist timeout after which the list resets everything to unchecked and maybe allow two different ways to view each checklist (or modes): 1. All at once with little check marks that you can check in any order 2. Stri…

This sounds like a fun afternoon project for a web or mobile dev. If nobody replies with a quality app that does this, I'm going to make it for myself and share it here.

Have you seen this site: http://todomvc.com/ Pick your JS framework and it's done.

Re: The Simple Genius of Checklists

#57

Post by roland35 » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 7:54 PM UTC

RedNifre wrote: post #23

Can anybody recommend a good checklist app for Android? When I search for "checklist" I only find ToDo-List apps that call themselves "checklist" app. What I'd like is something where you can set a per-checklist timeout after which the list resets everything to unchecked and maybe allow two different ways to view each checklist (or modes): 1. All at once with little check marks that you can check in any order 2. Stri…

Google notes works for me as a simple checklist

Re: The Simple Genius of Checklists

#58

Post by wiscoDude » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 8:03 PM UTC

After my partner read The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande, he set out to help other organizations improve outcomes via the use of checklists. Together, we built https://www.manifest.ly

My main feedback from having witnessed thousands of organizations set up their checklists is that they can be used to help teams succeed and they can be used in an oppressive way to "ensure people do what they're supposed to do". Almost always they contain too many steps compared to what they should have and that is usually because the people creating/editing the checklists are often not the users of the actual checklist. When the users and editors are the same people, then the quality of the checklist goes up. We use our own tool on a daily bases for processes that have high risks or for processes that we don't do very often. They are great safety nets.

Re: The Simple Genius of Checklists

#59

Post by astrobe_ » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 8:27 PM UTC

RedNifre wrote: post #23

Can anybody recommend a good checklist app for Android? When I search for "checklist" I only find ToDo-List apps that call themselves "checklist" app. What I'd like is something where you can set a per-checklist timeout after which the list resets everything to unchecked and maybe allow two different ways to view each checklist (or modes): 1. All at once with little check marks that you can check in any order 2. Stri…

YAGNI. Just use whatever Notepad-like app that was pre-installed on your device.

Re: The Simple Genius of Checklists

#60

Post by deepspace » Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 9:19 PM UTC

cco wrote: post #51

blunte wrote: post #29

But where does one begin to identify the parts of life where a checklist would reduce cognitive load? In IT, some cases are obvious (such as deploying new releases). However, if a process is so repeatable that you could have an accurate checklist, then you could probably automate the process and eliminate the need for the checklist. I would love to know what parts of my life I could relegate to checklists so I could…

Packing for a vacation or camping trip is a very good candidate. If you live in a winter climate you can create a good winterizing checklist. Weekly home upkeep is another.

Yes! I used to forget something every time I traveled. After reading Gawande's book in 2010 I started making a checklist. It took about five trips to converge on a stable list and these days travel is a breeze. Print out checklist. Do stuff on checklist, in sequence. Enjoy stress-free travel.