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| # Checklists | ||
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| ## Intro | ||
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| In 2009<sup>1</sup> [Atul Gawande](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atul_Gawande) | ||
| wrote a _superb_ book called | ||
| [The Checklist Manifesto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Checklist_Manifesto), | ||
| which is a _must-read_ | ||
| for anyone interested in personal effectiveness. | ||
| The concepts in the book are simple, | ||
| both to understand and explain. | ||
| Atul does a superb job of explaining | ||
| how several industries/sectors/professions | ||
| use checklists to perform complex high-stakes tasks | ||
| precisely, repeatably and virtually error-free. | ||
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| There are several good reviews/summaries of the book online. | ||
| One of my favourite summaries is by Nathan Lorenzo (Productivity Game): | ||
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| [](https://youtu.be/18ns58FyPmY) | ||
| https://youtu.be/18ns58FyPmY | ||
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| The book details how checklists were developed independently in | ||
| several industries: aviation, engineering/construction, finance, | ||
| medicine, etc. | ||
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| A good checklist is: | ||
| + Practical | ||
| + Concise | ||
| + 5–9 items (_though they can be longer when necessary, see below_) | ||
| + 1 page max | ||
| + Uses Upper- & Lowercase | ||
| + _Tested_ in the real world | ||
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| Ten years later it remains a "`#1` Best Seller" | ||
| in "Hospital Administration", | ||
| "Health Care Administration" | ||
| and "Family Practice Medicine". | ||
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|  | ||
| https://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right/dp/0312430000 | ||
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| Those categories might not _immediately_ appeal to _you_, | ||
| but consider the fact that the book is "`#954` in Books". | ||
| i.e. it's the `#954` most sold book in the _world_. | ||
| (_for anyone living in a cave for the last 20 years, | ||
| Amazon sales | ||
| [charts](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/22/amazon-charts-books-new-york-times-bestseller-lists) | ||
| are the ones that matter in 2019!_) | ||
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|  | ||
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| > <sup>1</sup>_**Note**: the book was published in 2009 (as a hardback) but the **paperback** of 2011 is the one that has sold | ||
| the numbers_. | ||
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| # _Why?_ | ||
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| ## Why does it _matter_ that this book is so popular? | ||
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| If it's _obvious_ to you why this book | ||
| and checklists in general _matter_, | ||
| then feel free to skim/skip this. | ||
| If you find yourself scratching your head | ||
| as to _why_ this fact is important, | ||
| consider the following recent news article: | ||
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| https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-47953541 | ||
|  | ||
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| The BBC News article is not very long, this is the _full_ text: | ||
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| > Deaths after surgery in Scotland have dropped by more than a third, | ||
| research suggests. | ||
| > A study indicated a 37% decrease since 2008, | ||
| which it attributed to the implementation of a safety checklist. | ||
| <br /> | ||
| > The 19-item list - which was created by the World Health Organization - is supposed to encourage teamwork and communication during operations. <br /> | ||
| > The death rate fell to 0.46 per 100 procedures between 2000 and 2014, analysis of 6.8m operations showed. <br /> | ||
| > Dr Atul Gawande, who introduced the checklist and co-authored the study, published in the British Journal of Surgery, said: "Scotland's health system is to be congratulated for a multi-year effort that has produced some of the largest population-wide reductions in surgical deaths ever documented." <br /> | ||
| > Prof Jason Leitch, NHS Scotland's national clinical director, added: "This is a significant study which highlights the reduction in surgical mortality over the last decade. <br /> | ||
| > "While there are a number of factors that have contributed to this, it is clear from the research that the introduction of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in 2008 has played a key role." | ||
| > The BBC Article is a very close copy of: | ||
| https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/w-hda041719.php | ||
|  | ||
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| Sadly most of the journal articles are behind extortionate paywalls. | ||
| But the research findings are available. | ||
| A patient death rate of 0.46% is still not _zero_, | ||
| but let's look at how many lives this has saved: | ||
| + 0.46% x 1.37 = 0.63% | ||
| + 0.63 - 0.46 = 0.17 | ||
| + 6.8m x 0.17% = ***11,560 people's lives saved!!*** | ||
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| The 19-item World Health Organization safety checklist | ||
| described in the article is this: | ||
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| https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/44186/9789241598590_eng_Checklist.pdf | ||
|  | ||
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| > Notice how at the bottom of the single-page checklist it says: | ||
| "_This checklist is not intended to be comprehensive. | ||
| **Additions and modifications** to fit local practice | ||
| are **encouraged**._" | ||
| The WHO does not give people the _tools_ to modify the checklist. | ||
| See: | ||
| https://www.who.int/patientsafety/topics/safe-surgery/checklist/en/ | ||
| What if it was a _single click_ to "***Customise This Checklist***" | ||
| and the UX/UI for doing so was _flawless_ on any device ...? | ||
| That is what we are going to achieve. | ||
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| The BBC article was shared on and reached the _top_ of HackerNews | ||
| with over a 1k points | ||
| (_that's a lot for such a short and relatively "boring" post_!) | ||
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19682451 | ||
|  | ||
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| Reading through the comments on HN, | ||
| it's clear that _many_ engineers understand the | ||
| benefits/power of a checklist in their work/lives, | ||
| however there are still a few who remain to be convinced. | ||
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| <!-- | ||
| The top _negative_ review on Amazon shows how some people | ||
| just don't "_get_" it. Anthony J. Vera | ||
|  | ||
| This | ||
| --> | ||
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| ## Why do _we_ care about checklists? | ||
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| We care about checklists because | ||
| they are the _single_ most effective way of achieving _any_ objective. | ||
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| ## "Old Dogs, New Tricks" | ||
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| # _What?_ | ||
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| Our mission is simple: | ||
| build the simplest possible UI/UX | ||
| for creating, sharing and performing repeatable checklists. | ||
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| And in doing this we will _systematically_: | ||
| 1. Build a tool that we will use ourselves to: | ||
| 1. maximise our _personal_ effectiveness | ||
| 2. | ||
| 2. Help _everyone_ around the world who wants to achieve the same, | ||
| do with minimal effort/overhead while securely storing their data | ||
| in a _reliable_ application. | ||
| 3. Make a sustainable living selling the "Software-as-a-Service" | ||
| to people and organisations who want a | ||
| "proven system for excellence". | ||
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| # _How?_ | ||
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| We will _start_ | ||
| by building a _basic_ "Todo List", | ||
| we have already written the "beginner-level" example | ||
| see: [github.com/dwyl/todo-list-javascript-tutorial](https://github.com/dwyl/todo-list-javascript-tutorial) | ||
| Our intention with the "Todo List JavaScript (TDD) Tutorial" | ||
| is three-fold: | ||
| 1. Show the _general_ developer population, | ||
| and complete beginners _specificaly_, that it's not only _easy_, | ||
| but _incredibly_ effective to write tests _first_. | ||
| 2. | ||
| 3. |