Atul Gawande – Checklists seem simple, but they are powerful tools for breaking down the complexities of life

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Welcome to The Daily Quote—a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I’m your host, Andrew McGivern, and today is October 30th.

Now, let me ask you—do you love checklists? Because if you do, you’re in for a treat. Today is National Checklist Day, a day dedicated to those magical little tools that help us feel like we have our life together, even if it’s just for a moment. Nothing quite compares to that satisfying check after completing a task. It’s the small victories, right?

So, what better way to celebrate than with a quote that perfectly captures the spirit of today’s holiday?

It is from Atul Gawande, who once said...

“Checklists seem simple, but they are powerful tools for breaking down the complexities of life.”

If you’re not familiar, Atul Gawande is a surgeon and writer who took checklists to the next level—turning them from something you use to remind yourself to buy milk into literal lifesavers. But we’ll get to that in a moment. Let’s first talk about how a humble checklist changed air travel forever.

Now, the history of checklists is surprisingly cool. Let me take you back to 1935, when Boeing was testing the Model 299—a new bomber they hoped the U.S. Army would buy. Unfortunately, during a test flight, the plane crashed. Why? Not because it was a bad plane, but because the pilot forgot to release a crucial control lock. That was a huge oops.

Boeing quickly realized that planes had become too complex for even the most experienced pilots to rely solely on memory. So, they did something revolutionary—they introduced the first-ever aviation checklist. It was just a simple step-by-step guide for takeoff, flight, landing, and taxiing, but it made all the difference. From that moment on, pilots were flying safer than ever. And guess what? Boeing sold plenty of those planes, which went on to help win World War II.

Turns out, when you’re flying a giant metal bird in the sky, it helps to check if you’ve, you know, remembered to deploy the landing gear.

But it’s not just pilots who benefit from checklists. In fact, hospitals use them to prevent medical errors, and it has been a game-changer. You see, in many situations, doctors are under so much pressure that forgetting a small step could have serious consequences. Enter the checklist—saving lives one checkmark at a time.

One of my favorite stories comes from when a hospital introduced a checklist for preventing infections during surgeries. The steps were pretty basic: wash hands, clean the incision site, wear gloves. Simple, right? But they gave nurses the power to enforce the checklist and actually stop a doctor if they skipped a step. You know how they say nurses run the hospital? Well, this time, they really did. It’s like a medical version of “Excuse me, Doc, but did you forget to wash your hands?!”

At first, some doctors weren’t exactly thrilled with being called out. But here’s the kicker—it worked! Infections dropped by a whopping 66% in just a year. That’s the power of a checklist, my friend.

Sometimes all it takes to save a life is making sure you did, in fact, wash your hands after your lunch break.

Even if you don't have your fingers on people's organs.

To be clear, I'm still talking about surgery here.

So, back to Atul Gawande’s quote: “Checklists seem simple, but they are powerful tools for breaking down the complexities of life.” Whether you’re flying a plane, performing surgery, or just trying to get through your grocery list without forgetting the eggs—checklists make sure the important stuff doesn’t slip through the cracks. They take complex, high-pressure situations and make them manageable. And in some cases, they can even make you feel like you’re a superhero, casually preventing disasters like it’s no big deal.

Honestly, the world would be a better place if we all had checklists for everything. Maybe a checklist for how to interact with humans during awkward social situations?

But don't take it too far... I mean have you ever finished a task and then after it was already done, add it to your checklist just so you can tick it off. Yeah, been there done that..

So, on this National Checklist Day, let’s take a moment to appreciate the humble checklist. It might not seem like a big deal, but as Boeing, hospitals, and Gawande have shown us—it’s the small things that make all the difference.

And if you haven’t made a checklist for today, let me help you out:

Drink some coffee (if you haven’t already).

Smile at a stranger (or your dog, whichever is easier).

Conquer one task you’ve been putting off.

Add a few more things to your checklist—because hey, the more checks, the merrier.

Thanks for tuning in to The Daily Quote. I’m Andrew McGivern, reminding you to keep checking things off and stay sharp. Until next time—happy list-making!