Leonardo da Vinci was ahead of his time in many ways. NPR’s Robert Krulwich has a great blog on DaVinci’s “To Do” list from the 1490’s. Pretty good illustrations.
The blog reminds me of one of my favorite books of the past couple of years, The Check List Manifesto by Atul Gawande.
Both remind me of the KISS formula in communications. We live in a very complicated world, with more and more demands for our attention. It’s hard to juggle and set priorities. But the simple “To Do” list or a check list helps us organize the chaos, make good decisions, and avoid mistakes.
In crisis planning and response in particular, CommCore is a big believer in check lists. Gawande demonstrates that a study of operating rooms with 4,000 patients in 8 hospitals around the globe that adherence to check lists accounted for drops of 36% in complications, 47% fewer deaths and 25% fewer returns to the OR for another procedure to fix the first mistake.
Gotta tell you that check lists even make the Thanksgiving holiday planning and hosting of family and friends go a lot easier.
How do you or your clients use check lists and To Do’s?