I'll get to it. I'll get to it. (Sigh.) If only I'd had a checklist. If only I'd read this book sooner.

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande is my current read. Who knew checklists could be so interesting? And so vital? In a complex world where multi-tasking is the norm, the lowly checklist forces us to pay attention...to try to avoid errors....to try for excellence...to (as the title says) Get Things Right. Using examples from cooking, architecture and engineering, finance, aviation, and most frighteningly, health care, Gawande, a surgeon himself, makes a strong case for this simple tool. Part medical textbook, part self improvement book, and part business book, by the end of the foreward, you'll be adding "to-do list" to your to-do list.

Checklists save lives. Checklists save millions of dollars. Simple statements such as these could lead one to believe that this book is a snooze. Hardly! It is endlessly interesting, sometimes shocking and it is surprisingly entertaining. The Checklist Manifesto is extremely well-researched and well-written and makes for a great, page-turner of a read. The author is a a great storyteller. He includes a seemingly miraculous story of a drowning victim, a child in Austria who'd been under water for 90 minutes. He tells us that two-thirds of death penalty cases are thrown out due to errors, and he quotes the chilling and unforgettable, "'Your mind doesn't think of a bayonet in San Francisco.' John could only say."

Perhaps Gawande's most urgent message is conveyed here: "It somehow feels beneath us to use a checklist, an embarrassment. It runs counter to deeply held beliefs about how the truly great among us - those we aspire to be - handle situations of high stakes and complexity. The truly great are daring. They improvise. They do not have protocols and checklists. Maybe our idea of heroism needs updating." Sobering thoughts.

Reviews? Check.  (Read below)

"Even skeptical readers will find the evidence staggering.... Thoughtfully written and soundly defended, this book calls for medical professionals to improve patient care by adopting a basic, common-sense approach." -- The Washington Post

"I read The Checklist Manifesto in one sitting yesterday, which is an amazing tribute to the book that Gawande has crafted. Not only is the book loaded with fascinating stories, but it honestly changed the way I think about the world. It is the best book I've read in ages." -- Steven Levitt, author of Freakonomics

"Gawande deftly weaves in examples of checklist successes in diverse fields like aviation and skyscraper construction.... Fascinating reading." -- New York Times Book Review

Reserve your copy now? Click here and then...Check!

(While you're busy doing that, I will begin my never-too-late vacation checklist. To begin: Make reservations...)