The Checklist Manifesto - A Must-read

I read a lot of books. This means I read a lot of bad books. I figure some good should come from my suffering so I’m starting a series where I bring you the best. Books that have the same goal as me: actionable, realistic tactics and philosophies that will make you and your restaurant better.

Checklists are everywhere in restaurants. Or at least, they ought to be. The book spends a fair number of pages trying to convince obstinate professionals that checklists can bring considerable value to even the most highly-trained among us, and in some cases, even save lives.

I hope there aren’t too many among those who run restaurants that need to be convinced of the power of a good checklist - but, something that is pretty rarely considered: what does a good checklist actually look like? This is where I found the most value in this book.

A big eye-opener for me was the defining of two separate types of list: the “do-confirm” list and the “read-do” list. In the first type, professionals carry out their actions, but have the checklist as a backstop to ensure everything was done that needed to be done. In the second, nothing is done until each list item is consulted. We’ve all used both types of lists, but I doubt most of us have stopped long enough to notice that’s what we were doing.

Another item that really stuck out to me was the philosophy around the detail of the lists themselves. The author argues that lists are built to be used by professionals who already know the job. Checklists won’t save you from poorly-trained staff. Writing your checklist so that it’s usable by anyone who comes in off the street breeds blind adherence to the list itself - it turns brains off. The goal should instead be to engage the minds of the people who know that they’re doing - to act as guideposts and reminders only.

This is only a taste of the wisdom in this book. If you’re a restaurant runner, you need to add this one to your shelf. You can buy it from this Bookshop.org link that both helps local small bookshops and gives me a small commission. Afterwards, let me know: which lists in your restaurant are do-confirm lists? Which are read-do? Email me your answers, I read every one