The Power of Checklists in a VUCA World [Interview]

We recently took a close look at checklists in HR work. Today, in a conversation with Dagmara Ptasińska, Head of People & Performance at Kraft Heinz Poland and a true enthusiast of solutions that streamline work, we dig deeper into the topic. We explore where the popularity of checklists comes from, what needs they answer, how they’re used in business, and which apps and tools are worth trying if you want to build checklists fit for today. Enjoy the interview!

Gamfi: In 2009, a WHO team developed a special checklist known as the surgical safety checklist. After it was introduced in 8 hospitals around the world, the number of post-operative complications dropped by as much as 35%. Atul Gawande, co-creator of the initiative, describes it in his book “The Checklist Manifesto.” What can the story of the checklist’s success in the world of surgery teach us about using checklists in our work and everyday life?

If someone asked me what we need checklists for, my first answer would be exactly this: so we don’t miss the elements whose omission would lead to a mistake or stretch the time needed to finish a task. That’s what the surgery case described by Atul Gawande is about.

The first use of checklists is attributed to aviation, which began using them in crisis situations to prevent potential accidents. When a pilot sees warning lights come on mid-flight, they reach for checklists written specifically for those circumstances. They also use them for routine procedures, because passenger safety depends on doing the right things – pilots have many specific checklists for handling emergency situations.

In times so full of time pressure and the expectation of instant results, nobody trusts their own memory. That’s why, in a VUCA world, life with a checklist feels simpler – we don’t have to load our neurons with an extra portion of data.

Is that why creating checklists feels so soothing? Does it give a sense of safety and certainty in a constantly changing environment?

Let me put it this way. A human lifespan is less than 2³² seconds. Every day we absorb roughly 34 gigabytes of data. It’s as if someone talked at us non-stop for 12 hours, using about 100,000 more or less complicated words. How does a person bombarded with that many stimuli react? 

A modern human under constant informational processing lives in a state of awareness close to what a soldier experiences on the battlefield: permanent mobilization. Confronted with an enormous amount of information, they can select it at lightning speed – but they run out of time and processing power for analysis and reflection. In that context, so-called multitasking – doing several things at once – becomes the coveted skill. We seemingly feel more productive. In practice, research shows it’s a dead end that stretches the time spent on tasks and increases the number of mistakes.

So instead of multitasking, what we really need are tools that let us focus on individual tasks. And that’s where the checklist plays an important role?

Yes. The thing about checklists is that even when we don’t make them, we still make them. After all, each of us has at some point written a shopping list, planned a birthday party, or used sticky notes to bullet out the day’s tasks at work. Checklists exist everywhere human life is at stake. The COVID-19 pandemic showed how important a checklist is when an infection is suspected. Detailed hand-washing instructions appeared everywhere, too. For many organizations, it was the first tool ensuring quality and safety at work.

Do checklists have a place in business?

Absolutely. I especially recommend “Checklisty dla biznesu” (“Checklists for Business”), a Polish-language book by Maciej Sasin, who writes that “a checklist is simply a simplified action plan.” His book contains over 90 checklists and tools covering management, recruitment, sales, and personal effectiveness.

The role of checklists is hard to overstate. They focus our attention on what we’re supposed to do. They keep us from performing unnecessary actions. They keep our attention on doing tasks correctly despite stress and fatigue (see the operating room, or flying a plane). They increase effectiveness when working under time pressure. They reduce the risk of errors caused by routine. They reduce stress. They also make delegating tasks easier. Finally: they organize knowledge and improve the quality of learning. All of these properties apply directly to the world of business – or simply to work.

In which business areas and processes do checklists work exceptionally well?

Checklists are useful above all when we need to handle a complex activity within limited time and want to cover all the essential areas – for example, planning a sales strategy or an employee engagement strategy. They also prove their worth when we’re designing an optimal procedure, such as in project management, designing a recruitment process, or preparing the rollout of a new IT system.

Remember that checklists concentrate on the key aspects of a given problem. They are not detailed step-by-step instructions.

They direct attention, for instance, to the customer service standard, the process of delivering a service, and so on. They also apply to more routine tasks, such as running meetings or a telemarketer’s call script. Checklists are an important tool supporting companies in knowledge and process management. 

For a long time we created task lists the analog way. A piece of paper and a pen were enough – or a text editor and a printer. What about now? Are there any tools for creating and managing checklists that are particularly worth recommending?

Technology now serves the checklist. In a world where most of our data lives in the cloud, checklists can be available to us 24/7 as well. Over the past few years I’ve had the pleasure of testing a range of tools for building checklists.

I can recommend apps such as PocketList, Nozbe, Trello, and Evernote. In each of them you can easily define a project and the list of tasks connected to it, using kanban boards, for example.

Of course, we have to remember that a checklist is one of many tools that can help raise effectiveness at work. Let’s use it where it makes sense – it will save us nerves and let us operate with surgical precision.