Checklist Purpose

Examining a Familiar Tool from Different Perspectives

The blog “So List” regularly explores checklists from entirely different angles. In one article, the concept of a checklist was examined. In another, it was discovered that an aviation checklist wasn’t the first checklist ever. Yes, the pre-flight checklist didn’t start it all, as many people tend to think.

There was also something about continuous improvement. Checklists are used to maintain order in restaurant chains, and this advanced checklist was covered in an article about SOC. Business process enthusiasts can find plenty of insights under the “Business” tag.

However, until now, the fundamental question of why these remarkable tools are necessary has not been explored in depth. In this article, we will analyze the purpose of checklists.

So, Why Do You Need Checklists?

If we look at the definition from the post “What is Checklist”, we can see that a checklist is a list of items designed to achieve a predefined goal or to verify its achievement.

Don’t confuse a checklist with a to-do list. The latter is meant to guide you through a day full of emerging tasks.

In other words, this set of repetitive tasks is a path to achieving a desired outcome. And, as with any path, only a few routes actually lead to the goal. The value of a checklist is that it documents this desired path. A simple checklist is useful in general life, while a more advanced checklist is useful in complex activities like project management or event planning.

Any checklist serves to guide its user toward the necessary outcome. Other nuances may vary. For example, action checklists (“READ—DO”) lead to the goal in a specific sequence. You complete all the tasks, and you reach the goal. Inspection checklists (“DO—CONFIRM”) do not specify the order of tasks but provide a set of criteria to confirm or refute whether the desired result has been achieved. More about these types of checklists can be found in this post.

Defensive checklists provide safeguards against undesirable actions when using the primary checklist. Negative checklists allow for various acceptable outcomes as long as they remain within certain boundaries. The defensive checklist applies stricter rules for execution, while the negative one, on the opposite, belongs to the flexible problem-solving techniques.

Where Are Checklists Used?

I can confidently say that checklists are used in software development. I ensure their use myself, so I know firsthand. Often, the development process is divided into stages, and a checklist can serve as an acceptance criterion before moving on to the next phase. This is because we need to apply the same set of recurring tasks when doing similar activities. It can even apply to ensure quality for an entire subsequent project stage.

In the Scrum methodology, which is used to organize team workflows, there are two famous checklists: Definition of Ready and Definition of Done.

Within software development, there are even more devoted users of checklists — QA engineers, who ensure the quality of the software written by developers. Dive deeper if you’re interested.

Restaurant chains were also mentioned at the beginning of this article. Observation control lists originated at McDonald's and later spread to other restaurants. These checklists aid in ensuring consistency of service all over the world.

Checklists are widely used in medicine. The most famous book about checklists, titled “The Checklist Manifesto” [1], was written by the surgeon Atul Gawande. His task was to create a universal checklist to improve patient safety during surgical procedures worldwide.

In addition to medicine, the book covers the construction industry and, dare I say, the kings of checklists — pilots. In aviation, an entire culture revolves around checklists, and a deep respect for control lists seems to be passed down from father to son, based on what I’ve read on Reddit.

Pilots have even influenced related professions with their checklist habits. Aircraft designers widely use dynamic checklists for aircraft design. At every stage, checks are performed upon checks. Everything necessary is expressed in checklists.

And let’s not forget — people even traveled to the Moon with checklists strapped to their wrists.

In all these different fields, task checklists “guide” the user through complex situations to the desired outcome. Ultimately, a checklist helps compensate for the limitations of human memory and attention, ensuring that no crucial steps are overlooked.

What Else About Checklists?

There is a common perspective on checklists:

While checklists are valuable tools, excessive reliance on them may hinder critical thinking. Therefore, it is important to balance their use with continuous learning to maintain cognitive engagement and problem-solving skills.

In work environments where taking on extra responsibility is risky, this issue can indeed arise. However, it’s not necessarily true that thinking is entirely shut off. Rather, people act with caution.

The situation is different when users themselves are the authors of checklists. That is, they are responsible for creating or improving these tools. In this case, they can confidently follow the list during normal operations.

When unexpected situations arise, author-users can engage their critical thinking to its fullest extent. The problem, therefore, is not with checklists themselves but with how responsibility is distributed and what opportunities exist.

Are Checklists Only Used at Work?

Not at all; this is definitely not just about the checklist! Checklists can be used for everyday tasks — packing a suitcase for a trip, preparing for a holiday. Additionally, checklists are considered useful in parenting. You can even find so-called visual schedules for sale online. These are also a type of checklist. Below is an example.

A demanding reader might fairly ask, “But where do you check things off?” Not all checklists require checkmarks. The paper-based preflight checklists used in aviation don’t require them either. Here is a quote from Wikipedia [2]:

Aviation checklists generally consist of a system and an action divided by a dashed line, and lack a checkbox as they are often read aloud and are usually intended to be reused.

In general, checklists simplify task management and provide a sense of accomplishment, especially when you have a completed checklist. This blog refers to it as a “done list”.

Is This the End of Checklist Variety?

Oh, if only! Checklists can take not only paper form but also digital and even physical forms. They are used in video game development — and even during gameplay! Some people create separate checklists for more comprehensive completion of digital entertainment. In fact, some even sell these checklists. There’s no material about gaming checklists on the blog yet, but plans for it already exist.

Checklists are used everywhere because they help navigate a proven path through complex situations. And how can you not appreciate more reliable and faster results? After all, someone, at some point, found this path for us. Someone once did the hard work of solving a complex problem and documented it in a checklist.

Did you feel the love for checklists in this text? Subscribe to the “So List” blog — you won’t miss other tips about these subtle yet powerful tools. Are you already familiar with them? I doubt it — there are too many secrets they hold.

List of Links

[1] Atul Gawande “The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right”, ISBN 978-0312430009
[2] “Checklist” from Wikipedia