The Line

Many of us - No, I correct myself: most of us -- have at one time or another worked a job where checklists were required.  When I hear that dreaded word, my mind springs to low paying, mind numbing, french frying, after school jobs, where a reminder to wash your hands is a vital necessity.

Having been involved with both using and developing these lists, I can personally attest to their effectiveness ... or lack thereof.

A recent job I took as filler between office jobs certainly is a good example of this.  You would think people would know things like "put food in cooler" and "turn off equipment" would be a given, but other things like "check prep list and make anything listed on it" and "restock shelves" would not be instinctual for someone who is not food service trained.  But there was also things like "sweep and mop the floor" and "wipe down the counters" also on this list.

And, yet, what things do you think were the most often missed items from that list?  You guessed it, the "little things."  Those unimportant things that "You'll get to before you head out."  The little things.

But sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to remember. You get caught up in planning out the tough stuff, remembering the details of complex tasks to remember to sweep the floor.

And, let us be honest here, checklists are only as effective as the person enforcing their use. Checklists can be vital tools in reminding you to do something.

But would you want your doctor to use a checklist?  How about your surgeon?  Your Lawyer?  Your banker?  Your plumber?

Well, no of course not.  These are highly trained professional, right?  What would they need silly little checklists for?  They should just know what to do, right?

Not necessarily.  Recently a physician decided to try an experiment.  He wrote a checklist of about a dozen things for physicians to do when they come into the operating room.  Things like "scrub up" and "mask up" were on there but he also included things like "introduce all operating personnel to each other and announce what jobs they will be performing" was also there.

He spent a little while perfecting the list and then went to his friends who were doctors and asked them to try it.  There was some understandable push back from his colleagues.  They felt they "didn't need no stinking" checklist. Over 75 percent of them thought it a hassle and cumbersome to have to do this.

A few weeks later he asked them what they thought of the list.  That same percentage of them thought the list was useful, and they might keep using it.  The rest claimed that it wasn't helpful because they already did all those things.

He then asked a very telling question.  Can you guess what it is?

He asked them, if they were about to have surgery, would they want to have their physician use the checklist?

A whopping 90 percent of the doctors who tried his checklist would want their doctor to use it if they were the patient.

An interesting turn around.

Checklists may not be something that would seem valuable in your Second Life.  Visions of Gorean kajira checking off a list that says "greet Master when he comes on line" or a necko reminding himself to put on a tail when he changes avatars are certainly funny to think about.

But what trouble could be solved if you had a physical reminder to help you out.

The physician who came up with the checklist for doctors said that by using his checklist, he catches himself missing or skipping a step at least once a month.

If this highly trained professional can find value in such a simple tool, could we ordinary humans not find the same?

Where in your Second Life would a checklist be helpful?  What tricks do you use to organize your Second Life?