How To Reduce Drama In Your Business

Have A Checklist for Your Business

At a recent conference, I attended. I picked up a great nugget from Verne Harnish, the founder of Scaling Up… “Where there is drama in your business, you need a checklist!”

Do you know where the safest place to be is to avoid an accidental death? It’s not home, walking down the street and it certainly isn’t in a hospital! It is in a commercial airplane! Did you know that since 2010, U.S. commercial airlines have only had 2 accident-related fatalities?! In 2017 alone they racked up 19 million flight hours without a single fatality.   

Why such an incredible safety record? They are relentless at using checklists!  Other organizations have checklists as well but often ego and being human get in the way. My wife is an operating room nurse and has plenty of tales about surgeons resisting the hospital's checklist requirements. Commercial airline pilots don’t have that same resistance. I believe the biggest reason why is that they are also going to go down with the plane! No room for ego in that environment. 

Save Time with The Checklist Manifesto

I’ve worked with a number of businesses that have implemented checklists to reduce drama and systemize key activities. It saves tons of time and improves both employee and customer experience. For some guidance on checklists, I would recommend reading or listening to The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. If you are a YouTube learner, here is a video presentation from Atul on checklists.

Here is another TEDx Talk from a commercial pilot that offers a 16-minute talk on “How Pilot Checklists Increase Your Productivity.”

Looking forward to hearing your checklist success stories.

- Coach Reggie

P.S. Would you like a checklist that will help reduce the constraints and accelerate the growth of your business?  Reach out and I will be glad to send you a checklist that will make up for messes created by sloppy execution and lack of discipline.