By Atul Gawande
One needs practice to achieve mastery, a body of experience before one achieves real success. And if what we are missing when we fail is individual skill, then what is needed is simply more training and practice. 12
Under conditions of complexity, checklists not only help, they are required for success. 79
A checklist cannot be lengthy. A rule of thumb is to keep it between 5-9 items, which is the limit of the working memory. 122
The Hawthorne effect: results which are a byproduct of being observed in a study rather than proof of concept.
Discipline is hard – harder than trustworthiness and skill and perhaps even than selflessness. We are by nature flawed and inconstant creatures. We can’t even keep from snacking between meals. We are not built for discipline. We are built for novelty and excitement, not for careful attention to detail. Discipline is something we have to work at. 182