Yesterday I drove over 800 miles in one day, not quite planned, but it sort of worked out that way. Most of this was on French motorways. We had two drivers but even so this presents challenges – tiredness, lack of concentration, driving through heavy rain with bad visibility. What works in that sort of situation is to have simple rules. Drive carefully. Keep away from the car in front. Stop whenever you are tired (French motorways are excellent for this with aires (or rest areas) every 10 kilometres or so). Plan a route that is quieter and avoids centres of traffic congestion.
This same applies I suggest to working under pressure – being asked or required to give urgent and complex advice or carry out some critical activity within a very tight timeframe. Here having some sort of set of rules you can apply, developed from experience of previous similar situations, can really help when the adrenalin is coursing and a first and natural reaction may be to panic.
Here by way of example are some sample rules for my work as a professional legal adviser when faced with a new time critical matter.
I don’t pretend this list is perfect, but it illustrates the idea well. It’s also something nobody teaches you at law school. It is emulated in many professional fields – aircraft cockpit checks being a prime example – here is a 1944 Pilot and Copilot Cockpit Checklist for World War Two Boeing B17 Flying Fortress bombers. It advises “No matter how familiar you become with your plane, there is always a chance that you will forget something. Do not rely on your memory. Always use checklists.”
The context is explained in this Harvard School of Public Health article Fighter pilots use checklists to avoid deadly errors. Why not surgeons, too?So complex was the new B-17 bomber introduced during World War II that a star aviator crashed the mighty aircraft during its demonstration flight. Then the U.S. Army Air Corps introduced its now-legendary safety checklist for pilots and crews to use in the cockpit. The risk of fatal errors plummeted, and checklists became mandatory. It goes on to advocate a checklist for surgical procedures.
Another obvious application of this principle is crisis management. I like this Forbes article You Have 15 Minutes to Respond to a Crisis: A CheckList Of Do’s and Don’tswhich comments When a crisis hits, how you respond in the first 15 minutes can make or break your organization – and your reputation.
There is even a book written by Atul Gawande, an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher, called The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right. He sagely remarks One essential characteristic of modern life is that we all depend on systems—on assemblages of people or technologies or both—and among our most profound difficulties is making them work.
The American comedian Jon Stewart sums it up quite nicely. I watch a lot of astronaut movies....Mostly Star Wars. And even Han and Chewie use a checklist.
This same applies I suggest to working under pressure – being asked or required to give urgent and complex advice or carry out some critical activity within a very tight timeframe. Here having some sort of set of rules you can apply, developed from experience of previous similar situations, can really help when the adrenalin is coursing and a first and natural reaction may be to panic.
Here by way of example are some sample rules for my work as a professional legal adviser when faced with a new time critical matter.
- Get the facts straight and complete – too often when everybody is in a hurry they don’t convey the full story.
- Work out what the actual legal position is and indeed what legal system applies in the first place – taking specialist advice if it is an area I am not familiar or sufficiently expertise in.
- Ascertain whether there is a contract and if so where is it and what express rights that sets out which may be relevant.
- Work the potential consequences for my client arising out of this set of circumstances.
- Consult with other who may need to be involved,perhaps senior management stakeholders.
- Develop a workable plan of action and an associated timetable.
I don’t pretend this list is perfect, but it illustrates the idea well. It’s also something nobody teaches you at law school. It is emulated in many professional fields – aircraft cockpit checks being a prime example – here is a 1944 Pilot and Copilot Cockpit Checklist for World War Two Boeing B17 Flying Fortress bombers. It advises “No matter how familiar you become with your plane, there is always a chance that you will forget something. Do not rely on your memory. Always use checklists.”
The context is explained in this Harvard School of Public Health article Fighter pilots use checklists to avoid deadly errors. Why not surgeons, too?So complex was the new B-17 bomber introduced during World War II that a star aviator crashed the mighty aircraft during its demonstration flight. Then the U.S. Army Air Corps introduced its now-legendary safety checklist for pilots and crews to use in the cockpit. The risk of fatal errors plummeted, and checklists became mandatory. It goes on to advocate a checklist for surgical procedures.
Another obvious application of this principle is crisis management. I like this Forbes article You Have 15 Minutes to Respond to a Crisis: A CheckList Of Do’s and Don’tswhich comments When a crisis hits, how you respond in the first 15 minutes can make or break your organization – and your reputation.
There is even a book written by Atul Gawande, an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher, called The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right. He sagely remarks One essential characteristic of modern life is that we all depend on systems—on assemblages of people or technologies or both—and among our most profound difficulties is making them work.
The American comedian Jon Stewart sums it up quite nicely. I watch a lot of astronaut movies....Mostly Star Wars. And even Han and Chewie use a checklist.
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