The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right

by Atul Gawande

you got the right people together and had them take a moment to talk things over as a team rather than as individuals, serious problems could be identified and averted.

you push the power of decision making out to the periphery and away from the center. You give people the room to adapt, based on their experience and expertise. All you ask is that they talk to one another and take responsibility. That is what works.

the real lesson is that under conditions of true complexity—where the knowledge required exceeds that of any individual and unpredictability reigns—efforts to dictate every step from the center will fail. People need room to act and adapt.