{"id":5514,"date":"2019-12-07T01:45:48","date_gmt":"2019-12-07T05:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=5514"},"modified":"2022-03-17T15:40:11","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T19:40:11","slug":"why-do-we-make-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-do-we-make-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do We Make Mistakes? The Most Common Reason (+Solution)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today we can do amazing things: we can predict hurricanes and tornadoes, we can build skyscrapers of all shapes, and we can save people from heart attacks and severe injuries that would have been fatal a few decades ago.
Yet highly trained, experienced, and capable people regularly make avoidable mistakes<\/strong>. You may be left wondering, Why do we make mistakes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll cover Boston surgeon Atul Gawande’s process as he sets out to learn why smart people make avoidable errors and how to prevent them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Why Do People Make Mistakes?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The result of Gawande’s search is The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right<\/em>, in which Gawande proposes a simple solution: a checklist. The book chronicles his exploration of the uses and benefits of checklists<\/a> in many fields, including aviation<\/a>, construction, and medicine. While not a how-to manual, his book builds the case for checklists and makes a plea for widespread adoption of checklists as a safety net for human fallibility.
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Why do we make mistakes? He argues that we fail to get simple things right because in numerous professions \u2014 for instance, medicine, engineering, finance, business, and government \u2014 the level and complexity of our collective knowledge has exceeded the capacity of any individual to get everything right<\/strong>.
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Most professions, especially medicine, have traditionally responded to failure by requiring more training and experience. Training of medical personnel, police, engineers, and others is more extensive than ever. But while training and experience are important, expertise can\u2019t eliminate human fallibility. What\u2019s needed is a different strategy for preventing failure that takes advantage of knowledge and experience but also compensates for human flaws. The solution is a checklist.<\/strong> 
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Increasing Complexity <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To understand how easy it is to make mistakes, despite our ability as humans to accomplish amazing things, consider how complex medicine has become as it has advanced.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Israeli study several decades ago showed that the average ICU patient required 178 actions or procedures a day<\/strong>. We have a greater-than-ever chance to save someone who\u2019s seriously ill, but it requires both deciding the right treatment and ensuring that 178 tasks are done correctly each day. There\u2019s as much chance to harm a patient as to help. 
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do we make mistakes? In complex environments, checklists can help to prevent failure by addressing two problems:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Our memory and attention to detail<\/a> fail when we\u2019re distracted by more urgent matters.  <\/li>
  2. People have a tendency to skip steps even when they remember them. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Checklists protect against failures because they remind you of the minimum necessary steps<\/strong> by spelling them out. They allow you to verify each step while also establishing and instilling a performance standard.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why Do We Make Mistakes? The Aviation Industry Turns to Checklists<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    In 1935, the Army Air Corps asked airplane manufacturers for a new long-range bomber. Boeing\u2019s Model 299, which exceeded specifications, was favored to win. However, during a flight competition held by the Army in Dayton, Ohio, the Boeing model crashed, killing two crew members.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The plane was much more complicated than previous aircraft \u2014 the pilot had many more steps to follow and forgot to release a new locking mechanism on the elevator and rudder controls. To prevent future crashes, Boeing\u2019s test pilots came up with a checklist that fit on an index card, with step-by-step checks for takeoff, landing, and taxiing. Using the checklist, pilots went on to fly the bomber, which became the B-17, 1.8 million miles without incident. Checklists have since become essential in aviation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    World Health Organization Checklist<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    In 2006, Gawande assisted the World Health Organization (WHO) in solving a problem: Surgery was increasing rapidly worldwide, but surgical patients were getting unsafe care so often that surgery was a public danger. WHO needed a global program that would reduce avoidable harm and deaths from surgery. It’s especially important for doctors to ask themselves, Why do we make mistakes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gawande and his team came up with a 19-point checklist. Results of a pilot study at eight hospitals worldwide using the Safe Surgery Checklist exceeded expectations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n