Twas the night before Thanksgiving, already 9 pm. The baby was asleep, and I was finally getting all of my ingredients ready to make my World Famous (err. Family Famous Bourbon Pecan Pie), and what should I find, but I am out of the All Purpose Flour.
This situation was especially annoying. I was already tired. I had been up since 5 am when the baby decided to get up, and I had just made the Spiced Pecans (because it’s not a good Pecan Pie without Spiced Pecans). My wife had gotten off work early, and I had given her a detail list of everything I needed, including the “hard-to-find” golden syrup.
So there I was, getting my Mise en Place and I had no flour for the crust. I usually have a bunch of flour in my pantry. I must not have Thought it important to check.
What a Checklist needs to contain
When people create checklists, they tend to think first of uncommon items that they figure they are likely to forget about when needed. These things are essential, these are the items that a person should add, but equally important are the common issues that a person comes up every day.
There are several reasons for this. When you do something every day, you get complacent. A person may think they don’t need to check something because it isn’t usually a problem. That is until it is a problem.
Alternatively, you think that since you always do something or have something you will never forget.
One of the items on an Airbus A340 checklist that a pilot follows is “Windows/Doors” You would think that this is so obvious, that it happens on everything single flight, why would you need on a checklist.
However, what would happen if the pilot took off and did not secure the doors or windows? It would be catastrophic. Is it likely to happen? No? However, it could.
One day you’ll have a lot on your mind, or you’ll be in a hurry, and you will forget a commonplace, yet critical item.
It could be as beign as missing All Purpose Flour for your delicious Pecan Pie that results in a late night grocery store run or losing a common-yet critical safety check on an airplane, which if missed, could result in the deaths of 100s of people.