I just finished reading The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande. I loved it.

I have to admit, though, that when my friend Michael called a couple of weeks ago to say that this was a “must read” for me, I was only moderately interested.

I’m already a huge planner, and I regularly make use of lists and notebooks to keep track of my projects.

I thought that the book might offer me a few ideas about tweaking my current systems, but I was sure that there would be no big, new insights for me.

Boy, was I wrong! So much so, in fact, that I now see my life as having two parts: Before The Checklist Manifesto (BCM) and After The Checklist Manifesto (ACM).

The things that were on my lists BCM fell into a couple of categories. They were either things that I needed to do before a certain event (such as taking a vacation), or lists that I used to keep big, complex projects on track.

What I hadn’t been tracking were the small, mundane, routine things that I do over and over again. When I took a look at these “simple tasks,” I realized that simple doesn’t always mean obvious. And while I usually get it all done, these things were using up way too much of my brainpower every single day.

For example, here are some of the small things that I do at the end of each month:

• download all my bank transactions to Xero (my accounting software)
• make sure all outstanding client invoices are entered
• make sure all my business expense receipts are
  accounted for in Xero
• file my receipts
• create an expense report, if necessary, for out-of-pocket expenses
• reconcile my credit card and bank accounts

You get the drift. BCM, I was recreating my lists of what needed doing each and every month. Some months, I might add something new. Other months, I might overlook something. And every month there was the nagging feeling that I was forgetting to do something.

ACM, I stop and make sure that I’m not reinventing processes over and over again.

I know why you don’t use checklists.

Lots of people resist checklists because they think that using them in business will stifle the fun and creativity. Others are afraid that if everything is put into a checklist they risk organizing themselves out of a job.

In my experience, neither of these concerns is warranted. Checklists free our minds from having to remember the routine, the boring and the low-skilled details of each day. They give us back time and energy to be more creative, solve more problems and get more done.

The Checklist Manifesto is filled with great ideas and real life examples, many of which can be applied to your business (and life!) right now. Pick up a copy, give it a read and free up your brain for bigger and better things!

Get your team together and start by defining what you’re trying to accomplish, tracing back how and where things fall apart.

Keep going until you’ve boiled it down to as few steps as possible, using this exercise as a way to simplify the flow of work and communicate with your team (if you have one) about how work flows through the office. I’m sure you’ll find some redundancy and missing pieces.

Creating good checklists takes time. It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it. Give it a try.

“We follow the philosophy of focusing on a few items and serving them to the best of our ability.”  

From the Five Guys Burgers and Fries website

Last Saturday afternoon, my friend Greg and I took a drive out to Ikea in Stoughton. I don’t mind telling you that I love that place. The way I look at it, what’s not to like about a warehouse filled with cool, colorful stuff that you can take home, assemble and sit on that very same day?

But it does work up an appetite. As we drove home, Greg pulled off the highway and into Five Guys Burgers and Fries. I love that place too, especially the name. I think it’s funny the way it rhymes, so every time I see one of their signs I can’t stop myself from saying the name out loud and really fast.

We went inside and, as usual, I was struck by the small number of choices on the menu. Five Guys serves hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and two types of fries. There are lots of toppings to help customize your selection, but that’s it.

While digging into my jalapeno-covered burger, I started to think about how few companies operate like this. Most businesses, and the entrepreneurs who run them, try to do exactly the opposite.

If a customer asks for something that their business doesn’t offer, they try to figure out how to meet the request in an effort to keep the sale. That’s a nice sentiment, but, from an operational standpoint, each time they do this they are creating an exception to the way they work. And exceptions are where the costly mistakes happen.

Here’s an example. I recently started playing tennis again and needed some new tennis shoes. I wanted to shop locally, so I asked my tennis teacher, Tommy, where to go. He told me to check out his favorite little shop in Boston.

I went to the store and picked out the shoes I liked, but they didn’t have the color that I wanted in my size. Never fear! The person who was working that day said she would find out if the store could special order my shoes. She said that she’d give me a call in two days. (I think you know where this is going.)

What I didn’t know is that they usually don’t place special orders. The employee only offered to do it because she liked me and wanted to go the extra mile for a customer. What that meant was, instead of getting dropped into a predetermined special order process, I simply got dropped.

Here’s the disconnect. The woman in the tennis shop thought she was being extra nice by doing me a favor (which she was) and smart because she had a chance for a new customer (she did). But I didn’t want a favor; I wanted the easiest way to get my shoes before my next lesson.

In the end, after finally realizing that no call was coming, I bought my shoes elsewhere (and I had to wait an extra week to get them). Not a huge deal, but when you multiply it across many situations and many customers, it adds up to a lot of bad will and missed sales, both now and in the future.

Businesses are afraid to say no. They’re afraid of turning down business. They think it limits them and they’ve been led to believe that “the customer is always right.”

All good thoughts. But whether it’s hamburgers or tennis shoes or whatever it is you sell, a business needs quality control and finely tuned processes if it hopes to really take care of its customers.

Take a lesson from the Five Guys: If you can’t do it well, don’t do it at all.