Why checklists matter for efficiency and planning

Donald Trump, never one to shy away from spectacle, recently announced that billionaire businessman Elon Musk and entrepreneur-politician Vivek Ramaswamy will helm a department of government efficiency (DOGE) to cut wasteful government expenditure.

- Abhinav Walia

It is a proposition that is at once audacious and surreal. Yet, beneath its theatrical flair lies an undeniable provocation: What truly underpins efficiency in government?

In India, where the bureaucracy stretches vast and intricate, efficiency is not a singular virtue but a convergence. Stated differently, it lies at the confluence of many factors. In the theatre of organisational transformation towards efficiency, grand gestures often steal the stage—expansive strategies, glossy presentations, and the intoxicating allure of cutting-edge technologies.

Yet, the story of transformation is rarely as linear or triumphant as these grand gestures suggest. In his book, The Checklist Manifesto, American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher Atul Gawande outlines two types of errors that frequently lead to failure: Errors of ignorance (not knowing enough) and errors of ineptitude (failing to properly use what one knows). In today's organisations, where knowledge is abundant but often overwhelming, the latter is more common.