When my father prepared himself for a boat trip he would grab a list he had established over the years. It contained all the items he had found to be necessary and useful for his trip.

Before take-off, a pilot will go through his checklist to make sure he has done everything within his power to verify if the plane is ready for take-off.

In both cases, the lists are there for security reasons.

When one is far away from land, there is no stopping by in the shop to get the missing item. And when one is high above the ground, there is no stopping to check the strange noise or anything else that seems unusual.

It’s possible to set out without a checklist.

When doing so, however, we rely on our ability to do things right.

It implies that we don’t make any errors.

It is the assumption, that we will be able to have a solution.

Especially in situations in which others depend on us, it is wise to ask ourselves what we are trying to prove.

Checklists don’t prevent unpleasant surprises, they are there to help reduce the number of problems occurring regularly enough.