Over a decade ago, the maintainer of SQLite gave a talk at OSCON about their testing practices. One concept that stood out to me was the power of checklists, the same tool pilots rely on before every flight.
He also mentioned Doctors Without Borders, who weren't seeing the outcomes they expected when it came to saving lives. One surprising reason? The medical teams often didn't speak the same language or even know each other's names.
The solution was simple: a pre-surgery checklist. Before any procedure, team members would state their name and role. This small ritual dramatically improved their success rates, not through better technique, but through better communication.
He also mentioned Doctors Without Borders, who weren't seeing the outcomes they expected when it came to saving lives. One surprising reason? The medical teams often didn't speak the same language or even know each other's names.
The solution was simple: a pre-surgery checklist. Before any procedure, team members would state their name and role. This small ritual dramatically improved their success rates, not through better technique, but through better communication.
https://sqlite.org/src/ext/checklist/3070700/index