The Checklist

Is it me or has the whole concept of checklists blown up recently?  I am a big fan of the books by Atule Gawande.  Not only do they provide a great deal of insight into the medical profession - they also touch upon fundamental concepts for process improvement and service excellence that can be applied directly to Information Technology.  I looked into this further and found another book with a smaller following - Safe Patients, Safe Hospitals - that continues with the checklist theme.  I look forward to working through this one and will follow-up with some feedback.