Complexity and the volume of knowledge have exceeded the individual's ability to deliver the benefits of that knowledge correctly, safely and reliably. The accounting profession is no exception, but lessons can be learned from other professions like medicine and the airline industry.

In The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Done, Atul Gawande provides several lessons from both the airline industry and medical profession that can be applied to the accounting profession. Humans are fallible and lose attention when it comes to routine matters that can easily be overlooked under the stress of deadlines and fatigue. People can skip steps even when they remember them. In complex processes, like the preparation of a tax return, certain steps don't always matter. Checklists seem to help provide protection against failures and instill a discipline that leads to higher performance.

The problem comes when checklists attempt to become all-encompassing. Gawande points out that checklists can be boring to doctors who may feel above the routine steps, yet his research proved that a simple checklist of five steps significantly reduced infections in hospitals when putting a central line into a patient's body. Doctors are supposed to:

1. Wash their hands with soap;

2. Clean the patient's skin with chlorhexidine antiseptic;

3. Put sterile drapes over the patient;

4. Wear a mask, hat, gown and gloves; and,

5. Put a sterile dressing over the insertion site once the line is in.

These steps are no-brainers, yet in a test, more than one step was skipped in a third of the cases. The line infection rate went from 11 percent to 0 when the nurses were instructed to stop the doctors when they skipped a step. Checklists do establish a higher standard of baseline performance, yet resistance remains in all professions.

Technology can be both a blessing and a curse in all professions. The complexity and number of procedures and services have grown exponentially. Technology enables professionals to track steps and procedures even when irrelevant and redundant. If checklists become too long, people will not pay attention or lose focus. Thus, professional judgment and updating are required. This is where technology can be useful if properly utilized. If not, the result is often extremely long checklists that waste time and do not improve performance and results.

AUTONOMY AND DISCIPLINE

Each profession has a code of conduct that typically includes selflessness, skill and trust-worthiness. Gawande points out that aviators have a fourth expectation: discipline. The medical profession cherishes autonomy. To me, discipline is the most difficult in that it requires accountability. The accounting profession requires both autonomy and discipline, which can be direct opposites depending upon the service and client relationship. Discipline is something that requires constant learning and work. So the question becomes, how can the profession better use judgment and improved checklists?

In my accounting experience, I have seen several trends that are understandable, but alarming. First, firms tend to allow people with departmental perspectives to make technology and procedural decisions, which often result in lack of integration, redundancy and complexity. A good example is the number of databases that firms utilize that contain duplicate data requiring continual updating in many locations and reconciliation. Trust in the accuracy of the data quickly diminishes.

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