One of the most well-known examples of how checklists can save lives comes with Captain Sullenberger. Even after a flock of birds took out both of his plane engines, he still made time to look at his Quick Reference Handbook to follow the steps in order to land the plane as safely as possible.

If you’re curious, the emergency landing procedure looks like this. A plane without any operating engines is about as time-sensitive of a situation as anyone will be in, yet Captain Sully understood that following the protocol was a necessity.

Checklists in Medicine

In another example, Dr. Atul Gawande, looked into his own field of surgery and his solution came in the form of his book, The Checklist Manifesto, asserting that even something as complicated as surgery can be made much more secure with the implementation of a tool as simple as the checklist.

Dr. Gawande took his findings and implemented them in nearby hospitals. Naturally, it met some resistance from the practicing surgeons and understandably so. It seems a bit demoralizing and insulting to have practices in place that make it seem like you don’t know how to do your job. Having to confirm that you have the right patient on the operating table or that you have washed your hands seems like a giant waste of time for doctors with decades of experience. However, within three months of implementing checklists, major complications dropped 36% and deaths by 47%. The results spoke for themselves.

A list of practices that must be followed is not an insult to employees. As Dr. Gawande puts it as the fact that all of us have “mental flaws, [whether it’s] memory, attention, or thoroughness.” No one is perfect and that is a fact. We all have too much on our plates to get every small detail correct every single time, yet skipping the smallest step can have dire consequences.

Sound familiar?

When it comes to following processes, wiring money is no different than landing a plane in the Hudson River or operating on someone. Without a list of practices that can be checked and followed every single time, there is inevitably going to be a mistake leading to you losing large sums of money. Most companies out there have their own homebrew solution of email archives and spreadsheets to monitor their current process, as there are not better solutions out there.

Luckily, Conduit provides a SaaS tool that enforces a checklist for every single wire transfer you conduct. It makes sure that any possible disruptions to this process are impossible. The lives of people go through checklists to enforce the best practices to ensure their safety. You should treat the livelihood of your company the same way by using Conduit.

If Captain Sully used one, so can you.