I have for many years now talked about the good work of Atul Gawande a Harvard trained surgeon and health journalist. His book The Checklist Manifesto:How To Get Things Right is a fascinating read and whilst aimed at healthcare is superbly relevant to trading and investing.
Here’s a TED talk by Atul, where he talks about medicine and mentions the outcomes of his work in the Checklist Manifesto. Whilst not remotely trading related its a fascinating insight into another performance environment.
If you’re struggling to build consistency and discipline in your trading then I recommend reading the book and starting to implement some of his ideas in your trading
FXTraderPauls Trading Adventures 
November 21, 2015 at 8:01 pm
Hello Paul,
This video is fantastic.
It is a real eye opener. Atul Gawande’s observations apply not only to traders but to all technical professions.
As an IT engineer, I regularly use checklists in my work, since I find they are the best way I know of to not forget any step in software building; it is especially usefull when a team is about to put a software into production (versionned ? check; tested ? check; documented ? check; communication to users ? check; etc.)
The most damaging mistakes I have seen in my work happened when the team had forgotten something in the process,and realised it only after delivery… once the client has suffered some problems. Hence exhaustive and detailed checklists before delivery to not forget any important detail.
(the hard thing then becomes : how to get everybody in the team to use the elaborated checklist…)
Yet in my trading I don’t use such a list (I do have a plan and a routine that I apply with disciplne, including writing all my trades in a journal, but no thought out and clearly established checklist to apply before each entry on the market!); How could I not have thought of that for my trading ?
Off am I to elaborate my trading checklist!
My next trade will be checklisted.
Best Regards,
Antoine
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December 23, 2015 at 3:45 pm
My apologies Antoine – I thought I had replied. I really appreciate you taking the time to provide your own insight on this book and the power of check lists in life (and trading). I hope you’ve managed to create a good one for your own trading!
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December 27, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Hello Paul,
I’ve bought and read Atul Gawande’s book, an excellent read indeed.
And I’ve finished designing my trading checklist…
There are several actually : one list is for entries (14 items), and 3 more simple lists are for exits depending on market conditions and price action (2 items each). Since my exits are pre-determined at time of entry, checklists for exits are not so important to me, they are simple reminders on what to do in case of sudden adverse market behaviour or price direction.
The entry checklist is like a plane takeoff checklist. It includes several items regarding the weather (market condition), the direction of the wind (price action), the load (position size)…
I can only press the “Buy” or “Sell” button when I have checked all items. I’ve done a first trade using it… It’s great !
It works very much like Atul Gawande describes it in his book : due to training, one already knows what to do; and the list is there to simply remind him of the all the steps he is supposed to perform before action.
And sometimes, a step is overlooked or forgotten… but not anymore with the list.
Checking each item helps me confirm I am on track. If I hesitate on an item, it is a sign I have not completely thought out the trade and I review it again.
Best Regards,
Antoine
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January 4, 2016 at 7:31 pm
Thanks for such an in-depth reply. And thanks for sharing your own findings. I’m pleased to hear that you’ve found the post and the blog useful and that its helped you evolve as a trader. I wish you the best of success!
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