Checklist, checklist, checklist and many more checklists or simply Thoughtlist

It seems our society is obsessed with checklists. Just key in checklist on google bar in any browser and you will be flooded with variety of check lists – Wedding, baby shower, moving, camping, shopping, …

Let us examine few examples:

First example is about scenario where tasks are repeating, highly automated, requires minimal human ingenuity once items are spelled out and process is tested several times:  Checklist for readiness of a car for race, Checklist for shuttle ascent, etc.

Second example is about scenario where tasks are not automated, process can vary from one execution to another and human involvement is high: Checklist for wedding, check list for baby shower, checklist for moving, etc.

I fully appreciate checklists for first example. But for second set of activities, does check list make sense? Should we have something different? Eureka! Why not Thoughtlist. A list which gives thoughts to act on mentioned lines.  A thoughtlist should be a blend of checklist (for mundane and repetitive tasks) and collection of thoughts which should be examined and evaluated by executioner at appropriate time.

Now let us jump to our main business - Developing and maintaining software. In any IT organization (and even with in a project – agile or waterfall) any one will find numerous checklists. Checklist for code review, checklist for preparation of Test Cases, checklist for deployment, checklist for UAT, etc.

Does IT organizations need Checklists or Thoughtlists?