one’s conduct on checklists and templates. Checklists indicate for
us in a structured manner, more or less exactly, what should be
done and the order in which it should be done. This enables speci-
fic measures or decisions to be checked off as they are initiated or
completed. There can sometimes be certain alternative solutions,
depending on the results of previous decisions or measures. An
example of such a checklist can be:
- Do A.
- Do B.
- If the result of B is b, go to point 4, otherwise go to point 5.
- Do C1, go to point 6.
- Do C2.
- And so on...
Templates can be more flexible due to their use of more general
terms to describe conceivable actions or to structure actions or
action patterns. The risk involved in attempting to write down se-
veral more or less important phenomena, events or activities that
in various ways should be taken into consideration, is that one can
overlook other and at least as important phenomena, events or
activities. The effect can be similar to looking so closely at a map
that one forgets that there is a reality. Not the least in situations
when time is at a premium, it is easy to rely on what feels safe,
which in this case is a template or checklist. The obvious risk is
that one can make incorrect decisions and take improper actions.
In some cases, there can be reason to have a template or check-
list, but one must be very attentive to the content being valid for
the current situation. Both templates and checklists must sup-
port decision making; they may not hinder one’s thinking in a
particular situation. Everyone has different knowledge and expe-
rience, thinks and reasons in different ways, and perceives situa-
tions differently. Subsequently, an individual can create a personal
template or checklist, but this individual cannot normally create
a template or checklist for someone else. Standard routines are
a variant of templates and checklists, and these are addressed in
detail in the chapter on resources.
Ellsberg’s paradox can be mentioned in this context. This en-
tails that decision makers, when making decisions (conscious or
unconscious), tend to take consideration to the quality or reliabi-
lity of knowledge on the anticipated results of various decisions.
Through, for example, focusing too strongly on the worse case