Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance

Diligence is one of the three major themes that Gawande explores in Better. According to him, diligence is “the necessity of giving sufficient attention to detail to avoid error and prevail against obstacles” (8). In order to accomplish this, one must hold oneself accountable when things go wrong.  Gawande details a patient of his who came down with an antibiotic-resistant hospital-acquired infection. Language such as “came down with” and “hospital-acquired” skirt the fact that the hospital didn't Infect the patient—a doctor making a human error did. He states, “It had not occurred to me that I might have given him that infection. One of us certainly did” (28).

Gawande considers diligence to be “one of the three core requirements for success in medicine” (8), but it extends further than just the sphere of public health. Being completely devoted to the minutia of one’s life is a form of diligence, and Gawande believes it should be a central tenant in everyone’s life. He believes this because people almost always create better outcomes when they approach a task with diligence. The science of performance is a field of psychology all its own, but Gawande sets himself squarely in the camp of believing attention to detail sets the stage for success.