The surgeon, writer, and public health researcher shared groundbreaking findings from the University of Michigan: the best hospitals didn't have fewer complications after surgery — their complication rates were nearly identical to mediocre ones. What distinguished them was their ability to rescue patients when things went wrong, preventing failures from becoming catastrophes. Scientists had given a new name to deaths that occur after something goes wrong: 'failure to rescue.' Gawande argued this principle extends far beyond medicine into every aspect of life.