816. What Survivorship Bias Can Teach Your Practice

In this episode, Dr. Killeen shares a powerful story from World War II that highlights a common thinking error called survivorship bias. By studying only the planes that returned from combat, analysts nearly reinforced the wrong parts of the aircraft until statistician Abraham Wald pointed out they were missing the most important data. This same bias shows up in dentistry when we look only at successful practices and try to copy what they are doing without considering the many others who tried the same strategies and failed. What we see is often just the highlight reel, not the full story. Dr. Killeen encourages dentists to start looking beyond visible success and to ask better questions about what does not work. By paying attention to failures, blind spots, and unseen risks, practice owners can make smarter decisions and avoid costly mistakes.