Jun 24, 2026 · 15 min · 11 segments
In this episode, we explore why relying solely on standard dashboards can lead to costly strategic errors. Using the famous WWII "survivorship bias" bomber story, they explain that metrics often show…
So let me tell you this World War II story.
There's this guy, Abraham Wald, and the Ministry of Defense during World War II was like, hey, there's all these planes coming back with holes in their wings, right? I want you to find out where these are statistically and armor them up.
And he's like, no, no, no, no, no.
What you need to be doing is look at the planes that didn't come back.
That's what you need to armor up because those guys didn't make it, right? The data you're looking at is wrong.
And that's what we're gonna talk about today.
Great intro, Ali.
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So let me tell you this World War II story.
There's this guy, Abraham Wald, and the Ministry of Defense during World War II was like, hey, there's all these planes coming back with holes in their wings, right? I want you to find out where these are statistically and armor them up.
And he's like, no, no, no, no, no.
What you need to be doing is look at the planes that didn't come back.
That's what you need to armor up because those guys didn't make it, right? The data you're looking at is wrong.
And that's what we're gonna talk about today.
Great intro, Ali.
