Studying and imitating only surviving companies, especially the most successful ones, can lead to flawed and dangerous conclusions about what are the best and safest practices. For instance, companies that use riksy, unusual practices perform either much better or much worse than average, especially compared to those that do what most other companies do. But "if only the best, not the worst, performers are observed, performance will seem to be associated with strategies that are far more likely to kill a company than to result in superior performance." (quote is from Denrell, Vicarious Learning)