You didn’t go to dental school to manage people, but that’s the job. Dr. Addison Killeen opened Capital Dental in the fall of 2019, six months before the world shut down, and learned that the hardest part of ownership was never the dentistry. Simple Rules, Extraordinary Results lays out the mission, vision, and four core values that carried the practice to fourteen operatories, five doctors, and 2,900 reviews — and gives you a process for uncovering your own. No secret sauce. Just simple rules, repeated until they compound.
The resources, worksheets, and reading list that go with the book. Everything here is free — no purchase required.
Both exercises from the back of the book are formatted as one-page worksheets you can print and write on. Complete the form below to access worksheets A and B. Go analog — that’s the point.
The exercise from executive coach Darren Macfee for finding the values already in you, rather than inventing ones you aspire to. Twenty words, winnowed to five, then tested twice.
Two exercises for getting concrete about where you’re headed — one on mortality as a motivator, one on describing your perfect practice in granular detail.
Here is a list of other books mentioned in Simple Rules if you’d like to explore the concepts outlined in the book further.
The most complete book on organizational health, with the clearest framework for defining a handful of real core values and weeding out the fake permission-to-play ones.
The EOS “V/TO” gives you an actual step-by-step process to discover your core values rather than invent them.
Servant leadership and the needs-versus-wants distinction that runs through Have Each Other’s Backs.
The canonical book on core ideology: preserve the core, stimulate progress. The deep theory behind why values outlast strategy.
How values actually transmit through a team day to day.
From Chapter 7. Read these four and you’ll have a foundation most practice owners never build.
Everything in the leadership chapter, in full, as a story you’ll finish in an afternoon. Start here.
The biology and psychology of why teams thrive when leaders create safety and put their people first.
Two Navy SEALs on the principle that a leader is responsible for everything in their world. “There are no bad teams, only bad leaders.”
The clearest map of leadership as a skill you climb level by level.
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Research and Studies:
Dr. Addison Killeen is a renowned speaker, author, business coach, entrepreneur, business investor, and practicing dentist. He completed his undergraduate studies at Saint Louis University and earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. After school, he became a partner in a group that scaled from one office to six offices before it was sold. He then cofounded Dental Success Network, a software and consulting platform designed to help dentists achieve personal and professional excellence.
A prolific author, Addison has published ten books, including the Amazon bestseller By The Numbers, which demystifies the essential metrics for business success. Dr. Killeen lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, with his wife and three boys. He’s a competitive cyclist and continues to practice dentistry and inspire others through his writing and coaching.
