Principles are ways of successfully dealing with reality to get what you want out of life.
Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, cites principles as his key to success.
In 1975, Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Over forty years later, Bridgewater has grown into the largest hedge fund in the world and the fifth most important private company in the United States (according to Fortune magazine), and Dalio himself has been named to TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way Dalio discovered unique principles that have led to his and Bridgewater’s unique success. It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio, that he believes are the reason behind whatever success he has had. He is now at a stage in his life that he wants to pass these principles along to others for them to judge for themselves and to do whatever they want with them.
Work Principle
Be open-minded and assertive at the same time.
Being effective at thoughtful disagreement requires one to be openminded (seeing things through the other's eyes) and assertive (communicating clearly how things look through your eyes) and to flexibly process this information to create learning and adaptation.
I have found that most people have problems being assertive and open-minded at the same time. Typically they are more inclined to be assertive than open-minded (because it's easier to convey how they see things than to understand how others do, and also because people tend to have ego attachments to being right) though some people are too willing to accept others' views at the expense of their own. It's important to remind people that they have to do both--and to remember that decision making is a two-step process in which one has to take in information as well as decide. It also helps to remind people that those who change their minds are the biggest winners because they learned something, whereas those who stubbornly refuse to see the truth are losers. With practice, training, and constant reinforcement, anyone can get good at this.
Work Principle
- Get and Stay in Sync
Be open-minded and assertive at the same time.
- Distinguish open-minded people from closed-minded people.
- Don't have anything to do with closed-minded people.
- Watch out for people who think it's embarrassing not to know.
- Make sure that those in charge are open-minded about the questions and comments of others.
- Recognize that getting in sync is a two-way responsibility.
- Worry more about substance than style.
- Be reasonable and expect others to be reasonable.
- Making suggestions and questioning are not the same as criticizing, so don't treat them as if they are.
Any person or organization can adopt Principles to better achieve their goals.
Learn what Principles are and how they are applied at Principles.com
