Ray Dalio became famous through founding and building his company Bridgewater Associates into an economic powerhouse over decades. Of course, many became interested in how he did it. This book narrates his personal story, but it does more. He ran his company through a series of principles as if it were a machine he and his associates built. This book also chronicles those principles at length to communicate Dalio’s and Bridgewater’s vision of how a good company operates.
The foundation for Dalio’s principles lie in “meaningful work and meaningful relationships.” Interestingly for an investment firm, money is merely an instrument towards those ends. Of course, he is realistic about the challenges of running a company, but he claims to be value-based and demonstrates that ethic through his philosophies.
To extrapolate from that foundation, he uses “radical truth and radical transparency” to build an “idea meritocracy.” He pusshes good ideas to rise to the front, regardless of an employee’s rank. He hopes to avoid an autocracy or democracy in the decision-making process. Instead of making only those in power feel good or having everyone vote about what feels good, he wants to place maximal pressure on producing profitable ideas that help people. Through the principles or company rules, he illustrates how he’s not afraid of aggressively pursuing those ends even when it hurts or creates conflict.
This book offers a contrast to an ego-driven pursuit of power. It shows how to run an organization that makes maximal use of smart people’s ideas. Not everyone wants to run a company, but most motivated folks want to use their hard-wrought talents towards noble ends. Managers and organizational leaders who want to help people – and help others help people – while earning a profit should pay attention.
Principles: Life and Work
By Ray Dalio
Narrated by Ray Dalio & Jeremy Bobb
Text copyright (c) 2017
Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
Audio copyright (c) 2017
Simon & Schuster Audio
ASIN B074B2CZJG
Length: 16:05
Genre: Memoir, Organizational Management
www.amazon.com