I discovered Ray Dalio over 10 years ago when I doing research on mega successful people that meditate. As a finance major and someone who started out in the business world in the world of finance I was immediately curious. I wanted to know everything about this man, Ray Dalio. Well it seems like he has become the man of the hour, coined by Tim Ferris as the Steve Jobs of investing. His recent Ted talk, “How to build a company where the best ideas win” has over 700,000 hits since it went live on Sept 7th, just one week ago.
Ray Dalio grew up in a modest 2 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, NY and at the young, rip age of 26 started his investment company, Bridgewater Associates which now manages over 160 billion dollars. He is noted for being one of the 100 most influential people in the world according to Time Magazine. He uses a unique approach to business when it comes to problem solving risk taking and decision making.
Captured in his new book “Principles, Life and Work (which I have pre-order on Audible), his interview with Tim Ferris and Ray’s Ted talk I have highlighted a few of my take aways here.
- Ray claims to have learned more (much more) from his mistakes than from his successes. He referenced the book “Einstein’s Greatest Mistakes (which I am listening to now on Audible) as one of his favorites that reinforces that philosophy.
- His over all “ruling principle” is Pain + Reflection = Progress. Sighting that it is important to know “what you don’t know” allows one to shift out of an “I am right” state of being. Once you move out of a closed way of thinking you already know, you can then ask questions, assess and analyze. I personally love the questions Ray asks “What did I do wrong?” and “What would I do differently next time”? so that you can actually learn from your mistakes. (that would be a really good thing, right?)
- Ray Dalio’s company uses a unique approach called “Radical Transparency”. Employees log in to record their thoughts throughout the day into an I-pad. They record emotional triggers (all levels) and thoughts while they are happening and based on their own perspective, then later, they are graphed giving bio feedback that can be analyzed and reflected on at another time point.
- Bridgewater Associates uses the concept of Believability Decision Making. There are 3 aspects of this type of decision making. First, you are encouraged to put your honest thoughts on the table. Second, you must practice the art of thoughtful disagreements (i.e., what I would call a mindfulness and consideration approach) Then, third, if there is a disagreement, you must use the believability strategies to get past it.
- Ray Dalio applies the 2 minute rule. I really like this one. Each person can speak for 2 minutes uninterrupted. The other person must repeat what that person said to show they understand. Then the next person gets their turn for 2 minutes.
- Ray Dalio’s three things make a great life principle. First, have audacious goals (I’m a fan of this BIG time) Second, know you will encounter problems and you have to be realistic in practical way to overcome them. And lastly, you have to have determination, tenacity, and a willingness to persevere.
- His belief on true happiness. You have to have a sense of “meaningful relationships” and “meaningful work”. The people that are unhappy are missing one or both of those two things and you can start by joining a community. I believe this to be true. At the end of the day, it’s people and people helping people. That’s worth billions.
I would LOVE to hear YOUR thoughts? What did you think about Ray Dalio’s philosophies? Did any of them resonate with you?
To Flourishing,
Wendi
P.S- Look for upcoming Podcasts, Interviews, and more here. Thanks for sharing this blog edition to others that might benefits from these ideas.