Ray Dalio
Author of Principles: Life and Work
About the Author
Ray Dalio is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He began investing at age 12, when he bought shares of Northeast Airlines for $300 and tripled his investment. Dalio received a bachelor's degree in finance from Long Island University and an MBA from Harvard Business show more School. In 1975, he founded the Westport, Connecticut based investment management firm, Bridgewater Associates which in 2012 became the largest hedge fund in the world, as it is today, with over $160 billion in assets under management, as of October 2014. show less
Image credit: 7 November 2018; Ray Dalio, Founder, Co-Chief Investment Officer & Co-Chairman, Bridgewater Associates on the Forum Stage during day two of Web Summit 2018 at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. Photo by Harry Murphy/Web Summit via Sportsfile
Works by Ray Dalio
Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail (2021) 711 copies, 10 reviews
Principles: Your Guided Journal (Create Your Own Principles to Get the Work and Life You Want) (2022) 34 copies
Paradigm Shifts 1 copy
Populism: The Phenomenon 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Dalio, Ray
- Legal name
- Dalio, Raymond Thomas
- Birthdate
- 1949-08-08
- Gender
- male
- Education
- C. W. Post College (BS)
Harvard Business School (MBA) - Occupations
- hedge fund manager
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- New York, New York, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- New York, USA
Members
Reviews
This book isn't perfect, but I'm glad I read it.
Basically three parts: 1) background on Dalio and Bridgewater (interesting, but only if you're into biographies or accounts of important companies); 2) advice for how to live one's own life 3) principles for engineering and managing a company. 2 is probably of the widest appeal, and 3 is what I found the most interesting (although also the most hit-or-miss).
I'm friends with an ex-Bridgewater employee, and I knew of Dalio and Bridgewater but not show more in any great detail. The biography was interesting to me, but didn't really go into great detail; it's maybe on par with a long-form magazine article about the man and his firm.
Dalio's advice for individuals and companies basically boils down to harnessing the power of feedback, iteration, and improvement in response to failure. Simple to say, but hard to implement, and much of his advice was how to create systems (individually or for an organization) to accomplish this. For an individual, the challenge is primarily psychological -- being able to reflect on one's actions at a higher meta level than just doing the work itself, because you're always both the do-er and the manager. For organizations, the challenge is essentially the central problems of economics -- aligning incentives, culture, and unintended consequences. This is where he had some of the best concrete advice, about tools Bridgewater developed and used (and which he says he will release), and also about the need for greater organizational controls once he wasn't directly running things. I don't think he went far enough in admitting the problems with the bridgewater model, and lack of applicability -- it only really works when everyone has aligned incentives, which I believe is only possible in small groups or in organizations throwing off so much cash that no one is concerned about scarcity -- the Bridgewater management style would not be a viable way to run a large retail empire like Wal-mart, and he didn't seem to understand or admit this.
Overall, it's a good book. The individual principles are good to have in one's toolbox, and the organizational structuring advice is good if not taken as gospel or in isolation. I do wish I'd worked at Bridgewater when Dalio was there, to see this stuff happen in realtime, but maybe I'll be able to implement some of these tools with my own teams in the future. show less
Basically three parts: 1) background on Dalio and Bridgewater (interesting, but only if you're into biographies or accounts of important companies); 2) advice for how to live one's own life 3) principles for engineering and managing a company. 2 is probably of the widest appeal, and 3 is what I found the most interesting (although also the most hit-or-miss).
I'm friends with an ex-Bridgewater employee, and I knew of Dalio and Bridgewater but not show more in any great detail. The biography was interesting to me, but didn't really go into great detail; it's maybe on par with a long-form magazine article about the man and his firm.
Dalio's advice for individuals and companies basically boils down to harnessing the power of feedback, iteration, and improvement in response to failure. Simple to say, but hard to implement, and much of his advice was how to create systems (individually or for an organization) to accomplish this. For an individual, the challenge is primarily psychological -- being able to reflect on one's actions at a higher meta level than just doing the work itself, because you're always both the do-er and the manager. For organizations, the challenge is essentially the central problems of economics -- aligning incentives, culture, and unintended consequences. This is where he had some of the best concrete advice, about tools Bridgewater developed and used (and which he says he will release), and also about the need for greater organizational controls once he wasn't directly running things. I don't think he went far enough in admitting the problems with the bridgewater model, and lack of applicability -- it only really works when everyone has aligned incentives, which I believe is only possible in small groups or in organizations throwing off so much cash that no one is concerned about scarcity -- the Bridgewater management style would not be a viable way to run a large retail empire like Wal-mart, and he didn't seem to understand or admit this.
Overall, it's a good book. The individual principles are good to have in one's toolbox, and the organizational structuring advice is good if not taken as gospel or in isolation. I do wish I'd worked at Bridgewater when Dalio was there, to see this stuff happen in realtime, but maybe I'll be able to implement some of these tools with my own teams in the future. show less
Imagine for a moment you were able to sit down for long conversation with a wise old man, who happened to have unimaginable success. That is this book. Ray Dalio is one who likes to think, and here he outlines his principles.
The book truly is three books. The first is a concise biography. The second are his personal (individual) principles for life. And the third are the principles he incorporates in his company, his corporate principles.
It is a book of intense practical advice. Most of show more what he says feels like sounds "common sense," which means it feels true, yet is hardly common. I will say, undoubtedly, he has cornered the market on identifying truth. And let me explain what I mean by that. Bridgewater, Ray Dalio's company, which he built from nothing out his 2 bedroom apartment, is one of the largest most successful hedge funds in the world. They deal with making money, which is a straightforward black or white enterprise. You know very quickly whether you've made a good decision or a bad one - there don't seem to be gray areas. And this is where Dalio's approach seems most effective, namely what he calls an "idea meritocracy - radical truth, radical transparency:" a phrase he repeats a lot.
This comes from an interview and feels very similar to the book:
Other ideas that are noteworthy (and have likely influenced the world) are:
-- computer aided decision making. Dalio started using computers way back to aid in objective decision making, utilizing algorithm optimization years before most people had computers in their homes.
-- diversified asset portfolios. No doubt others did this too, but it seems like Dalio and Bridgewater have come close to perfecting it.
-- a systematic approach to group interactions, including making baseball cards for employees.
-- rewarding failure. This encourages employees to not only come forward when mistakes are made (rather than hide them), and take risks, which leads to growth.
If interested, you might find his TED talk, which is a great intro. Or you can also download the e-book for free on your phone. The app is called oddly enough Principles. My only complaints with the book are many of the ideas are redundant because you get similar or the same thing in all three books. Second, it can be pretty dry. That being said, the advice is pretty solid.
If you have interest in making money, if you have interest in finding truth, if you lead a company or group of people, I'd recommend this book. Good solid advice worth hearing! show less
The book truly is three books. The first is a concise biography. The second are his personal (individual) principles for life. And the third are the principles he incorporates in his company, his corporate principles.
It is a book of intense practical advice. Most of show more what he says feels like sounds "common sense," which means it feels true, yet is hardly common. I will say, undoubtedly, he has cornered the market on identifying truth. And let me explain what I mean by that. Bridgewater, Ray Dalio's company, which he built from nothing out his 2 bedroom apartment, is one of the largest most successful hedge funds in the world. They deal with making money, which is a straightforward black or white enterprise. You know very quickly whether you've made a good decision or a bad one - there don't seem to be gray areas. And this is where Dalio's approach seems most effective, namely what he calls an "idea meritocracy - radical truth, radical transparency:" a phrase he repeats a lot.
This comes from an interview and feels very similar to the book:
The key to our success has been to have a real idea meritocracy. To have a successful idea meritocracy, you have to do three things: 1. Put your honest thoughts out on the table, 2. Have thoughtful disagreements in which people are willing to shift their opinions as they learn, and 3. Have agreed-upon ways of deciding if disagreements remain so that you can move beyond them without resentments. And to do this well, you need to be radically truthful and radically transparent, by which I mean you need to allow people to see and say almost anything. If you're not transparent, people won't know enough about what's going on to have good, independent opinions, and if you don't expect the truth of people, you'll never know whether or not they're telling you want they really think.
Other ideas that are noteworthy (and have likely influenced the world) are:
-- computer aided decision making. Dalio started using computers way back to aid in objective decision making, utilizing algorithm optimization years before most people had computers in their homes.
-- diversified asset portfolios. No doubt others did this too, but it seems like Dalio and Bridgewater have come close to perfecting it.
-- a systematic approach to group interactions, including making baseball cards for employees.
-- rewarding failure. This encourages employees to not only come forward when mistakes are made (rather than hide them), and take risks, which leads to growth.
If interested, you might find his TED talk, which is a great intro. Or you can also download the e-book for free on your phone. The app is called oddly enough Principles. My only complaints with the book are many of the ideas are redundant because you get similar or the same thing in all three books. Second, it can be pretty dry. That being said, the advice is pretty solid.
If you have interest in making money, if you have interest in finding truth, if you lead a company or group of people, I'd recommend this book. Good solid advice worth hearing! show less
The first hundred pages I read very closely. I skimmed the rest.
Dalio is an obsessively competitive person and he carefully architects how he succeeds.
His mental discipline for success is extremely rigorous, I'll say impossible.
For all the billions of dollars he has earned I don't understand what tangible assets he's created.
This book may be the wrong source for what I seek.
Dalio compares himself to Steve Jobs. Jobs developed computer devices that expand and enrich the lives of millions show more of people. Dalio managed the most successful hedge fund making rich people richer. Both are wealthy and Jobs created thousands of jobs and enriched consumers lives, I don't know what Dalio invented, it's all advanced mathematics of hedge funds. A few thousand people work at Dalio's Bridgewater Capital. All the clients are American elites.
While Steve Jobs' iPhone is used by rural Chinese.
I think Dalio's goals are contribute to making excessive greed an admirable quality in the USA. His competitive nature makes for a life filled with success and no meaning.
If you are ultra competitive, greedy alpha perfectionist, this is the book for you.
I'm an artist who seeks beauty and meaning, so this book rates low on my scale. show less
Dalio is an obsessively competitive person and he carefully architects how he succeeds.
His mental discipline for success is extremely rigorous, I'll say impossible.
For all the billions of dollars he has earned I don't understand what tangible assets he's created.
This book may be the wrong source for what I seek.
Dalio compares himself to Steve Jobs. Jobs developed computer devices that expand and enrich the lives of millions show more of people. Dalio managed the most successful hedge fund making rich people richer. Both are wealthy and Jobs created thousands of jobs and enriched consumers lives, I don't know what Dalio invented, it's all advanced mathematics of hedge funds. A few thousand people work at Dalio's Bridgewater Capital. All the clients are American elites.
While Steve Jobs' iPhone is used by rural Chinese.
I think Dalio's goals are contribute to making excessive greed an admirable quality in the USA. His competitive nature makes for a life filled with success and no meaning.
If you are ultra competitive, greedy alpha perfectionist, this is the book for you.
I'm an artist who seeks beauty and meaning, so this book rates low on my scale. show less
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 show more 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. show less
The foundation for show more 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. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 24
- Members
- 3,321
- Popularity
- #7,702
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 38
- ISBNs
- 85
- Languages
- 13
- Favorited
- 1