Page 111 - Ray Dalio - Principles

etc. Because I have a limited time to do this, we need to
move fast. At the same time we will have to fight the battles
in the trenches, with hand-to-hand combat, to clean out

those who are incapable and bring in or promote those
who are excellent.

One of the great things about algorithmic decision making
is that it focuses people on cause-effect relationships and, in
that way, helps foster a real idea meritocracy. When everyone
can see the criteria the algorithms use and have a hand in
developing them, they can all agree that the system is fair and

trust the computer to look at the evidence, make the right
assessments about people, and assign them the right
authorities. The algorithms are essentially principles in action
on a continuous basis.

While our management system has a long way to go before
it is as well automated as our investment system, the tools it
has made possible, especially the “Dot Collector” (an app that

gathers information about people in real time described in
detail in the Work Principles), have already made an incredible
difference in the way we work.

All these tools reinforce good habits and good thinking.
The good habits come from thinking repeatedly in a principled
way, like learning to speak a language. The good thinking

comes from exploring the reasoning behind the principles.
The ultimate goal of all this was to help the people I cared

about be more successful without me, which was becoming
increasingly pressing as life’s milestones continued to remind
me of my stage in life. For example, I became a grandfather
with the birth of Christopher Dalio on May 31, 2013. And in
the summer of 2013, I had a serious health scare that turned

out to be nothing but reminded me of my mortality. At the
same time, I still loved playing the markets, which I plan to do
until I die, making me even more eager to speed the transition
from the second to the third phase of my life.

ANTICIPATING THE EUROPEAN

DEBT CRISIS