Page 246 - Ray Dalio - Principles

different abilities working well together create the most
powerful machines to produce achievements.

If you’re willing to confront reality, accept the pain that
comes with doing so, and follow the 5-Step Process to drive

yourself toward your goals, you’re on the path to success. Yet
most people fail to do this because they hold on to bad
opinions that could easily be rectified by going above
themselves to objectively look down at their situation and
weigh what they and others think about it. It’s for that reason I
believe you must be radically open-minded.

Our biggest barriers for doing this well are our ego barrier

and our blind spot barrier. The ego barrier is our innate desire
to be capable and have others recognize us as such. The blind
spot barrier is the result of our seeing things through our own
subjective lenses; both barriers can prevent us from seeing
how things really are. The most important antidote for them is
radical open-mindedness, which is motivated by the genuine

worry that one might not be seeing one’s choices optimally. It
is the ability to effectively explore different points of view and
different possibilities without letting your ego or your blind
spots get in your way.

Doing this well requires practicing thoughtful
disagreement, which is the process of seeking out brilliant

people who disagree with you in order to see things through
their eyes and gain a deeper understanding. Doing this will
raise your probability of making good decisions and will also
give you a fabulous education. If you can learn radical open-
mindedness and practice thoughtful disagreement, you’ll
radically increase your learning.

Finally, being radically open-minded requires you to have

an accurate self-assessment of your own and others’ strengths
and weaknesses. This is where understanding something about
how the brain works and the different psychometric
assessments that can help you discover what your own brain is
like comes in. To get the best results out of yourself and
others, you must understand that people are wired very
differently.