Page 355 - Ray Dalio - Principles

In the end, people who join our idea meritocracy agree to
abide by our policies and procedures and the decisions that
come out of them, just as if they had taken a dispute to court

and had to abide by its procedures and the resulting verdict.
This requires them to separate themselves from their own
opinion and avoid getting angry when a decision doesn’t go
their way. If people don’t follow the agreed-upon paths, they
don’t have the right to complain about either the people they
disagree with or the idea-meritocratic system itself.

In those rare cases where our principles, policies, and

procedures fail to make clear how a disagreement should be
resolved, it is everyone’s responsibility to raise that fact so the
process can be clarified and improved.

6.1 Remember: Principles can’t be

ignored by mutual agreement.

Principles are like laws—you can’t break one simply because
you and someone else agree to break it. Remember that it’s
everyone’s obligation to speak up, own it, or get out. If you
don’t think the principles provide the right way to resolve a

problem or disagreement, you need to fight to change the
principles, not just do what you want to do.

a. The same standards of behavior apply to everyone. Whenever there is a
dispute, both parties are required to have equal levels of
integrity, to be open-minded and assertive, and to be equally
considerate. The judges must hold the parties to the same
standards and provide feedback consistent with these

standards. I have often seen cases in which the feedback
wasn’t appropriately balanced for various reasons (to hold the
stronger performer to a higher standard, to spread the blame).
This is a mistake. The person in the wrong needs to receive the
strongest message. Not operating this way could lead them to

believe that the problem wasn’t caused by them, or was caused
by both parties equally. Of course, the message should be
conveyed calmly and clearly rather than emotionally to
maximize its effectiveness.