Page 360 - Ray Dalio - Principles

the media of some things that we made radically transparent
within Bridgewater. People at Bridgewater understood that our
transparency about our weaknesses and mistakes was being

used to present distorted and harmful pictures of Bridgewater,
so we had to lessen our level of transparency until we resolved
that problem. Rather than just lessening this degree of
transparency, I explained the situation and declared “martial
law,” meaning that this was a temporary suspension of the full
degree of radical transparency. That way, everyone would
know both that it was an exceptional case and that we were

entering a time when the typical way of operating would be
suspended.

b. Be wary of people who argue for the suspension of the idea meritocracy for
the “good of the organization.” When such arguments win out, the
idea meritocracy will be weakened. Don’t let that happen. If
people respect the rules of the idea meritocracy, there will be
no conflict. I know that from my experiences over decades.

However, I also know that there will be people who put what
they want above the idea meritocracy and threaten it. Consider
those people to be enemies of the system and get rid of them.

6.6 Recognize that if the people who

have the power don’t want to
operate by principles, the

principled way of operating will

fail.

Ultimately, power will rule. This is true of any system. For
example, it has repeatedly been shown that systems of

government have only worked when those with the power
value the principles behind the system more than they value
their own personal objectives. When people have both enough
power to undermine a system and a desire to get what they
want that is greater than their desire to maintain the system,

the system will fail. For that reason the power supporting the
principles must be given only to people who value the
principled way of operating more than their individual