Page 368 - Ray Dalio - Principles

While these kinds of questions seem obvious in retrospect,
time and again I see people overlooking them. Not knowing
what is required to do the job well and not knowing what your

people are like is like trying to run a machine without knowing
how its parts work together.

When I was younger I didn’t really understand the saying,
“Hire someone better than you.” Now, after decades of hiring,
managing, and firing people, I understand that to be truly
successful I need to be like a conductor of people, many of
whom (if not all) can play their instruments better than I can—

and that if I was a really great conductor, I would also be able
to find a better conductor than me and hire him or her. My
ultimate goal is to create a machine that works so well that I
can just sit back and watch beauty happen.

I cannot emphasize enough how important the selection,
training, testing, evaluation, and sorting out of people is.

In the end, what you need to do is simple:

1. Remember the goal.
2. Give the goal to people who can achieve it (which is best)

or tell them what to do to achieve it (which is
micromanaging and therefore less good).

3. Hold them accountable.

4. If they still can’t do the job after you’ve trained them and
given them time to learn, get rid of them.

7.1 Recognize that the most important

decision for you to make is who

you choose as your Responsible

Parties.

If you put your goals in the hands of RPs who can execute
those goals well, and if you make it clear to them that they are
personally responsible for achieving those goals and doing the
tasks, they should produce excellent results.