Page 394 - Ray Dalio - Principles

Most people get caught up in the blizzard of things coming at
them. In contrast, successful people get above the blizzard so
they can see the causes and effects at play. This higher-level
perspective allows them to see themselves and others

objectively as a machine, to understand who can and cannot do
what well, and how everyone can fit together in a way that will
produce the best outcomes.

Now that you’ve learned the best ways to approach your
machine’s two key components—its culture and its people—
I’d like to turn to principles for managing and improving your
machine.

In the next chapter, I will go over my high-level principles

for applying higher-level thinking to conceptualize your
organization as a machine. This isn’t just a thought
experiment; thinking in a machinelike way also has important
practical ramifications for how you manage your team and
how you design roles, responsibilities, and workflows.

In Chapter Ten, Manage as Someone Operating a Machine
to Achieve a Goal, I apply this approach to organizational

design at its highest level.