Page 410 - Ray Dalio - Principles

in the quality control machine. Worse still, the investigation
revealed the Responsible Parties were failing to perceive and
diagnose these problems. And most worrisome, it wasn’t clear

that, without my pushing, anyone else would have taken the
time to investigate.

This initial failure to perceive and not tolerate problems did
not happen for lack of caring; it happened because most of the
people in the process paid more attention to getting the tasks
done than assessing whether the goals were being achieved.
They had become more like rubber stampers than craftsmen,

while the top people who were supposed to “taste the soup” to
make sure it was excellent were focused on other things.

Discovering this was disappointing to all of us, because it
showed that the high standards that for so long had been the
reasons for our success were slipping. Facing this reality was
painful, but ultimately healthy. The existence of a problem like
this one—whether from a flaw in the design of one’s machine

or from one’s own or others’ inabilities—is not shameful.
Acknowledging a weakness isn’t the same thing as accepting
it. It’s a necessary first step toward overcoming it. The pain
one feels, whether from shame and embarrassment, or
frustration at one’s inability to get the better of it, is like the
pain one feels at getting flabby that motivates one to go to the
gym. As you’ll see in the following chapters, facing this

problem led to important innovations and improvements.

The following principles flesh out how to perceive and not
tolerate the problems that come your way.

11.1 If you’re not worried, you need to

worry—and if you’re worried,

you don’t need to worry.

That’s because worrying about what can go wrong will protect
you and not worrying about what will go wrong will leave you

exposed.