Page 443 - Ray Dalio - Principles

15.1 Having systemized principles

embedded in tools is especially

valuable for an idea

meritocracy.

That is because an idea meritocracy needs to operate in
accordance with agreed-upon principles and to be evidence-
based and fair instead of following the more autocratic and
arbitrary decisions of the CEO and his or her lieutenants.

Rather than be above the principles, the people responsible for
running the organization must be evaluated, chosen, and—if
needed—replaced in an evidence-based way according to
rules, just like everyone else in the organization. Their
strengths and weaknesses, like everyone’s, must be taken into

consideration. Collecting objective data about all people is
essential for this. And you need good tools to convert data into
decisions in agreed-upon ways. Moreover, the tools allow the
people and the system to work together in a symbiotic way to
improve each other.

a. To produce real behavioral change, understand that there must be
internalized or habituated learning. Thankfully, technology has made

internalized learning much easier today than it was when
books were the primary way of conveying knowledge. Don’t
get me wrong, the book was a powerful invention. Johannes
Gutenberg’s printing press allowed easy dissemination of
knowledge that helped people build on each other’s learnings.
But experiential learning is so much more powerful. Now that
technology makes it so easy to create experiential/virtual

learning, I believe that we are on the brink of another step-
change improvement in the quality of learning that will be as
great as or even greater than Gutenberg’s.

We have been trying to create internalized learning at
Bridge-water for a long time, so how we do it has evolved a
lot. Since we tape virtually all our meetings, we have been
able to create virtual learning case studies that allow everyone

to participate without actually being in the room. People see
the meeting transpire as though they were in it, and then the