PRINCIPLES: LIFE AND WORK

u003cbu003e#1 u003ciu003eNew York Times u003c/iu003eBestselleru003c/bu003eu003cbru003e u003cbru003eu003cbu003e“Significant...The book is both instructive and surprisingly moving.” —u003ciu003eThe New York Timesu003c/iu003eu003c/bu003eu003cbru003e u003cbru003e u003cbu003eRay Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.u003c/bu003eu003cbru003eu003cbru003eIn 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the United States, according to u003ciu003eFortuneu003c/iu003e magazine. Dalio himself has been named to u003ciu003eTime u003c/iu003emagazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way, Dalio discovered a set of unique principles that have led to Bridgewater’s exceptionally effective culture, which he describes as “an idea meritocracy that strives to achieve meaningful work and meaningful relationships through radical transparency.” It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio—who grew up an ordinary kid in a middle-class Long Island neighborhood—that he believes are the reason behind his success.u003cbru003e u003cbru003e In u003ciu003ePrinciples, u003c/iu003eDalio shares what he’s learned over the course of his remarkable career. He argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines. The book’s hundreds of practical lessons, which are built around his cornerstones of “radical truth” and “radical transparency,” include Dalio laying out the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams. He also describes the innovative tools the firm uses to bring an idea meritocracy to life, such as creating “baseball cards” for all employees that distill their strengths and weaknesses, and employing computerized decision-making systems to make believability-weighted decisions. While the book brims with novel ideas for organizations and institutions, u003ciu003ePrinciplesu003c/iu003e also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve.u003cbru003e u003cbru003eHere, from a man who has been called both “the Steve Jobs of investing” and “the philosopher king of the financial universe” (u003ciu003eCIO u003c/iu003emagazine), is a rare opportunity to gain proven advice unlike anything you’ll find in the conventional business press.