Principles: Life and Work。この本は、世界トップレベルのヘッジファンドBridgewaterのファンダーであるRay Dalioが、彼の人生における重要なPrinciplesを纏めたものだ。
米国の去年のベストセラーであり、中国でもかなり売れている。個人的には昨年読んだ本の中で、最も役に立っている本。なぜ未だに和訳版が出ていないのか不思議でならない。
本は長すぎて読めないという方に幾つかのリソースをシェアしたい
まずは30分でPrinciplesをざっくり習得できるYoutube動画。Ray本人が監修している
Principles For Success by Ray Dalio (In 30 Minutes)
次はHBSのBridgewaterのケース。会社をPrinciplesで以下に運営するかに視点が置かれているが、動画もあるので、かなりわかりやすい
https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=44831
最後に僕がKindleで本を読んだ時にメモしたハイライト。これは参考になると思った方は、ぜひ本をご購入ください。
To be a successful entrepreneur, the same is true: One also has to be an independent thinker who correctly bets against the consensus, which means being painfully wrong a fair amount.
1. Put our honest thoughts out on the table, 2. Have thoughtful disagreements in which people are willing to shift their opinions as they learn, and 3. Have agreed-upon ways of deciding (e.g., voting, having clear authorities) if disagreements remain so that we can move beyond them without resentments. I believe that for any organization or for any relationship to be great, these things are required. I also believe that for a group decision-making system to be effective, the people using it have to believe that it’s fair.
Over time I learned that getting more out of life wasn’t just a matter of working harder at it. It was much more a matter of working effectively, because working effectively could increase my capacity by hundreds of times.
(p. 135)
Pain + Reflection = Progress. There is no avoiding pain, especially if you’re going after ambitious goals. Believe it or not, you are lucky to feel that kind of pain if you approach it correctly, because it is a signal that you need to find solutions so you can progress. If you can develop a reflexive reaction to psychic pain that causes you to reflect on it rather than avoid it, it will lead to your rapid learning/evolving.
(p. 152)
1. Don’t confuse what you wish were true with what is really true. 2. Don’t worry about looking good—worry instead about achieving your goals. 3. Don’t overweight first-order consequences relative to second- and third-order ones. 4. Don’t let pain stand in the way of progress. 5. Don’t blame bad outcomes on anyone but yourself.
(p. 162)
Proximate causes are typically the actions (or lack of actions) that lead to problems, so they are described with verbs (I missed the train because I didn’t check the train schedule). Root causes run much deeper and they are typically described with adjectives (I didn’t check the train schedule because I am forgetful). You can only truly solve your problems by removing their root causes, and to do that, you must distinguish the symptoms from the disease.
(p. 176)
you can’t make a great decision without swimming for a while in a state of “not knowing.”
(p. 188)
Recognize that decision making is a two-step process: First take in all the relevant information, then decide. Most people are reluctant to take in information that is inconsistent with what they have already concluded. When I ask why, a common answer is: “I want to make up my own mind.” These people seem to think that considering opposing views will somehow threaten their ability to decide what they want to do. Nothing could be further from the truth. Taking in others’ perspectives in order to consider them in no way reduces your freedom to think independently and make your own decisions. It will just broaden your perspective as you make them.
(p. 188)
Everything looks bigger up close . In all aspects of life , what’s happening today seems like a much bigger deal than it will appear in retrospect . That’s why it helps to step back to gain perspective and sometimes defer a decision until some time passes .
(p. 238)
Create a Culture in Which It Is Okay to Make Mistakes and Unacceptable Not to Learn from Them
(p. 281)
Don’t pay as much attention to people’s conclusions as to the reasoning that led them to their conclusions
(p. 283)
Beware of paying too much attention to what is coming at you and not enough attention to your machine. e. Don’t get distracted by shiny objects. 10.2 Remember that for every case you deal with, your approach should have two purposes: 1) to move you closer to your goal, and 2) to train and test your machine (i.e., your people and your design).
(p. 289)
Design and oversee a machine to perceive whether things are good enough or not good enough, or do it yourself. a. Assign people the job of perceiving problems, give them time to investigate, and make sure they have independent reporting lines so that they can convey problems without any fear of recrimination.
(p. 291)
To distinguish between a capacity issue and a capability issue, imagine how the person would perform at that particular function if they had ample capacity.
(p. 292)
Make departments as self-sufficient as possible so that they have control over the resources they need to achieve their goals.
(p. 293)
Remember that almost everything will take more time and cost more money than you expect.
(p. 294)
1 ) having clear goals , 2 ) identifying the problems preventing the goals from being achieved , 3 ) diagnosing what parts of the machine ( i.e . , which people or which designs ) are not working well , 4 ) designing changes , and 5 ) doing what is needed . This is the fastest and most efficient way that an organization improves .
(p. 302)
Start by writing down your mistakes and connecting the dots between them . Then write down your “ one big challenge , ” the weakness that stands the most in the way of your getting what you want .
(pp. 352-353)
Remember this : The pain is all in your head . If you want to evolve , you need to go where the problems and the pain are . By confronting the pain , you will see more clearly the paradoxes and problems you face . Reflecting on them and resolving them will give you wisdom . The harder the pain and the challenge , the better .
(p. 353)
If either party to a disagreement is too emotional to be logical , the conversation should be deferred . Pausing a few hours or even a few days in cases where decisions do not have to be made immediately is sometimes the best approach .
(p. 364)
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 .
(p. 400)
When putting someone in a position of responsibility , make sure their incentives are aligned with their responsibilities and they experience the consequences of the outcomes they produce . As an example , structure their deals so that they do well or badly based on how well or badly you do in the areas they are responsible for . This is fundamental for good management .
(p. 402)
a . Think through which values , abilities , and skills you are looking for ( in that order ) . Values are the deep – seated beliefs that motivate behaviors and determine people’s compatibilities with each other .
(p. 407)
d . For performance reviews , start from specific cases , look for patterns , and get in sync with the person being reviewed by looking at the evidence together . While feedback should be constant , reviews are typically periodic ; their purpose is to bring together the accumulated evidence of what a person is like as it pertains to their job performance .
(p. 432)
In constructing your metrics , imagine the most important questions you need answered in order to know how things are going and imagine what numbers will give you the answers to them . Don’t look at the numbers that you have and try to adapt them to your purposes , because you won’t get what you need . Instead start with the most important questions and imagine the metrics that will answer them . Remember that any single metric can mislead ; you need enough evidence to establish patterns . And of course the information that goes into the metrics must be assessed for accuracy . A reluctance to be critical can be detected by looking at the average grade each grader gives ; those giving higher average grades might be easy graders and vice versa . Similarly helpful are “ forced rankings , ” in which people must rank co – worker performance from best to worst . Forced rankings are essentially the same thing as “ grading on a curve . ” Metrics that allow for independent grading across departments and groups are especially valuable . d .
(p. 452)
a . Remember who has what responsibilities . While that might sound obvious , people often fail to stick to their own responsibilities . Even senior people in organizations sometimes act like young kids just learning to play soccer , running after the ball in an effort to help but forgetting what position they are supposed to play . This can undermine rather than improve performance . So make sure that people remember how the team is supposed to work and play their positions well .
(pp. 457-458)
It’s a basic reality that if you don’t experience the consequences of your actions , you’ll take less ownership of them .
(p. 462)
Every key person should have at least one person who can replace him or her . It’s best to have those people designated as likely successors and to have them apprentice and help in doing those jobs .
(p. 463)
There is no greater failure than to fail to escalate a responsibility you cannot handle .
(p. 471)
To diagnose well , ask the following questions : 1 . Is the outcome good or bad ? 2 . Who is responsible for the outcome ? 3 . If the outcome is bad , is the Responsible Party incapable and / or is the design bad ?
(p. 485)
Importantly , ask yourself this question : If X attribute is done well next time , will the bad outcome still occur ? This is a good way of making sure you are logically connecting the outcome back to the case . Think of it this way : If your mechanic replaced that part in your car , would that fix it ?
(p. 487)
Virtually nothing goes according to plan because one doesn’t plan for the things that go wrong .
(p. 516)
Good metrics come about by first thinking of what information you need to answer your pressing questions and then figuring out how to get it . They do not come about by gathering information and putting it together to see what it tells you . At Bridgewater , we talk about four helpful steps to creating good metrics : 1 ) know what goal your business is achieving , 2 ) understand the process for getting to the goal ( your “ machine ” with its people and design ) , 3 ) identify the key parts in the process that are the best places to measure , so you know how your machine is working to achieve that goal , and 4 ) explore how to create levers , tied to those key metrics , that allow you to adjust your process and change your outcomes . To that end , we encourage employees to construct our metrics in conjunction with process flow diagrams and procedures manuals .
(p. 543)
1. Have clear goals. 2. Identify and don’t tolerate the problems that stand in the way of your achieving those goals. 3. Accurately diagnose the problems to get at their root causes. 4. Design plans that will get you around them. 5. Do what’s necessary to push these designs through to results.
(pp. 169-170)
Yan Liu - Curious Mind 