The hedge fund manager spoke about how fixed ideas can be detrimental to the human condition. “I think it’s one of the greatest tragedies of man, for mankind, that individuals hold on to their opinions and don’t put them out and stress test them,” Dalio said. “So put them out there, stress test them, and get them from others so that you can raise your probabilities of being right. That’s how we’ve raised our probabilities of being right.”
Actually, this is very good advice and most companies can learn from Ray Dalio. Many organizations have traditionally established methods or people who are used to doing things in inefficient ways. Sometimes, the method becomes outdated over time. Otherwise, the method can still be improved. However, corporate culture involves sucking up to your boss, rather than challenging management in ways that could be detrimental to your advancement. So, it would be better to have an explicit policy that protects the opinions of people whose feedback might actually make sense, regardless of their position.
However, I think we should realize that Dalio’s way of thinking can only be successfully applied in companies which have a highly educated, highly productive, intelligent work force at all levels. His hedge fund is probably an example of such a company. If companies with less educated workers with menial jobs were to create such a policy, it might give rise to popularization of pro worker movements, or maybe just waste resources overall.
corporate politics currently is medieval. In order to effectively lobby for my own ideas in the long term, I will have to compromise on ideas in the short term so I can gain loyalty. Mid to upper level management has become fractured into like-minded sub groups which comes at the expense of the quality of ideas. ideas become a product of a group which makes them inherently more tame. the individual’s thought process is curbed of free flowing radical thought in the attempt to appease many.
each company should have a framework established that encourages free flow thinking. each idea proposed should be treated as independent, and not a means to advance yourself politically. evaluate based on merit, not on your own agenda.
Adapting to change in a hedge fund is also a lot easier than a large corporation.
Large corporations are just not that nimble. That’s not to say they cannot adapt to change, but it takes a lot of communication, coordination, and leadership.
corporate drama is fun to read about though. there are like 3 corporate dramas that i truly enjoy right now. people “voluntarily” leaving left and right. i actually think exec mgmt has too much power and needs to be neutered by the board more often.
It’s just not worth it to battle it out with management if you are planning on working 1-3 years before you leave to get a meaningful salary bump. Chances of a good recommendation are higher if you follow the game plan.
I love the idea of implementing management principles through algorithms. So in his interview with Bloomberg, He said you ‘either learn to code or get the fcuk out of here’.
But what if the opinions are coming from someone who can be objectively deemed an idiot? We have been culturally raised to somehow believe that revolution is intrinsically “right” (hell, our country was born from one), but that doesn’t mean that the dissenting opinion is automatically better than the status quo.