Ray Dalio/Principles in Action
- Ray Dalio, founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, has launched a free app based on his best-selling book "Principles."
- The app is part career adviser, part life guru — with a dash of Bridgewater cheerleading.
- Besides having a copy of the book, the app comes with extra features like self-assessment quizzes, a folder to save your favorite Dalio principles, and animated cartoons.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Billionaire Ray Dalio manages the most successful hedge fund on the planet — and he can now be your personal life coach.
Principles in Action is a free app designed around Dalio’s 2017 book "Principles," which has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. The app not only has a full copy of the book, it’s peppered with videos, koan-like career advice, and general pearls of wisdom collected from the writings of the Bridgewater Associates chief.
Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates in 1975 out of his Connecticut home. Since then, it’s become the world’s most successful hedge fund, with $150 billion in total assets under management.
One of Dalio’s core principles is having "radical transparency," or total openness, within his company. This gave him the idea for his first app, Dots, which let employees rate each other on a 1 to 10 scale live during meetings.
There’s no live monitoring going on in Principles in Action, but you do have the chance to step inside the mind of Ray Dalio through his books, meetings, and speeches. We took a look at the app and highlighted some of its more interesting features.
"Principles in Action" opens up on a homepage that includes two of his books
Ray Dalio/Principles in Action
In addition to having all 898 e-pages of "Principles," you’ll find several other features on the app’s homepage.
There’s a "Coach" section to guide you through career challenges that’s a kind of FAQ for Dalio’s principles. There’s a "Case Study" section to help you assess your personality strengths and weaknesses, and how they impact your work life. There’s also a "My Principles" section where you can save the best of Dalio’s advice, while adding a few principles of your own.
The book’s pages now include videos of Bridgewater meetings
Ray Dalio/Principles in Action
When scrolling through "Principles," you’ll find short videos peppered throughout the text that give a behind-the-scenes glimpse of life at the secretive Bridgewater headquarters.
On page 171, for example, there’s a video of a Bridgewater meeting from January 2011 in which staff discuss the company’s successful "Pure Alpha Major Markets" program. Dalio listens while others praise what Bridgewater has accomplished. At the end, he offers his own advice: "We could all be here celebrating, but I think we should be here worrying."
This brings up one of Dalio’s principles: "Ring the bell," a term he uses to celebrate when a team has achieved its goals. However, he adds another core principle: "Don’t mistake the trappings of success for success itself."
The app lets users see Dalio’s human side
Ray Dalio/Principles in Action
In addition to Bridgewater meetings, you’ll get to see the annual "Family Reunion" (page 248) for employees who have been with the company for at least 10 years.
For Dalio, this is an emotional occasion. He says in the video, "I didn’t behave any different to the people I work with than with my kids."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – ideluce@businessinsider.com (Ivan De Luce)