Core idea: The importance of refining principles through personal failure

Dalio reviewed major career failures (such as Bridgewater Fund on the verge of bankruptcy due to overconfidence in 1982), emphasizing that “failure is the trigger point of evolution”

He proposed: "Pain Reflection = Progress", regarding mistakes as opportunities for improvement rather than shame

Case: After almost bankrupt due to misjudgment of the economic situation in 1982, he summarized the principles of "avoiding the conclusions of absoluteness", "researching historical laws", and "maintaining an extremely open mind".

Core idea: Face reality with absolute rationality and build a system of personal principles

5 core principles:

Key tools: It is recommended to establish a "life wrong question book", record errors and refine the response principles

Core idea: treat organizations as machines, drive efficient collaboration through principles

3 cornerstones:

Management Practice:

Dalio believes that the principle is a proven underlying logic that can reduce emotional interference and improve the quality of decision-making. For example, Bridgewater Fund's "all-weather asset portfolio" strategy is a systematic principle based on historical data refinement

Individuals and organizations need to face reality and acknowledge ignorance. Dalio implements a “problem log” system at Bridgewater, revealing all mistakes to promote collective learning

Continuous evolution is achieved through the cycle of “set goals—diagnostic problems—design scheme—execution—feedback”. He emphasized: "Real growth is self-iteration after breaking through the limit, not linear accumulation."

Dalio opposes the direct application of the principles of others and advocates summarizing the principles through his own mistakes. For example, he once ignored historical laws and led to investment failure, thus extracting the principle of "studying a hundred-year economic cycle"

Establish a library of personal principles, regularly review errors and update principles

Adopt a transparent culture in the team and optimize decisions through "credibility weighting"

The principles in the book are based on the Western business environment and need to be adjusted in combination with cultural differences (such as "extreme transparency" may cause conflicts in hierarchical organizations)

Dalio regards life as a "game", the principle is the "rule" of passing the level, and happiness comes from the pursuit of meaningful work and interpersonal relationships, rather than wealth accumulation