There are two parts of each person’s brain: the upper-level logical part and the lower-level emotional part. I call these the “two yous.” They fight for control of each person. How that conflict is managed is the most important driver of our behaviors. That fighting was the biggest reason for the problems Bob, Giselle, and Dan raised. While the logical part of people’s brains could easily understand that knowing one’s weaknesses is a good thing.
One has many more supposed friends when one is up than when one is down, because most people like to be with winners than shun losers. True friends are the opposite.
It’ll be decades – and maybe never – before the computer can replicate many of the things that the brain can do in terms of imagination, synthesis, and creativity. That’s because the brain comes genetically programmed with millions of years of abilities honed through evolution. The “science” of decision making that underlies many computer systems remains much less valuable than the “art.
I believe that the key to success lies in knowing how to both strive for a lot and fail well. By failing well, I mean being able to experience painful failures that provide big learnings without failing badly enough to get knocked out of the game.
I listened with amazement as he spoke. Instead of addressing the fundamental problems behind the pressure on the dollar, he continued to blame speculators, crafting his words to make it sound like he was moving to support the dollar while his actions were doing just the opposite.
Just as our physical attributes determine the limits of what we are able to do physically – some people are tall and others are short, some muscular and others weak – our brains are innately different in ways that set the parameters of what we are able to do mentally.
Recognize that while most people prefer compliments, accurate criticism is more valuable. You’ve heard the expression “no pain no gain.
It can be any kind of long-term challenge that leads to personal improvement.
I didn’t value experience as much as character, creativity, and common sense, which I suppose was related to my having started Bridgewater two years out of school myself, and my belief that having an ability to figure things out is more important than having specific knowledge of how to do something.
In thoughtful disagreement, both parties are motivated by the genuine fear of missing important perspectives.
Be a hyperrealist.
When a line of reasoning is jumbled and confusing, it’s often because the speaker has gotten caught up in below-the-line details without connecting them back to the major points.
Seeing one of the richest and most accomplished men on the planet lose everything made a huge impression on me.
Make sure those who are given radical transparency recognize their responsibilities to handle it well and to weigh things intelligently. People cannot be given the privilege of receiving information and then use the information to harm the company, so rules and procedures must be in place to ensure that doesn’t happen.
I gradually learned that prices reflect people’s expectations, so they go up when actual results are better than expected and they go down when they are worse than expected.
Treating all people equally is more likely to lead away from truth than toward it.
I urge you to be curious enough to want to understand how the people who see things differently from you came to see them that way.
The biggest mistake most people make is to not see themselves and others objectively, which leads them to bump into their own and others’ weaknesses again and again. People who do this fail because they are stubbornly stuck in their own heads.
Don’t get hung up on your views of how things “should” be because you will miss out on learning how they really are. It’s important not to let our biases stand in the way of our objectivity. To get good results, we need to be analytical rather than emotional.
While it may seem counterintuitive, clearing your head can be the best way to make progress.