Principled? Does power corrupt and absolute power corrupt absolutely?

Following the publication of a new book, 'The Fund', Ray Dalio and Bridgewater have been getting attention for all the wrong reasons. The book alleges a toxic culture where the reality of day-to-day life doesn’t match that described in Dalio’s book, ‘Principles’. 

In this episode of Decision Nerds, we dive into the sludge and extract some key points that are relevant for organisations and teams. Key takeaways:

#𝟭 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂
It’s tempting to look at something that appears to be working for someone else and try and replicate it. This is harder than we think – especially when it involves culture.

#𝟮 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
We all need feedback to learn and develop - how it's given matters. Systems like 'Radical Transparency' may work for some people, but not all people. Probably not most people. 

#𝟯 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀
We often focus feedback on helping junior colleagues learn. Of course that is valuable. However, leaders make key decisions and set the cultural tone and strategic direction. Their greater impact means that they need clear feedback on whether what they are doing is working/where they could develop.

#𝟰 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘀𝘆𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱
Almost every person giving feedback upwards will be making some conscious, or unconscious, calculation of career risk. Leaders need to recognise this. For some people this will be a positive (they don’t want that feedback). For others that do, they need to recognise that they still might not get it. You may need to go the (emotional) extra mile to convince people that you really want to hear about what you could do better.

#𝟱 𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘄𝘀
For many of us, it can be a struggle to give and receive feedback, acknowledge weakness, mistakes, etc.  We can try and design cultures such as Radical Transparency and recruit for people who can live with it, or try simpler approaches that reflect individual needs.  

One simple tool is a feedback profile, which can be found here.