Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio isn't the average hedge fund manager, and neither is his firm's instruction manual. First obtained by Dealbreaker, Dalio's 83-page handbook on "My Most Fundamental Principles" are required reading for employees of his $43.6 billion firm. The manual contains 295 principles, and Dalio's philosophy is defined by "hyperrealism"—always using the truth, even when it's painful.
"Being truthful, and letting others be completely truthful with you, allows you to fully explore your thoughts and exposes you to the feedback that is essential for your learning," writes Dalio.
That, for example, should stop one from pitying a young wildebeest killed by a pack of hyenas. "Like death itself, it is integral to the enormously complex and efficient system that has worked for as long as there has been life," muses Dalio, who adds, "killing and eating the wildebeest fosters evolution."