📖Ray Dalio

Process Over Outcome

🌿 Intermediate★★★★☆

Evaluate decisions by process quality, not just results.

💬

Judge decisions by the quality of the process, not by the outcome. Good decisions can have bad outcomes, and bad decisions can have good outcomes.

— Principles: Life and Work,2017

🏠 Everyday Analogy

Analyzing a business is like choosing a long-term partner. Temporary excitement matters less than durable character, capability, and consistency.

📖 Core Interpretation

Ray Dalio emphasizes durable business quality over short-term noise. A strong model, real competitive edge, and disciplined capital allocation matter more than quarterly excitement.
💎 Key Insight:Good processes produce good outcomes over time.

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❓ Why It Matters

Without business-quality filters, investors drift toward stories rather than economics. Durable cash generation is what supports long-term valuation.

🎯 How to Practice

Use a checklist covering moat, management, unit economics, and capital allocation; track long-term cash generation instead of quarter-to-quarter noise.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Buying narratives instead of cash-generating economics
Overreacting to short-term operating noise
Ignoring management quality and capital allocation

📚 Case Studies

1
COVID-19 Market Shock (2020)
During the rapid pandemic selloff, diversified risk exposures helped cushion losses versus concentrated equity portfolios, while bonds and some commodities offset part of the drawdown.
✨ Outcome:Smaller drawdown and quicker recovery reinforced the strategy’s goal of stability across economic environments.
2
Mexico Debt Crisis Bonds (1982)
Bridgewater recommended selling Mexican bonds short before the 1982 default, convinced a major downturn was certain.
✨ Outcome:The bearish call was overstated, clients left, and the firm nearly failed. Dalio adopted radical open-mindedness and probabilistic thinking for future macro calls.

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