Summary of Principles

There’s a lot of good information in this book. I appreciate how clearly it is structured, with a granular table of contents for each section and deep-level headings within chapters.

The book is written as an insight into what works for the author, as well as a sort of handbook for the author’s company, Bridgewater. It covers everything from the author’s personal principles, to the work principles that have served him well over the years.

I didn’t connect with this book. There weren’t really any “aha!” or “oh, wow, that’s neat!” moments while reading it. Most of what I read just made sense. There were a few interesting takeaways, like treating processes as machines and constantly evaluating them. I’m not sure if I am not at the right life/professional stage for this book – some of it could have been more interesting back when I was a consultant. Ultimately, I’ll probably treat this as a sort of handbook that I can refer to for breaking down problems and how to directly tackle issues.

As for who I’d recommend this to — I think anyone interested in strategy, management, but also those who are looking at being more direct with themselves.