Tuesday 3 May 2016

Ray Dalio says it's a culture

It's not a cult. It's a culture. 'What are you talking about, boss?' Oh, you're back, Voice. Ray Dalio. You know, the big man at Bridgewater Associates? He says that they have a culture at the firm. [I'm sure I've mentioned this before ...] 'Oh.' He means the crazy management style where employees are continually attacking each other with baseball bats. 'What?!' Only joking. No, they judge each other all the time, and criticize each other. 'Oh, you mean performance feedback.' Yeah. But all the time, you dig? All day long, and night. You could get a phone call in the middle of the night and it could be one of your subordinates telling you that you're a lazy bastard. 'Christ! It sounds tough.' Well, I suppose it is, man. It's tough love. They all love each other. A lot! 'Really?' HOWEVER(!) ... it's not a cult, man. They don't love each other in that way. Naked. Chanting. Dancing. Flowers in their hair. [Actually, reader(s), I think they do. I think it is a cult. But don't tell Mr Dalio I said so because he'll be pissed at me.] 'And what's the point of all this, boss?' Self-improvement, Voice. And, obviously, more money for Bridgewater Associates. Our Ray says ... "It's painful in the moment." But no pain, no gain, yeah?

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Anything else? Other news? Changes to Universal Credit? Apparently, Universal Credit won't be the great reform that Iain Duncan Smith claimed he wanted because the money has been cut. The unemployed and working poor will be worse off, not better. Surprise, surprise! The thing is, when the economy crashes - as it will - the poor will be skilled in living off nothing. It's the comfortable middle-classes and the rich 1 per cent who will be in trouble because they have no survival skills. They don't know how to find scraps of food. They don't know how to trap animals in the forest. They don't know how to fight, physically fight, for their lives, with their fists, and their teeth. It will quite simply be hell for them. It's road warriors like me who will survive. I'll hot-wire one of their flash cars and cruise around the motorways looking for trouble with degenerates sporting Mohican haircuts. It will be great fun!

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Anything else, more else? Music? I was playing the blues last night. I mean, I found a good blues backing track on YouTube that you can improvise lead guitar over. It's quite easy, too, if you know your scales. I haven't done much of this, but I should use a backing track more often. It's the closest thing to playing with a band.