A World of Truth
Why do humans lie? While there may be thousands of possible answers to that question,
the justification of the action is rarely met. Lying to a friend to avoid that friend’s suffering will
actually lead to more pain later in life. Telling the truth can be difficult to do and can put one in
an uncomfortable position. This is one of the main reasons why people tend to lie, because it can
provide a sense of comfort. The everlasting results of lies compounded on lies is an extreme
danger to our society. This process begins to make society think that being dishonest and lying
is acceptable. It is important for companies and organizations to be radically honest and
transparent because it will allow the employees to experience continuous growth and
development. This process will then lead to the employees understanding and feeling
comfortable with the idea of radical transparency, which they can then spread in their personal
lives. It is hard to truly understand and believe in the concept without physically undergoing the
philosophy. If society adopted principles of radical truth and transparency, it could lead to
growth and development at an evolutionary level that we haven’t seen before.
Bridgewater Associates, a hedge fund located in Westport, Connecticut, was founded by
Ray Dalio. The fund was created with a management philosophy that has critics comparing it to
a cult, and is a radical management style compared to the rest of the industry. Ray Dalio
believes in the idea of radical truth and transparency, and how being brutally honest with one
another can only help each other grow and develop their talents. Not being afraid to stand up to
someone and point out that his or her idea might be wrong because it is not taking a crucial fact
into consideration is a great skill. Accepting the possibility that anybody can be wrong allows
fear to build in the employees and forces them to challenge their ideas repeatedly until they find
little to no opposing arguments. This process of challenging one another, in a mature and calm
way, leads to productive conflict which results in the strongest ideas surviving. Some might
think that pointing out flaws in ideas is easier to do then pointing out the flaws in an individual,
but why is that so? Most management teams will not hesitate to point out a flaw in an idea
because they do not want the company to suffer from a bad decision. Pointing out flaws in each
other and providing substantive solutions to overcome those weaknesses, will improve the
company and lead to more success. Identifying one’s weaknesses and realizing that they will
only overcome them if one can pinpoint the root of the issue, will put us in uncomfortable times
of growth. Conforming to a group’s idea and being dishonest with who one truly is, to provide
temporary comfort, will hinder productivity. Telling the truth in life will more often than not
lead us to serving our duty. That is because “We can never be certain about what the
consequences of our actions will be—we cannot know that good results will follow. The results
