Hyperlearning case study: Bridgewater Associates

This week's hyperlearning company is Bridgewater Associates, the world's biggest hedge fund.

I find Bridgewater fascinating because they take things like feedback and personal growth to the extreme.

What sets them apart:

1. Foundational to their culture is radical transparency, a principle of transparent, critical review of employees' thinking and personal weaknesses. For example, employees rate each other in real-time in meetings based on a bunch of different attributes.

2. They practice open-mindedness. To them, this means exploring different points of view without letting your ego get in the way, and actively searching for perspectives counter to your own.

3. Employees are encouraged to stress test their thinking by seeking the opinions of smart or smarter people. They talk to the importance of 'knowing what you don't know.' When structuring a learning conversation or disagreement, employees are encouraged to 'get above themselves.' This helps them reduce their ego defences and emotional hijacking.

4. Employees understand that remarks such as "You handled that badly" are meant to be helpful (for the future) rather than punitive (for the past). #fastandsmart #hyperlearning