One of Mahisoft’s philosophical foundation is Radical Truth & Radical Transparency. As a company, it allows us to be more open in our processes and handling information. We have previously discussed how this concept impacts our company, but we have not put it in context. So, what exactly is Radical Truth & Radical Transparency?
Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates, the largest hedge fund in the world, in 1975. Its success is cemented -among other things- in Radical Truth & Radical Transparency, a concept Dalio discusses in his book, Principles. He developed the idea in 1993 after his top executives told him he was too honest, and therefore, he was hurting Bridgewater’s operation. The solution was to go all the way: he started meeting with his employees individually to create a culture where they could do a “thoughtful disagreement” on the company’s procedures and devise solutions without conflict.
In January 2017, Dalio explained this concept and his philosophical base in an interview with Business Insider:
“I think the greatest tragedy of mankind is that people have ideas and opinions in their heads but don’t have a process for properly examining these ideas to find out what’s true. That creates a world of distortions. That’s relevant to what we do, and I think it’s relevant to all decision making. So when I say I believe in radical truth and radical transparency, all I mean is we take things that ordinarily people would hide. We put them on the table, particularly mistakes, problems, and weaknesses. We put those on the table, and we look at them together. We don’t hide them.”
Furthermore, we usually avoid exposing our weaknesses and mistakes, choosing instead to gorge on what we’ve done right: it’s easier to point the positives rather than the negative, even if doing just the opposite would be more beneficial.
At Mahisoft, we know first hand that a company based on Radical Truth & Radical Transparency encourages openness, increases collaboration, and projects honesty and trust to our clients and potential clients. As we continue discussions on this subject, you will read sooner than later our company Manifesto, where we clarify the importance of this concept and its everyday applications on our teams as we develop better software solutions for our customers.
