Principles are concepts that can be applied over and over again in similar circumstances as distinct from narrow answers to specific questions. Every game has principles that successful players master to achieve winning results. So does life. Principles are ways of successfully dealing with the laws of nature or the laws of life. Those who understand more of them and understand them well know how to interact with the world more effectively than those who know fewer of them or know them less well. Different principles apply to different aspects of life -e.g., there are "skiing principles" for skiing, "parenting principles" for parenting, "management principles" for managing, “investment principles” for investing, etc -and there are over -arching "life principles" that influence our approaches to all things. And, of course, different people subscribe to different principles that they believe work best.
原則是能夠在相似場(chǎng)景下反復(fù)運(yùn)用的一套概念，有別于具體問(wèn)題的狹義回答。每個(gè)游戲的獲勝者都有自己遵循的原則，生活也是如此。原則是應(yīng)對(duì)自然或生活規(guī)律的種種方式。對(duì)原則理解越透徹，越能在生活中游刃有余。生活的不同方面也有各自的原則，例如滑雪有“滑雪原則”，做父母的有“父母原則”，管理有“管理原則，投資有“投資原則”等等，也存在支配一切，包羅萬(wàn)象的“生活原則”。當(dāng)然每個(gè)人都有自己認(rèn)為最有效的原則。
I am confident that whatever success Bridgewater and I have had has resulted from our operating by certain principles. Creating a great culture, finding the right people, managing them to do great things and solving problems creatively and systematically are challenges faced by all organizations. What differentiates them is how they approach these challenges. The principles laid out in the pages that follow convey our unique ways of doing these things, which are the reasons for our unique results. Bridgewater’s success has resulted from talented people operating by the principles set out here, and it will continue if these or other talented people continue to operate by them. Like getting fit, virtually anyone can do it if they are willing to do what it takes.
我堅(jiān)信我和橋水聯(lián)合基金所獲得的成功，都是得益于我們遵循了某些原則。創(chuàng)造了良好的企業(yè)文化，用對(duì)合適的員工，指導(dǎo)他們成就大業(yè)，各部門(mén)都能以有創(chuàng)意的方式系統(tǒng)解決問(wèn)題，應(yīng)對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)。他們的差異來(lái)自應(yīng)對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)的方法不同。本書(shū)要詳述的原則體現(xiàn)了我們獨(dú)特的做事方法，這也是我們脫穎而出的原因。橋水聯(lián)合基金的成功得益于一群遵循原則處事的人才們，如果后輩人才繼續(xù)遵循這些原則，定能續(xù)寫(xiě)成功。就像健身一樣，只有大家都愿意有所付出，才能有所收獲。
What is written here is just my understanding of what it takes: my most fundamental life principles, my approach to getting what I want, and my “management principles,” which are based on those foundations. Taken together, these principles are meant to paint a picture of a process for the systematic pursuit of truth and excellence and for the rewards that accompany this pursuit. I put them in writing for people to consider in order to help Bridgewater and the people I care about most.
我來(lái)說(shuō)說(shuō)遵循原則帶來(lái)的收獲吧：我最根本的一套原則，實(shí)現(xiàn)理想的一套方法，以及基于根本原則下延伸的管理原則。綜上所述，這些原則幫助我系統(tǒng)地描繪出追求真理和卓越的藍(lán)圖，收獲隨之而來(lái)的回報(bào)。我寫(xiě)下這些原則供人們參考，原本是想為了幫助橋水聯(lián)合基金和我最關(guān)心的人們。
Until recently, I didn’t write out these principles because I felt that it was presumptuous for me to tell others what would work best for them. But over time, I saw the people who I cared about most struggling with problems and wanted to help them; I also found that their problems were almost always the result of violating one or more of these principles, and that their problems could be solved by applying these principles. So I began writing down the types of problems and the broken principles that caused them. When I began, I didn’t know how many principles I would end up with but, through this process, I discovered that about 200 principles pretty much cover all the problems.I’m sure that I will come up with more as I learn more.
一直以來(lái)，我都沒(méi)有寫(xiě)下這些原則，因?yàn)槲矣X(jué)得告訴別人怎樣最好的工作是有點(diǎn)自以為是的。但我老是發(fā)現(xiàn)我最關(guān)心的那群人日夜與一些棘手的問(wèn)題做斗爭(zhēng)，我想幫助他們。我也發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們的問(wèn)題幾乎都是因?yàn)榛蚨嗷蛏俚剡`背了我想寫(xiě)的這些原則。只要遵循這些原則，問(wèn)題就能迎刃而解。于是我開(kāi)始記錄他們遇到的問(wèn)題，寫(xiě)下這些問(wèn)題背后違背的原則。當(dāng)初開(kāi)始寫(xiě)的時(shí)候，并不知道我會(huì)寫(xiě)多少條，但在這個(gè)過(guò)程中我發(fā)現(xiàn)大概200條原則就足以解決所有的問(wèn)題了。當(dāng)然，以后我學(xué)的越多，也會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)更多新的原則涌現(xiàn)。
Since I learned these principles by encountering reality and reflecting on my encounters, and I am still doing these things, I expect there are more principles to come. So I am still creating this document by throwing various thoughts down when they occur to me, trying to put them in some sensible order and trying to smooth over the bumps. Organizing these principles into a sensible order is a challenge since they relate to each other more like a matrix than as a sequence. To help guide you, I’ve tried to organize them around large themes like building a great culture, managing people well, and creative problem-solving. I will continue these things, so this is an evolving document.
我自己是通過(guò)遭遇現(xiàn)實(shí)，進(jìn)行反思，才學(xué)到這些原則的。如今我仍在這樣做，也期待總結(jié)出更多新的原則。創(chuàng)建原則總結(jié)時(shí)，我思緒活躍，試圖以合理的順序?qū)υ瓌t進(jìn)行總結(jié)，但這些原則之間的關(guān)系就像是矩陣一樣，沒(méi)有明顯的次序。為了更好地向你提供指導(dǎo)，我嘗試以主題類(lèi)別對(duì)這些原則進(jìn)行歸類(lèi)，包括創(chuàng)造良好的文化，管理好員工，創(chuàng)新問(wèn)題、解決方案等。我會(huì)持續(xù)更新，所以這本書(shū)本身也是一份不斷發(fā)展完善的文件。
When I say that these are my principles, I don’t mean that in a possessive or egotistical way. I just mean that they are explanations of what I personally believe. I believe that the people I work with and care about must think for themselves. I set these principles out and explained the logic behind them so that we can together explore their merits and stress test them. While I am confident that these principles work well because I have thought hard about them, they have worked well for me for many years, and they have stood up to the scrutiny of the hundreds of smart, skeptical people, I also believe that nothing is certain. I believe that the best we can hope for is highly probable. By putting them out there and stress testing them, the probabilities of their being right will increase.
我說(shuō)這些原則是我的原則，并不是狂妄自大或據(jù)為己有，這些只是我個(gè)人信奉的理論而已。我希望我的合作伙伴和我關(guān)心的人都能自己獨(dú)立思考。我列出這些原則，解釋了背后的邏輯，我們一同探討這些原則的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，也要繼續(xù)檢驗(yàn)這些原則。我對(duì)這些原則頗具信心，這些都是我冥思苦想得來(lái)的，多年來(lái)在我身上證明是行之有效的，歷經(jīng)數(shù)百位聰慧人士的質(zhì)疑，它們都通過(guò)了考驗(yàn)。我也相信世事無(wú)絕對(duì)，我想夢(mèng)想是可以實(shí)現(xiàn)的，只要把這些原則列出來(lái)并予以考驗(yàn)，成功的幾率就會(huì)增加。
