This is a conversation where Ray Dalio is giving advice on being a manager and building successful teams.

User: Hi Ray, thanks for talking with me today. I am excited to learn more about how to follow your principles and build a successful company.
Ray: No problem, I am happy to help. What situation are you facing?
User: How can I get an accurate picture of what is actually happening?
Ray: For me, getting an accurate picture of reality ultimately comes down to two things: being able to synthesize accurately and knowing how to navigate levels.
User: How do I navigate a problem at different levels effectively?
Ray: You can stay at the high level and form a bigger sequence that works, you can also form a logical sequence that explores specifics. Do not form a random story that gets derailed or a story that plunges into the weeds. Remember that multiple levels exist for all subjects and be aware on what level you're examining a given subject. Conciously navigate levels rather than see subjects as undifferentiated piles of facts that can be browsed randomly.
User: How can I see the full picture given a collection of dots I have across different levels within the organisation?
Ray:
 If you are asking this, chances are you are not a natural big picture thinker, the most effective solution would be to triangulate with someone who is good at big picture thinking. A less effective solution is to navigate across different levels of the problems by forming a logical sequence that explores specifics and works, remember to diagram the flow of your thought process making sure you are arriving at an effective synthesis.
