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Billionaire businessman Ray Dalio is the 58th-richest person on the planet. The founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the largest hedge funds in the world, he got to that level by being astute and innovative.
Moreover, Dalio refined the notion of idea meritocracy, an approach which emphasizes the actualization of ideas regardless of who thought of them. This kind of thinking gives opportunities to company employees on the lower rungs of the ladder to develop ideas and earn recognition for their contributions.
Dalio’s concept should appeal to anyone who is looking to get into business.
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Innovation Is Integral to Success in Business
According to Dalio, one of the most important things in business is innovation. This means looking for gaps in the market that competitors haven’t noticed.
No matter what industry you are in, companies borrow ideas off each other until they reach a similar level. The ones that go on to great things are those that come up with new ideas first.
Consequently, there are specialists who help businesses evolve with fresh ways of thinking. For example, Qmarkets is one such idea management platform. Its methodology captures and implements ground-breaking business ideas for maximum effect.
Dalio Promotes the Idea of Giving Employees More Autonomy
This idea management tool, based in part on Dalio’s ground-breaking thinking, relies on a variety of approaches and methodologies.
For example, Dalio’s approach to evaluation led to an increase in businesses giving their employees more autonomy and allowing their creative juices to flow. As a result, upper management could more easily recognize the ideas and accomplishments of employees on the company’s bottom tiers. This in turn led to better staff retention rates and employee satisfaction.
Dalio Belongs to a Handful of Creative Thinkers in This Arena
Additionally, other pioneers in this way of thinking include Scott Belsky and Alan G. Robinson. Both are well-known authors in the idea management field.
For example, Belsky wrote Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality. His book includes research on idea life cycles. In it, Belsky discusses ways to implement ideas.
Robinson co-authored Ideas are Free, a massive global study of 150 businesses. The book explores how companies can garner ideas from employees in order to gain a competitive advantage.
All of these great thinkers, including Dalio, emphasize how important it is to maximize the creative abilities of your company’s employees. You must give them a chance to grow within the company.
Businesses that fail to do this may lose these great thinkers to the competition. Your competitors then go on to innovate and get ahead in your industry.
Therefore, companies should provide opportunities for employees to come up with their own ideas. For example, Google allocates twenty percent of the working day for its programmers to pursue their own side projects.
Conclusion
Budding entrepreneurs should take heed of the good advice that Dalio and these other great business thinkers have come up with. In order for companies to innovate, they need to provide an environment in which their best creative minds can come up with ideas.
If you’re an entrepreneur who is on the lookout for inspiring business ideas, be sure to visit our blog often.
