Personality & Ray Dalio's Principles

I heard on a podcast recently that some personality types really like doing personality assessments and delving deeper into what makes them and others tick… Such a revelation (to me!) that it made me chuckle at myself. Aside from that meta insight from the podcast, at Protagion we also suggest personality assessments to our proteges to help them to understand themselves better (as part of the professional development cycle). In that vein, this post is about a relatively new assessment co-created by Ray Dalio.

Regular readers will know that I’ve written about Ray and his principles, including his five steps to success, previously. He’s shared his perspectives in a variety of formats, including a book and animated video (shown in the original ‘Inspiration’ post). And, he continues to “pass along what he’s learned about how to be successful” - which is great news for all of us!

Ray recently launched a free personality assessment aimed at helping us to improve our understanding of ourselves and others, and helping others to understand us. This is linked to his first step to success. The “PrinciplesYou” assessment was built with psychologists Dr Adam Grant, Dr Brian Little, and Dr John Golden.

Accurate self-knowledge is critical to getting what you want out of life and to building meaningful relationships with others in both life and work… Self-awareness and other-awareness are critical to making good decisions, getting things done, and turning a group of coworkers into a great team.”
THE PRINCIPLES TEAM in their “About PrinciplesYou” FAQ

While the assessment itself has more personalised detail, in this post I’ll summarise its 28 archetypes, which offer insight into our tendencies, talents and opportunities for growth. These archetypes fall into 10 groups which share fundamental traits – PrinciplesYou represents these groups as islands in an archipelago. 

Source: principlesyou.com

The 10 groups/islands are: Advocates, Architects, Creators, Enthusiasts, Fighters, Givers, Individualists, Leaders, Producers and Seekers. Read more to explore these groups, as well as the 28 archetypes. And, for the psychologists and psychometricians wanting to dig even deeper, I’ve included a box on the traits and sub-traits/facets in the assessment too. You can take the assessment yourself to see your own results – it takes roughly 40 minutes to complete the questions.

The groups are described by the Principles Team as follows, with the associated archetypes shown in brackets:

• Advocates (Inspirer, Coach, or Campaigner) motivate others to their highest potential through inspiration and example
• Architects (Orchestrator, Strategist, Planner) engage with creating the strategic planning and oversight needed to bring people and resources together and get things done.
• Creators (Artisan, Inventor, Adventurer) tend to be excited by novelty and disruptive of conventional ways of thinking and doing.
• Enthusiasts (Entertainer, Promoter, Impresario) tend to be highly expressive and often witty and light-hearted. They eagerly engage with others to advance mutual causes.
• Fighters (Critic, Enforcer, Protector) enjoy fighting for beliefs and ideas. They tend to be direct, feisty and blunt in communication.
• Givers (Helper, Problem Solver, Peacekeeper) display genuine interest in other people. They tend to be nurturing, empathetic and caring.
• Individualists take pride in independent-mindedness and originality. While separate, they are aligned closely with Creators.
• Leaders (Commander, Quiet Leader, Shaper) share traits that help them take charge, motivate others, or set demanding standards that they hold themselves and others accountable to seeing through.
• Producers (Investigator, Implementer, Technician) tend to be "can do" people who are practical and pragmatic in dealing with everyday issues. They may be more technical than theoretical in their approach to challenging projects.
• Seekers (Explorer, Thinker, Growth Seeker) tend to be deeply motivated to challenge themselves and pursue projects that promote personal growth.

Having done a variety of assessments over the years, I recognise some common elements. For example, a number of the Belbin Team Roles appear such as Shaper, Implementer and Coordinator / Orchestrator.  The Big Five dimensions of personality also underlie the archetypes i.e. openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and emotional sensitivity. And, Adam Grant’s concept of Givers makes a (natural) appearance. 

The next section describes the 28 archetypes. As you read through the detail, please reflect on these questions, and share your thoughts in the comments at the end of the article.

• Any thoughts on which archetype Ray Dalio is most likely to be? 
  
• Which archetype(s) do you think best describe you? Please do share your main archetype(s) in the comments if you’re comfortable.

The Archetypes
Following the order of the groups/islands above, we start with the three Advocates. Inspirers lead through motivating people to get behind a challenging and important idea, project or business objective. Coaches see self-growth, development and learning as key to life and daily practices and they teach and model these as aspirations for others. Campaigners concentrate on rallying others around ideas, positions and solutions and achieving practical results. 

Architects: Orchestrators excel at bringing people together, organising around them, and mobilising resources to achieve and exceed expectations. Strategists are skilled at generating and translating concepts and ideas into effective strategies to achieve results. Planners are driven to put structure and systems around goals, translating ideas into practical and achievable plans. 

Creators: Artisans are driven to use their creativity to bring life to beautiful and well-crafted ideas. Inventors love coming up with new and innovative ideas, products and solutions. Adventurers are motivated by taking part in fun, exciting and adventurous activities and pursuits. 

Enthusiasts: Entertainers are driven by creating experiences and engaging with the world and particularly the people in it. Promoters have outgoing and charismatic natures and people skills. Impresarios love to entertain, engage socially, and facilitate great experiences with others. 

Fighters: Critics freely express their opinions and love debating different perspectives with others. Enforcers engage with the world through reliance on standards, rules and traditions. Protectors care about traditions, rules and standards too, and are driven by a strong sense of personal duty. 

Givers: Helpers are driven by care and compassion for others, and support of their emotional needs. Problem Solvers are motivated to support and help others in an industrious and professional manner. Peacekeepers enjoy developing positive relationships between people, and seeking harmony, compromise and cooperation.

Individualists walk to the beat of their own drum and find unique ways of expressing themselves and their originality. 

Leaders: Commanders are driven to achieve goals through determination and holding themselves and others to high standards of performance. Quiet Leaders focus on leading themselves and others through their open-mindedness and composure in facing challenges, often leading as much through ‘taking in’ as ‘putting out’. Shapers visualise ambitious goals, set plans in place, and push through relentlessly to make them happen.

Producers: Investigators like to research and analyse information and data to build knowledge and understanding. Implementers organise and structure people and processes to reliably execute tasks. Technicians are driven to break down, analyse and solve problems in a technical and practical way.

Seekers: Explorers love taking in new knowledge and are drawn to new experiences through intrinsic motivations. Thinkers tend to approach problems in an abstract, philosophical fashion, and they naturally seek deeper meaning of issues that arise. Growth Seekers have a deep passion for learning, personal growth and development. 

If you’d like to dive deeper, even more detail on specific archetypes can be found here.

And, this post ends with a box listing the trait dimensions and sub-traits/facets assessed in the PrinciplesYou questionnaire, split into three orientations: cognitive, interpersonal and motivational.

Do consider taking the assessment to understand yourself more fully if you haven’t already (and share your main archetype(s) in the comments). 

For the psychologists and psychometricians among you, below is further detail on the traits and sub-traits/facets assessed in the PrinciplesYou questionnaire. The output comprises an individual’s score on each of 12 main trait dimensions, 36 sub-traits/facets, and 5 independent scales (traits without facets). The facet scores also inform the individual’s archetype(s). More on the methodology used here, including how it is based on the Big Five plus the creators’ own items, “tapping traits… we judged to be relevant to organisational goals”. Some of these (like “Giver or Taker” or “Person-Oriented”) come from their own research, and others draw from Ray’s frameworks, identifying traits like Humble and Tough. 

The 12 trait dimensions (with their associated facets) and 5 independent dimensions are split into three categories: (i) how we prefer to think i.e. our cognitive orientation, (ii) how we engage with others i.e. our interpersonal orientation, and (iii) how we manage and apply ourselves as we face challenges i.e. our motivational orientation. The trait dimensions and facets are detailed in these categories below:

Cognitive Orientation

• Creative, with facets: Original, Curious, and Non-Conforming
• Deliberative, with facets: Logical, Systematic, and Impartial
• Detailed and Reliable, with facets: Detail-oriented, Organised, and Dependable
• Conceptual
• Practical

Interpersonal Orientation

• Extraverted, with facets: Gregarious, Engaging, and Adventurous
• Tough, with facets: Feisty, Critical, and Direct
• Nurturing, with facets: Helpful, Empathetic, and Person-Oriented
• Leadership, with facets: Demanding, Takes Charge, and Inspiring
• Humorous

Motivational Orientation

• Composed, with facets: Even-keeled, Confident, and Poised
• Autonomous, with facets: Independent, Internally Motivated, and Self-Accountable
• Flexible, with facets: Adaptable, Agile, and Growth-Seeking
• Determined, with facets: Driven, Proactive, and Persistent
• Humble, with facets: Open-minded, Receptive to Criticism, and Modest
• Energetic
• Status-Seeking