有时候，人们错把慷慨大方当作不公平。例如，桥水安排班车，把住在纽约市的员工接到公司位于康涅狄格州的办公室。对此，有个员工提出：“我们自己开车上下班每个月要花几百美元加油，既然住在纽约的有班车坐，也该给我们报销汽油费。”这种想法的错误之处在于，它把对部分人的慷慨资助当作每个人的应得福利。
公平与慷慨是有区别的。打比方说，你为两个最要好的朋友分别购买了生日礼物，其中一件比另一件贵，如果得到较便宜礼物的那个朋友指责你不够公平，你该说些什么呢？大概会这样说吧：“我不是非得送你礼物，你别抱怨了。”在桥水，我们对待员工是很慷慨大方的（我自己也是慷慨待人），但在这个问题上我们没义务让人评判和顾及人人有份。
慷慨大方是件好事，而有权受惠顾却很糟糕，这二者很容易被混淆，因此必须非常清楚哪个是哪个。
在做决策前，要确保你的想法在特定情况下有正当理由，以及什么是最值得感激的。
如果你希望拥有一批具备高素质、长期伙伴关系以及强烈的个人责任意识的员工，那就不要让有权受惠这种想法混杂其中。
Sometimes people mistake generosity for not being fair. Generosity is good and entitlement is bad, and they can easily be confused, so be crystal clear on which is which. Decisions should be based on what you believe is warranted in a particular circumstance and what will be most appreciated.
Sometimes people mistake generosity for not being fair. For example, when Bridgewater arranged for a bus to shuttle people who live in New York City to our Connecticut office, one employee asked, “It seems it would be fair to also compensate those of us who spend hundreds of dollars on gas each month, particularly in light of the New York City bus.” This line of thinking mistakes an act of generosity for some for an entitlement for everyone.
Fairness and generosity are different things. If you bought two birthday gifts for two of your closest friends, and one cost more than the other, what would you say if the friend who got the cheaper gift accused you of being unfair? Probably something like, “I didn’t have to get you any gift, so stop complaining.” At Bridgewater, we are generous with people (and I am personally generous), but we feel no obligation to be measured and equal in our generosity.
Generosity is good and entitlement is bad, and they can easily be confused, so be crystal clear on which is which. Decisions should be based on what you believe is warranted in a particular circumstance and what will be most appreciated. If you want to have a community of people who have both high-quality, long-term relationships and a high sense of personal responsibility, you can’t allow a sense of entitlement to creep in.
