成长过程涉及发现人们的好恶以及他们的优缺点。当人们被置于很可能成功的岗位上，但仍需挑战自我时，成长就会发生。每个人的职业经历都会根据周围人对这个人的认识而发展。
他们要有充分的自由空间来学习和思考，同时受到点拨以免犯下不可接受的错误。他们收到的反馈应帮助他们认识到，他们的问题究竟是能通过进一步的学习来解决，还是与生俱来无法改变的。通常情况下，需要6-12个月的时间来大体了解一个新员工，新员工要18个月左右的时间来消化和适应公司文化。期间，要有阶段性的小型考评和几次大的考评。在每次评估后，要按照他们的好恶和优缺点来给他们派发新任务。这是一个逐步修整的过程，不断积累的培训、测试和调整的经历，会把人引向更适合的岗位和职责。在桥水，通常这一充满挑战和回报的过程会使个人受益，它会使人更好地认识自我，熟悉更多岗位。如果结果是分道扬镳，那通常是因为人们发现，他们无法在公司的任何岗位上成就卓越和快乐。
Recognize that personal evolution should be relatively rapid and a natural consequence of discovering one’s strengths and weaknesses; as a result, career paths are not planned at the outset. The evolutionary process is about discovering people’s likes and dislikes as well as their strengths and weaknesses; it occurs when people are put into jobs they are likely to succeed at, but in which they have to stretch themselves. Each person’s career will evolve based on what we all learn about what the person is like.
They should be given enough freedom to learn and think for themselves while being coached so they are prevented from making unacceptable mistakes. The feedback they receive should help them reflect on whether their problems are the kind that can be resolved by additional learning or stem from natural abilities that are unlikely to change. Typically it takes from six to twelve months to get to know a new employee in a by-and-large sort of way, and about eighteen months for them to internalize and adapt to the culture. During this time there should be periodic mini-reviews and several major ones. Following each of these assessments, new assignments should be made that are tailored to their likes and dislikes and strengths and weaknesses. This is an iterative process, in which the accumulated experiences of training, testing, and adjusting direct the person to ever more suitable roles and responsibilities. At Bridgewater, it is typically both a challenging and rewarding process that benefits the individual by providing better self-understanding and greater familiarity with various jobs. When it results in a parting of ways, it’s usually because people find they cannot be excellent and happy in any job at the firm.
