Shen Guohua: Breaking the "Dishwashing Effect" to Better Motivate Responsibility and Action
"The more dishes one washes, the more dishes one breaks"—this phenomenon, known as the "dishwashing effect," reflects a situation in entrepreneurship and professional endeavors [1]: the more work one does, the higher the probability of making mistakes. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "While strengthening the constraints of responsibility, we must encourage innovation and tolerate mistakes. Exploration may lead to mistakes, and doing things may lead to errors—the more dishes one washes, the greater the chance of breaking them." To break the "dishwashing effect," we must adhere to the "Three Distinctions," refine mistake tolerance and correction mechanisms, eliminate the anxieties of Party members and cadres, and better incentivize them to take responsibility and act.
How we treat comrades who make mistakes or errors not only concerns their political survival but, more importantly, reflects the Party's style and image.
In May 1930, Comrade Mao Zedong led the Second Column of the Fourth Red Army to Xunwu, Jiangxi. Addressing the problems existing within the cadre ranks at that time, he proposed seven methods for cadre management and education, one of which emphasized that "persuasive education is more important than punishment." In a certain sense, our Party has grown from small to large and from weak to strong by constantly tolerating and correcting mistakes. It is precisely because our Party possesses a broad mind that it has been able to unite all forces that can be united and ultimately win the victory of the revolution.
This was true for conducting the revolution, and it remains true for pursuing construction. As reform enters the "deep-water zone," [2] there are no ready-made paths to follow, and many unknown fields can only be explored by "crossing the river by feeling the stones." Facts show that undertaking a career and seeking development always involve risks. Demanding that every task and every exploratory attempt must succeed and cannot fail does not conform to the laws of objective development. If we fail to distinguish between situations and natures, and apply a "one-size-fits-all" approach to comrades who make mistakes—or even "strike them dead with a single blow" [3]—it will not only dampen the enthusiasm of Party members and cadres for entrepreneurship but also encourage unhealthy trends such as "negligence in fulfilling duties, fear of pioneering and innovating, and unwillingness to handle matters beyond one's immediate remit."
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must persist in combining strict management with compassionate care, strengthen the all-around management and regular supervision of cadres, implement the 'Three Distinctions,' and incentivize cadres to dare to take responsibility and act proactively." Gold cannot be pure, and no man is perfect; it is inevitable that errors will occur in work. The key lies not in hastily drawing conclusions, "labeling" people, or "hitting them with a stick," but in adhering to the principle of "concrete analysis of concrete problems." The "Three Distinctions" profoundly embody this "living soul" [4] of Marxism: distinguishing between mistakes and errors made by cadres due to a lack of experience and trial-and-error in promoting reform, versus violations of discipline and law committed knowingly and intentionally; distinguishing between mistakes and errors in exploratory experiments where the superior authorities have no clear restrictions, versus violations of discipline and law committed by persisting in one's own way after explicit prohibitions; and distinguishing between unintentional lapses made for the sake of promoting development, versus violations of discipline and law committed for the sake of pursuing personal gain. By further improving the mistake tolerance and correction mechanism, we should grant leniency to those cadres who are proactive and take the initiative to remedy problems after they arise, allowing them to feel the warmth and strength of the Party organization and binding everyone's wisdom and strength together as one.
The "Opinions on Further Incentivizing the Broad Ranks of Cadres to Take on New Responsibilities and Actions in the New Era," issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, proposes to "tolerate mistakes and errors made by cadres in reform and innovation." In reform and innovation, one often walks paths others have not trodden and must wade through rivers others have not crossed; taking occasional detours or making mistakes is unavoidable. To tolerate the faults of others, what is most needed is the courage to take responsibility. It requires superior Party organizations and leading cadres to dare to stand up and speak a word of justice, to dare to present the facts and reason. Faced with people and matters involving mistakes, they must earnestly implement the "Three Distinctions," and coordinate the work of accountability and mistake tolerance. One cannot simply "dismiss and be done with it" before the basic facts are cleared or without following prescribed procedures, nor should accountability be generalized or simplified. If that happens, the "vulgar philosophy" of "the more you do, the more mistakes you make; the less you do, the fewer mistakes you make; if you do nothing, you make no mistakes" will prevail, allowing the atmosphere of "slow action, inaction, and fear of action" to grow stealthily.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Establish incentive mechanisms and mistake tolerance and correction mechanisms, and flagrantly support and encourage those cadres who dare to take responsibility, work down-to-earth, and do not seek personal gain." When the organization provides backing, cadres have the confidence to undertake entrepreneurship. Tolerance is a form of self-cultivation for ordinary people, but for leading cadres, it is more a form of responsibility. This responsibility is both a duty toward the cause and loyalty to the Party; it is also a mobilization order encouraging the broad ranks of cadres to rush to "wash the dishes" without fear of "breaking them." It incentivizes those cadres who are upright in their conduct, daring in their actions, and determined to forge ahead to lay down their burdens, "march with light packs," [5] and better fulfill their duties.
Source: People’s Daily (September 19, 2025, Page 09) Web Editor: Huihui