Jiang Chang: Focus on Overcoming Misconceptions Regarding the Outlook on Performance evaluations
The outlook on achievements reflects leading cadres' understanding and perception of governing outcomes. It is a vital component of a cadre’s worldview, outlook on life, and values, as well as a concrete manifestation of their outlooks on career, power, and interests in practical work. Since the start of the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has delivered a series of important discourses centered on establishing and practicing a correct outlook on achievements. He has profoundly elucidated major questions such as "for whom are achievements made," "what kind of achievements should be pursued," and "on what basis are achievements built," while emphasizing the need to focus on rectifying deviations in the outlook on achievements. This provides a fundamental follows-through for the vast number of leading cadres to establish and practice a correct outlook on achievements. In February 2026, the "Notice on Carrying Out Study and Education on Establishing and Practicing a Correct Outlook on Achievements Throughout the Party," issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, proposed conducting such education across the entire Party. Regarding the "outlook on achievements," correct establishment and effective rectification of deviations are dialectically unified and must be advanced together. As the outlook on achievements belongs to the subjective cognition of leading cadres, emphasis should be placed on eradicating the "thief in the heart" [1] within their ideology.
First, eradicate the short-sighted consideration of "speed above all." Any work should pursue high efficiency under the premise of respecting objective laws. However, some leading cadres use "speed" as the sole yardstick for measuring work, acting with a thirst for quick success and "draining the pond to catch the fish" [2]. They seek to produce significant achievements rapidly in the short term, or blindly demand the fast-tracking of projects while ignoring scientific demonstration. Some are eager to achieve breakthrough progress in certain fields regardless of cost or price, or overlook important factors like quality and environmental protection during policy implementation. Although they achieve results in the short term, they leave behind hidden dangers for long-term development. This "speed above all" mentality mostly stems from a desire for quick results and a refusal to be a "long-termist." These individuals have "scientific plans" for their own career advancement and pursue specific "time slots"; they calculate their age, length of service, and tenure in their current rank, seeking to produce quick results during their term in office in hopes of promotion. While their bodies are in one post, their minds are already planning for the next, leaving them without the motivation to conduct long-term planning or scientific demonstration for their current duties. Leading cadres should establish a correct outlook on their careers and power, pursuing "doing great things" rather than "becoming great officials." They should treat every post as a career requiring years of dedication and struggle, taking "speed" derived from scientific decision-making as their work orientation.
Second, eradicate the numerical orientation of "scale above all." Since the start of Reform and Opening-up, China's economy has maintained high-speed growth for several decades, and GDP figures and economic indicators once became the primary yardstick for measuring the ability of leading cadres. Since the New Era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized that "we can no longer judge heroes simply by the growth rate of Gross Domestic Product," and that standards for selecting and appointing personnel must be improved. However, the "enthusiasm" of some leading cadres for big data and large scale has not changed; the "scale above all" mentality reflects, to a certain extent, a path dependency on "GDP-ism." Although the indicators for judging achievements are no longer limited to GDP alone, some leading cadres remain obsessed with producing "big numbers" across various metrics to create a "big impact" and demonstrate "big achievements." Leading cadres should pursue "bigness" with substance, while discarding the tendency to crave greatness and completeness [3] while being divorced from reality. They must reject "performance projects" [4], "image projects," and "vanity projects," truly focusing on the implementation and effectiveness of every "digit" and turning reasonable "figures" into genuine reality.
Third, eradicate the eye-catching mindset of "novelty above all." Pursuing the "new" is inherently good; innovation is an excellent quality and a driver of development. High-quality development of the economy and society also requires promoting the formation of new business models and new quality productive forces through scientific, technological, and industrial innovation. However, certain alienated behaviors that exclusively pursue "novelty" are unacceptable. Some leading cadres are keen on "the three fires of a new official" [5], intending to "overturn and start anew" the plans left by their predecessors; even worse, some "new officials ignore old debts" [6]. Some are accustomed to verbal "renovation"—coining new terms, assembling new sentences, and insisting that slogans and formulations must "weed through the old to bring forth the new" [7]. This leaves grassroots staff exhausted; while the "new" rhetoric is thunderous, the actual implementation is lackluster. These alienated expressions often stem from the "attention-seeking" ideas of some leading cadres. Subjectively, they believe that if they do not promote the "new" and only perform the "old," they cannot manifest their power, demonstrate their ability, or gain attention. Therefore, they champion "novelty" above all else. Leading cadres should adhere to the organic unity of upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground, construct a value evaluation system for "novelty," maintain the stability and continuity of work, keep a close eye on the actual output of innovation, and avoid "novelty" that results in hollow efforts.
Fourth, eradicate the self-interested mentality of "stability above all." While pursuing harmony and stability is the duty of leading cadres, three types of "seeking stability" should not be encouraged. First is "taking a detour" around difficult reform problems. When facing difficult points that touch upon vested interests during the reform process, some leading cadres do not choose to meet challenges head-on; instead, they avoid conflicts and pick easy tasks over hard ones. They issue some documents or policies that "scratch an itch through the boot" [8]—appearing to take action and measures in form, while actually "circling around" the periphery of the problem. Second is the "delaying tactic" for historical contradictions. Some leading cadres hold the mentality that "procrastinating one day is another day gained," believing that if they can hold out until the end of their term, they can leave the trouble for their successors to solve. Third is the "no tossing and turning" [9] attitude when the boat reaches the bridge. Some leading cadres, in order to retire peacefully, uphold the principle that "one less matter is better than one more," merely "tolling the bell" [10] to pass the time. These "stability above all" phenomena are essentially the result of leading cadres being overly "protective of their feathers" [11], blindly following the 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," thus refusing to confront difficulties directly. Leading cadres should take the "stability" found in implementation and the promotion of development as the correct orientation, scientifically grasp the relationship between "stability" and "progress," and always maintain the edge of reform and the drive for entrepreneurship, striving to "serve as an official for one term and benefit the people of that region."
Fifth, eradicate the opportunism of "upward-looking above all." In their specific work, some leading cadres focus only on "governing for the superiors" rather than "governing for the people," taking the satisfaction of higher-level leadership as the important or even sole standard for evaluating their own work. Some mechanically apply the requirements of higher-level documents and treat the speeches of superiors as gospel, regardless of whether they fit the actual situation, solely to demonstrate an attitude of resolute execution to their superiors at the first opportunity. Some only keep their eyes on matters that concern higher-level leadership, putting great effort into areas where significant achievements can be shown while stagnating on matters that do not attract attention. Some blindly speculate on the preferences of their superiors, revolving their actions around them, and frequently appearing before their superiors under the guise of "reporting on work" for fear that the "results" of their work will go unnoticed. These behaviors of "upward-looking" reflect a cognitive dislocation. In mild cases, they cause deviations in administrative behavior, leading to phenomena such as "running to the superiors often, but to the grassroots rarely, and staying far from the masses." In severe cases, they easily lead to political climbing, personal dependency, "cliques and circles" [12], and even violations of political, organizational, and integrity discipline. Leading cadres should clearly recognize that for Chinese Communists, governing is entirely for the people. They must combine the implementation of higher-level work requirements with the protection of the immediate interests of the masses, earnestly strengthen grassroots investigation and research, create achievements for the people, and produce achievements through solid work, presenting a "report card" of governance that can withstand the test of practice, the people, and history.
The year 2026 is the opening year of the "15th Five-Year Plan." Leading cadres must persist in using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as their guide, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress and all plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, and fully implement the general requirements of "founding the Party for the public, benefiting the people, scientific decision-making, and taking solid actions" during the study and education on establishing and practicing a correct outlook on achievements. With the spiritual realm of "success does not have to be mine" and the historical responsibility of "I must contribute to the success," they should actively eradicate cognitive misunderstandings such as "speed," "scale," "novelty," "stability," and "upward-looking" above all else. They must effectively prevent and rectify deviations in the outlook on achievements, resolutely oppose and overcome formalism and bureaucratism, and promote reform breakthroughs and high-quality development through solid work, laying a solid foundation for a good start to the "15th Five-Year Plan."