Wang Yuhan: Practicing the Correct Outlook on Performance Must Avoid "Wearing New Shoes but Walking the Old Path"
Whether a leading official’s outlook on performance is correct or not directly affects the effectiveness of development and even its success or failure. Persisting in high-quality development is an intrinsic requirement and essential component of establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized: "To achieve the Second Centenary Goal [1], we must adhere to the Party’s basic line and keep economic construction as our center. However, development under these new circumstances cannot mean 'wearing new shoes to walk the old road' [2]. We must implement the new development philosophy [3] completely, accurately, and comprehensively, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern [4], and promote high-quality development." On the surface, "wearing new shoes to walk the old road" is a behavioral deviation; fundamentally, it is a misalignment of the outlook on performance. Only by establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance and implementing the new development philosophy completely, accurately, and comprehensively can we truly forge a "new path" for high-quality development.
General Secretary Xi Jinping’s vivid metaphor concerning "wearing new shoes" and "walking the old road" contains a dialectic of form and content, appearance and essence. "Shoes" are the "surface" (biǎo), while the "road" is the "inner substance" (lǐ) [5]. The so-called "new shoes" refer to the new scenes and models that have emerged in economic and social development under the new circumstances, the new conditions and resources produced, and the new roles and positionings bestowed upon the relevant subjects. The so-called "old road" refers to the "path of boisterous, extensive development" [6], such as the "overdraft path" of "draining the pond to catch the fish" [7] and "burning the marshes to hunt," the "blind path" of "massive irrigation and massive fertilizer" [8] and "massive demolition and massive construction," the "unbalanced path" of being "top-heavy" (jīqīng jīzhòng) and "neglecting one thing while attending to another," as well as the "path of hasty, slapdash compositions" and the "path of GDP-onlyism." "Wearing new shoes to walk the old road" is like "putting old wine in new bottles"—only the form has been updated while the essence remains unchanged. In certain localities, documents emphasize the implementation of the new development philosophy, but the method of execution remains the old way; new policy documents are issued, but the train of thought for interpretation and execution still follows the old routines. Under new circumstances, if one fails to establish and practice a correct outlook on performance and wears new shoes to walk the old road, they will certainly fail to create achievements that can withstand the test of practice and history, truly benefit the people, and receive public recognition.
Why does one still walk the "old road" after putting on "new shoes"? The essence is formalism at work. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The essence of formalism is subjectivism and utilitarianism. Its roots lie in a misaligned outlook on performance and a lack of responsibility, using bustling forms to replace solid implementation and using a glamorous exterior to cover up contradictions and problems." Some Party members and officials walk the "old road" not because the "new road" is impassable, but because the "old road" is familiar, requires less effort, and has "controllable" risks. Some alienate experience into dogma in their work, unwilling to make adjustments according to the time and situation; some pursue formal innovation on the surface but in essence cautiously maintain the old pattern, fearing that "walking the new road" will break the "balance," touch upon contradictions, or bring "uncertainty." The root cause of "wearing new shoes to walk the old road" is the failure to establish and practice a correct outlook on performance, resulting in a serious decoupling of thought and action from the new development philosophy, characterized by putting on an act, engaging in "flower stands" (huājiàzi) [9], and blindly expanding the scale of projects.
Having entered the new stage of development, various new situations and problems are emerging in an endless stream. If one still clings to old thinking and employs old methods, it will inevitably be difficult to adapt to the developmental requirements of new quality productive forces. If one persists in wandering along the "old road," then no matter how new the equipment or how great the drive, one will inevitably be shackled by antiquated concepts and dragged down by inherent models, eventually only running in place, unable to open new spaces or reach new heights. Only by persisting in wearing new shoes to walk the new road, resolutely breaking through ideological obstacles, firmly establishing and practicing a correct outlook on performance, and ensuring the fit between content and form and the unity of thought and action, can we keep pace with the era, respond to the people's expectations, and achieve steady and sustained progress in high-quality development.
To establish and practice a correct outlook on performance, we must walk the "new road" steadily, well, and far. To walk the "new road" steadily, we need to act according to objective laws, making good use of successful existing experience while exploring new methods in combination with new realities. For new situations and problems that may be encountered in the development process, we must enhance foresight, predictability, and proactivity, staying alert to danger in times of peace, "repairing the house before it rains," and making the "first move" (xiānshǒuqí). To walk the "new road" well, we need to strengthen investigation and research, go deep into the grassroots, stay close to the masses, truly master the situation, identify problems accurately, take the welfare of the people as the greatest achievement, and respond to the expectations of the masses with solid work and practical results. To walk the "new road" far, we must cultivate the spiritual state that "success does not have to happen through me" (gōngchéng bìbù zài wǒ) [10] while shouldering the historical responsibility that "I must contribute to the act of succeeding" (gōngchéng bìdìng yǒu wǒ). We must be willing to do the preparatory work and handle unfinished business, performing both tangible deeds that the common people can see, touch, and benefit from, and good deeds that pave the way, lay foundations, and benefit the long term for future generations, truly creating solid achievements that can withstand the test of practice, the people, and history.