One must be both thoughtful and decisive. First, one should seek counsel widely; second, one should make sound judgments promptly.

What does it mean to “seek counsel widely”? It means listening to diverse viewpoints. Start by talking with us, exchanging ideas back and forth.

Seek advice from your secretaries, from the provincial and municipal Party secretaries, from the prefectural, county, and commune Party secretaries; consult the farmers, the factory directors, workshop chiefs, section leaders, and team leaders; talk with the workers, and also with comrades who hold differing opinions.

One must act decisively when the moment calls for it; do not let opportunities slip away. A chance that is missed will never come again.

To act decisively at the right time, one must be adept at assessing the situation.

If there is a lack of decisive action, it usually indicates either an inadequate assessment of the situation or an ill-considered decision—one that borders on arbitrariness.

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Leave room for maneuver. The principle of leaving room for maneuver was already discussed at the Chengdu Conference, but later we stopped doing so. In our past military campaigns, we would encircle the enemy with three, four, five, six, even seven times their strength—this left ample margin. If they had one regiment, we would deploy three, five, six, or ten regiments, keeping several additional regiments in reserve, ensuring that we could ultimately overwhelm them. We never launched an unprepared or uncertain campaign. Yet today, much of our industrial work resembles just such unprepared, high-risk ventures. I often wonder whether those engaged in industrial development have truly accumulated sufficient experience. Some have, but many have not. Our working methods are, in large part, fundamentally flawed. For example, we often fail to practice the principles of seeking broad counsel while making firm decisions, nor do we leave adequate room for flexibility. This is, at its core, a matter of applying a Marxist approach.

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The “saddle-shaped” pattern we once opposed was primarily aimed at countering the “anti-‘leftist’ overextension.” In 1957, it was imperative not to revert to that pattern. To fulfill the First Five-Year Plan, we allocated 14 billion yuan to capital construction in 1956—this was necessary at the time. However, inventories were depleted to a great extent, necessitating adjustments in 1957. At the November 1956 plenary session of the Central Committee, I fully supported these adjustments. After all, funds and materials were limited; we could only accomplish so much within those constraints.

The “saddle-shaped” trend will likely reappear in the future. The pace of production growth may vary from year to year—sometimes faster, sometimes slower—or perhaps two years of rapid growth followed by one year of slowdown, or three years of expansion punctuated by two years of contraction. It is impossible to sustain a constant peak every day. Just as holding meetings at a continuous high pitch would eventually lead to exhaustion and failure, sustained, unrelenting intensity is unsustainable. Progress should follow a wave-like trajectory. This is a question of methodology.