Doctrine Political Work

Strong Military Forum | Reinvigorating the Spirit and Drive for Getting Things Done

强军论坛丨提振干事创业的精气神

PLA Daily (解放军报) 14 May 2026

Summary

An opinion piece published in the PLA's official Strong Military Forum calls on officers and soldiers to reject passive or evasive work styles—explicitly naming 'lying flat and passing the buck' as targets—and to orient all performance metrics toward warfighting readiness, citing Xi Jinping's remarks to the PLA and PAP delegation at the 14th NPC Fourth Session. The piece is a routine political education article from Air Force Engineering University and reflects the ongoing PLA campaign to enforce a 'correct outlook on political performance,' a drive aimed at countering bureaucratic inertia and ensuring that career incentives align with combat capability rather than formalistic compliance. It contains no new operational or organizational information but is useful as a data point on the persistence and framing of this internal discipline effort.

Translation

Reinvigorating the Spirit and Drive for Getting Things Done

— A Series of Discussions on Establishing and Practicing a Correct Outlook on Political Performance (正确政绩观)

■ Li Yihan

Achievements are all earned through hard work; only genuine effort produces genuine results and real achievements. The spirit and posture with which Party member cadres go about their work is a direct reflection of whether their outlook on political performance (政绩观) is sound.

Spirit and drive (精气神) is an important expression of the image of Party member cadres and an important prerequisite for doing all work well. Chairman Xi has emphasized that the cause of building a strong military is earned through hard work—without a certain drive and spirit, it simply cannot be done. At present, realizing the centenary goal of army building has entered a critical period of hard struggle, with time extremely pressing and tasks extremely arduous. This demands that all officers and soldiers throughout the armed forces carry forward the work style of "doing," maintain the momentum of "creating," and stir up the spirit of "forging ahead"—reinvigorating the spirit and drive for getting things done, faithfully discharging their duties, stepping up and taking responsibility, going all out to fight the hard battles, and resolutely overcoming such negative phenomena as shirking heavy responsibilities, lying flat and passing the buck (躺平甩锅), going through the motions, and muddling along. They must ignite their mental state, rally the forces of striving forward, and work hard to open up a new landscape in national defense and military modernization.

Realizing the centenary goal of army building on schedule will not be smooth sailing or a flat road—it will inevitably encounter "Loushan Pass" and "Lazikou," and run into "stumbling blocks" and "tigers blocking the path." It is precisely because of the difficulty that courage and resolve are all the more evident; it is precisely because of steadfast action that it is all the more precious. Li Disan, Party representative of the "Advance Detachment Entering Tibet" (进藏先遣连), once said: "A Communist Party member, at the most difficult moment, asks the Party for a load to carry on his own shoulders." Party member cadres should consciously integrate their personal pursuits into the overall cause of building a strong military, be willing to shoulder the heaviest burdens, dare to gnaw on the hardest bones, and be adept at picking up the hottest potatoes—knowing the weight and bearing it, knowing the difficulty and overcoming it, knowing the danger and defusing it—transforming the sense of responsibility of "never being able to set one's mind at ease" (时时放心不下) into the capacity for action of "having a clear grasp of everything" (事事心中有底).

Fighting and preparing to fight are the soldier's sacred duty. Compared with the past, the form of modern warfare is accelerating its evolution; "one war rendering the previous war obsolete" has become the norm, and accelerating the building of advanced combat capabilities is all the more realistic and urgent. If at this time the training and preparation for war still proceeds by the book, unhurried and at a leisurely pace, then victory in war will be built on sand. This demands that Party member cadres always calibrate the "yardstick of political performance" (政绩标尺) against winning in war, and at all times maintain a sense of crisis—"unable to eat if unprepared for battle"—and a sense of mission—"seeking nothing but victory, sparing nothing for victory." They must persist in training troops under realistic combat conditions to sharpen skills and strengthen capabilities, temper their abilities through urgent, difficult, dangerous, and arduous tasks, comprehensively raise the level of training and the ability to win, accelerate the effective supply of advanced combat capabilities, and ensure they are at all times ready for war, able to fight at any moment, and certain to win when they do.

Chairman Xi, when attending the plenary session of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police Force at the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress, emphasized the need to "attach importance to doing work that addresses root causes, benefits the long term, and builds lasting strength." One who seeks the growth of a tree must first consolidate its roots; one who desires a stream to flow far must first dredge its source. Building a strong military and rejuvenating the military is a long-distance race that must be realized through the relay efforts of generation after generation of officers and soldiers. Whether in training and preparation for war, grassroots-level building, scientific and technological innovation, or personnel cultivation, all require upholding the spiritual realm of "success need not come on my watch" (功成不必在我) and the historical responsibility of "success will surely come with my contribution" (功成必定有我)—putting in the sustained effort of "dripping water wearing through stone" (滴水穿石), the real effort of "the Foolish Old Man moving mountains" (愚公移山), and the hard effort of "leaving footprints on stone" (踏石留印)—planning strategies for the long term and taking actions that consolidate the foundation, so as to advance the steady and far-reaching development of force building and continuously elevate the level of combat capability.

(Author's unit: Information and Navigation College, Air Force Engineering University)

Original Chinese

提振干事创业的精气神 ——树立和践行正确政绩观系列谈 ■李毅涵业绩都是干出来的，真干才能真出业绩、出真业绩。以什么样的精神状态和工作姿态干事创业，是党员干部政绩观是否端正的直接体现。精气神是党员干部形象的重要体现，是做好一切工作的重要前提。习主席强调，强军事业是干出来的，没有一股子劲、没有一股子气是不行的。当前，实现建军一百年奋斗目标到了吃劲奋斗的攻坚期，时间极其紧迫，任务极其艰巨。这要求全军官兵必须发扬“干”的作风、保持“创”的劲头、激荡“闯”的精神，提振干事创业的精气神，恪尽职守、担当作为，全力以赴打好攻坚战，坚决克服拈轻怕重、躺平甩锅、敷衍塞责、得过且过等消极现象，把精神状态激发出来，把奋进力量凝聚起来，努力开创国防和军队现代化建设新局面。如期实现建军一百年奋斗目标，不可能一帆风顺、一马平川，必然会遇到“娄山关”“腊子口”，碰到“绊脚石”“拦路虎”。惟其艰难，才更显勇毅；惟其笃行，才弥足珍贵。“进藏先遣连”党代表李狄三曾说：“共产党员就是在最困难的时候向党要一副担子挑在身上。”党员干部应自觉把个人追求融入强军事业大局，勇于挑最重的担子，敢于啃最硬的骨头，善于接最烫的山芋，知重负重、知难克难、知险化险，将“时时放心不下”的责任感转化为“事事心中有底”的行动力。打仗和准备打仗是军人的天职。与以往相比，现代战争形态加速演变，“一场战争淘汰一场战争”已成常态，加快先进战斗力建设更加现实紧迫。如果这时候练兵备战还按部就班、不紧不慢，胜战打赢就会踏空踩虚。这就要求党员干部始终把“政绩标尺”卡在胜战打赢上，时刻保持一种“打仗没底吃不下饭、准备不好睡不着觉”的危机感、“除了胜利一无所求、为了胜利一无所惜”的使命感，坚持以实战化练兵精武强能，用急难险重任务磨砺本领，全面提高训练水平和打赢能力，加快先进战斗力有效供给，确保做到全时待战、随时能战、战之必胜。习主席在出席十四届全国人大四次会议解放军和武警部队代表团全体会议时强调，要“重视抓好管根本、利长远、增后劲的工作”。求木之长者，必固其根本；欲流之远者，必浚其泉源。强军兴军是一场长跑，需要一代又一代官兵在接力奋斗中实现。无论是练兵备战、基层建设，还是科技创新、人才培养，都需要秉持“功成不必在我”的精神境界和“功成必定有我”的历史担当，下足“滴水穿石”的长功夫、“愚公移山”的实功夫、“踏石留印”的硬功夫，谋长远之策、行固本之举，推动部队建设行稳致远、战斗力水平不断跃升。（作者单位：空军工程大学信息与导航学院）