A Change in Work Style: Starting from a Single Component, Yet Far More Than a Single Component
The Party Committee of a Communications Battalion at a Naval Aviation University Station Improves Work Style by Taking the Lead in Tackling Difficult Problems——
A Small Component Ignites the Source of Motivation
■ Liu Huawei, Zhang Yidong
On an early-summer afternoon at the foot of the Taihang Mountains, fighter aircraft screamed across the runway. On the control tower display screen, identification boxes precisely recognized and locked onto the aircraft's landing gear.
"Landing gear down!" The report from Liu Wansheng, a signals operator in the communications battalion of a Naval Aviation University station, rang out. During this mission, the landing gear identification system—developed through the battalion Party committee's lead in tackling key problems—ran through the entire flight support process from start to finish.
Stepping off the training ground, battalion Party committee secretary Ma Chaoyang said frankly that the system's ability to be rapidly put into service came down to everyone improving their work style and bringing out the spirit of "get it done now" (抓紧干).
Several months earlier, the station had organized a communications-specialty skills competition. Party member and technical backbone Wu Jiang was widely regarded as the frontrunner for the championship. But at a critical point in training, a piece of equipment suddenly ran out of consumables. The manufacturer had discontinued production, the warehouse had no stock, and sister units could not supply any either. Wu Jiang crouched in front of the equipment, eyes red with anxiety, and training preparations were forced to a halt.
Faced with the difficulty, people talked among themselves: "Running out of consumables isn't our problem"; "Equipment support is the business of higher-level departments and the manufacturer—what can we do?"; "The manufacturer stopped producing it, so what can we do? Let's just wait a bit longer"……
Why had no one anticipated the consumables running out? Why had no one obtained advance knowledge of the manufacturer's production halt and the empty warehouse? Were they truly helpless in the face of difficulty? As the Party committee leadership analyzed the problem, everyone keenly sensed that this was not caused solely by objective factors—it also reflected a problem of work style (作风问题).
Drawing on the study and education campaign on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievement (正确政绩观), they used this case as a mirror, organized Party member cadres to examine and reflect on phenomena such as "passing the buck and dragging one's feet when confronted with problems," and guided everyone to a deep understanding that training and war preparation brook no delay—one must absolutely never passively wait, rely on others, or demand things from above. If conditions do not exist, create them; if there is no solution, find one. One must take the initiative and act with responsibility.
At a special discussion session, the idea put forward by battalion Party committee deputy secretary Bian Bingqi—"we could consider 3D-printing the consumables ourselves"—won general approval. They quickly applied to purchase the relevant equipment and began exploring. During that period, Deputy Secretary Bian accompanied flight support operations during the day and led key personnel through the technical manuals bit by bit at night.
After repeated attempts, the printer finally produced a small, precise component that fit snugly into the equipment. The moment the equipment restarted, Wu Jiang could not conceal his excitement. In the end, he lived up to expectations and won the championship in the skills competition.
A small component ignited the source of motivation. The episode was like a stone thrown into a still lake, sending ripples across the entire battalion. "Whether you lead with the word 'wait' or press forward and get things done fast—that comes down to the actual conduct of Party member cadres."
Not long afterward, the battalion received the task of developing a landing gear identification system and was tested once again. At the time, they faced the "three-nones" dilemma (三无难题): no experience, no technology, no precedent, and the officers and soldiers were for a time somewhat lacking in confidence. "Each level does it for the level below to see, each level leads the level below in doing it—then there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome." The Party committee leadership studied and established a "Party Member Vanguard Assault Team" (党员攻坚先锋队); the secretary and deputy secretary took the lead in tackling the research, actively gave full play to their vanguard and exemplary role, and inspired and rallied the comrades around them through hard work and a sense of responsibility. After arduous effort, their research and development results received affirmation from higher authorities.
Today, the battalion's officers and soldiers show high enthusiasm for getting things done and building achievements, and multiple innovative results have fed back into combat capability building. "When Party member cadres set a good example, the officers and soldiers have the spirit and the motivation." Secretary Ma said with feeling: from "wait a bit" to "get it done now," this change in work style started from a single component—yet it is far more than a single component.