In December 1936, Mao Zedong wrote Problems of Strategy in China’s Revolutionary War. “Reading books is learning, but using is also learning, and the more important kind of learning,” he wrote. “Learning war from war: this is our main method.” People who had no chance to go to school, he added, could still learn war. They could learn it in the war.
Three-Side Projects
During the Third Front construction in China’s interior, many plants were built as sanbian gongcheng, “three-side projects.” Survey, design and construction went on at the same time: bian kance, bian sheji, bian shigong.
According to the news site The Paper, the method caused serious problems of quality and safety. One plant for aircraft parts in Shaanxi was built without knowing the geology. A large landslide followed, with losses of more than 10 million yuan.
No Debate
In early 1992, on his tour of the south, Deng Xiaoping said: “Not debating is an invention of mine. We do not debate so that we win time to act. Once there is a debate, things get complicated. All the time is argued away, and nothing gets done.”
The talks appear in volume three of his Selected Works as “Main Points of Talks in Wuchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shanghai and Other Places,” dated January 18 to February 21, 1992.
When the Cart Reaches the Mountain
车到山前必有路 When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a road. The Handian dictionary explains that a matter may run into difficulty, but a solution will be found when the decisive moment comes.
船到桥头自然直 When the boat reaches the bridge, it straightens by itself. The two lines are often said together, meaning that things will work out when the time comes.
The Road Is Made by Walking
Lu Xun wrote in his story My Old Home (Guxiang): “In fact there were no roads on the ground to begin with. When many people walk, a road comes into being.” (其实地上本没有路，走的人多了，也便成了路。)
For Trial Implementation
Several of China’s basic laws were first passed “for trial implementation” (试行). The Environmental Protection Law (for Trial Implementation) was adopted in principle in September 1979. A final Environmental Protection Law followed in December 1989. The Civil Procedure Law (for Trial Implementation) took effect on October 1, 1982, and was replaced by a new Civil Procedure Law in 1991.
The Enterprise Bankruptcy Law (for Trial Implementation) of December 1986 lasted longest. It was repealed when the new Enterprise Bankruptcy Law took effect on June 1, 2007.
Small Steps, Fast Iteration
In a letter to partners published in July 2012, Tencent founder Ma Huateng summed up fourteen years of the company’s experience as a “rule of gray” (灰度法则) with seven dimensions: demand, speed, flexibility, redundancy, open collaboration, innovation and evolution.
On speed, he wrote: “My suggestion is ‘small steps, fast running, quick iteration.'” (小步快跑，快速迭代)
Updates Every Friday
Xiaomi released the first version of its MIUI phone software on August 16, 2010. From the start, it pushed out an update every Friday at 5 pm. After the first Xiaomi phone came out on August 16, 2011, development split in two. The “development version” kept its weekly updates. The “stable version” received about one update a month.
The Southern Tour
From January 18 to February 21, 1992, Deng Xiaoping, then 88, toured Wuchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shanghai. “Reform and opening must be bolder and dare to experiment,” he said. “Once we see clearly, we should boldly try and boldly break through.”
“Without upholding socialism, without reform and opening, without developing the economy and improving the people’s lives, there is only a dead end.”
Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones
摸着石头过河, “to cross the river by feeling for the stones,” comes from a folk saying. Chen Yun, then vice premier, first proposed it as a working method at a government meeting in April 1950. In 1961 he told the Ministry of Chemical Industry that the work must start from reality and “cross the river by feeling the stones.”
The saying is widely linked to Deng Xiaoping and the reforms after 1978. According to scholars cited by Chinese Wikipedia, Deng himself never used it.