Page 283 - SELECTED WORKS OF DENG XIAOPING Volume II

ADHERE TO PARTY LINE AND IMPROVE WORK METHODS 281
is fair to say that the former Secretariat of the Central Committee was quite
efficient, partly because once the relevant decisions were made, specific tasks
were assigned to particular persons, who were given broad powers and allowed
to handle matters independently. But now we only tick off documents
[indicating that we have read them] and no one is responsible for any thing
in particular. Consequently, the solution of a simple problem can be delayed
for six months or a year or even indefinitely, vanishing without a trace in
red tape. The people are dissatisfied with our low level of efficiency. How
can we achieve the four modernizations this way? I hope that once the
Secretariat is re-established, the members of the Central Committee and the
State Council will set an example by solving problems collectively and stop
the practice of just ticking off documents in their separate offices. It isn’t
necessary for all members of the Secretariat or the State Council to take part
in settling every question—sometimes it is enough for a few persons to
discuss and decide on them. Some matters can be acted on as they are being
reported to the Political Bureau and its Standing Committee. Those which
require discussion by the higher bodies can wait, but not those which only
need to be reported for the record. Collective leadership with division of
labour and individual responsibility should be practised at all levels. Take the
case of a factory in which the director assumes overall responsibility under
the leadership of the Party committee. The committee need only handle
important political matters and questions of principle, while all matters
relating to production and administration should be left to overall manage-
ment by the director. On no account should the Party committee monopolize
responsibility for all matters, great and small. The director and deputy
directors should each bear specific responsibility for one area or another
—technology, scientific research, financial affairs, support services and the
like—though they can, of course, discuss and decide matters together when
necessary. People working at all levels should be efficiency-minded. Natural-
ly, under this system it may be difficult to avoid mistakes, but that is still a
better situation—and easier to rectify—than one in which there are discus-
sions without decisions, decisions without implementation, and endless
procrastination and delays in solving problems.
Meetings should be small and short, and they should not be held at all
unless the participants have prepared. People should speak briefly and to the
point. Give your opinions on the question under discussion, say what you
are for or against and state your reasons concisely. If you don’t have anything
to say, save your breath. Don’t hold meetings which are marathons of empty
talk, and don’t stray from the subject at hand. It will be disastrous if even
after we have shifted to short meetings and the collective solution of