Building a Learning Enterprise: Gitane’s Book Sharing Event Drives R&D and Production Excellence in Electric Heating Alloys
INTRODUCTION
On June 23, the Shougang Gitane Branch of Changping Library was officially inaugurated, building an employee learning platform integrating book borrowing, reading and sharing for all cadres and staff of Beijing Shougang Gitane New Materials Corporation. After work, on rest days or in spare time during work, the Gitane Library is always at its busiest. The completion of the library has been warmly praised by all levels of the company.
On August 10, employees sat around the bookshelves in the reading sharing room of the newly completed Shougang Gitane Branch of Changping Library. The company's reading sharing exchange meeting officially kicked off here. The event was held with a main venue connected synchronously with branch venues. Company leaders, middle-level cadres, sharing guests, young backbones and representatives of scientific research talents gathered together to talk about solid work and growth through books.
Held simultaneously at the main venue and branch venues
Main Venue
Branch venues
As a concrete measure of the company's initiative of "building a learning-oriented enterprise and moving towards the future through learning", and also the first company-wide reading event since the branch library opened, this sharing session was full of valuable content. All four speakers took the stage with thoughts on their own posts, integrating the truths from books into every detail of Gitane employees' daily operation and production.
PART.01 Featured Book: Instructions for Practical Living
You Xiaomin, Director of the Process Technology Research Office of the Electric Heating Research Institute, was the first to speak, with the sharing theme Practise Solid Work with the Integration of Knowledge and Action, Empower Development with Ingenuity in Research and Innovation.
As a technical manager who has long been rooted in the frontline of process research, she did not elaborate too much on the philosophy of Instructions for Practical Living, but focused directly on the application of its principles, pointing out the most common pain point in R&D positions: many process schemes have rigorous derivation in papers and perfect data in simulation, but all kinds of problems emerge once they are put into laboratory test and pilot test on site. The essence is "knowing without acting" — people think that understanding the theory means mastering the skill, but without on-site polishing and encountering real problems, all cognition is unpractical.
In her view, Wang Yangming's "integration of knowledge and action" is the most practical working method for R&D personnel: use theory to identify the direction of breakthrough, polish details through on-site trial and error, and truly turn book knowledge into one's own technical ability through repeated parameter adjustment and process review.
"No matter how brilliant an R&D scheme is, it is empty talk if it cannot be implemented; no matter how cutting-edge a technical theory is, it is useless if it cannot solve on-site problems."
PART.02 Featured Book: Research on the Development and Transformation of General Electric
Dong Luyan from the Enterprise Management Department brought Research on the Development and Transformation of General Electric, opening an external industry perspective for the managers present. Following the development cycle of General Electric (GE), she analyzed the transformation logic, management adjustment and organizational reform ideas of this industry giant at different stages. Instead of copying mechanically, she compared the company's current development stage and extracted referable experience from the perspectives of operation management and business layout, providing a reference for everyone to view development beyond daily work.
PART.03 Featured Book: Endurance is the Real Capability
Sharing from the production frontline always resonates most. Xiao Xiaofeng, Deputy Commander of the Central Control Center, gave a speech titled Break Through Difficulties with Perseverance, Hone Skills with Solid Work, talking about the daily work of production staff combined with Endurance is the Real Capability.
He said frankly that production operation is never "once and for all": the central control center operates 24/7, and equipment fluctuation, raw material difference, peak-season supply guarantee, sudden failures... challenges are always common. But "endurance" does not mean gritting teeth and suffering through it, but taking the initiative to break through the situation under pressure.
"There is no shortcut in production posts. All real skills are honed through practical work." This simple conclusion voiced the aspirations of all frontline employees.
PART.04 Featured Book: Flow
With the theme of "Return to Sincerity and Original Aspiration, Go Back to the Frontline Origin, Pursue Flow at Work", Li Gang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Board, connected the oriental wisdom of The Doctrine of the Mean, Kazuo Inamori's business philosophy and modern flow psychology, bringing a perceptible and implementable cognitive methodology to everyone. The whole sharing was full of valuable insights and became the highlight of this exchange meeting.
He said that many people have heard of "sincerity", "there is divinity on the frontline" and "flow", but few have connected these three things into a complete logic of doing things. In his sharing, three concepts spanning time and space, and covering both Chinese and Western thoughts, formed a progressive cognitive framework:
First level: "Sincerity" is the underlying prerequisite for doing things well
Many people think that "sincerity" is only a moral requirement, but in fact it is first of all the underlying mentality for doing things: put aside preconceived prejudices, get rid of the impetuosity of seeking quick success, do not avoid problems, do not whitewash the status quo, and see the true nature of things as they are.
Li Gang emphasized that The Doctrine of the Mean says "perfect sincerity is like divine insight". It does not mean that sincerity can predict the future, but that when people have no distracting thoughts and face the truth directly, they can penetrate the appearance and grasp the essence of the problem. In an enterprise, making decisions without preset positions, conducting management without avoiding contradictions, and doing technical work without perfunctory data — this attitude of "being true and authentic" is the starting point of all work. If one is impetuous and self-deceiving, no matter how good the methods and tools are, they will be useless.
Second level: "The frontline" is the real source of all answers
Li Gang said in the sharing that no matter how sincere one's attitude is, one cannot come up with a real solution sitting in the office. When Kazuo Inamori said "there is divinity on the frontline", the essence is simple: all real problems happen on the frontline, all key details are hidden on the frontline, and all reliable solutions are born on the frontline.
The sharing mentioned that in order to solve the problem of ceramic deformation during firing, Kazuo Inamori squatted by the high-temperature furnace to observe day and night. He stared so intently that he couldn't help wanting to reach out and press the product, and finally came up with the method of "pressing with heavy objects". Such stories are not far from us: R&D personnel squatting at the test site to monitor parameters, production teams staying by the equipment to troubleshoot — they all follow the same logic. Reports and meetings cannot replace on-site perception. Only by diving in, getting close, seeing with eyes, listening with ears and feeling with heart can we truly bridge the gap between "knowing" and "doing".
Third level: "Flow" is the best state of immersive work
When you hold a sincere attitude and fully devote yourself to the specific affairs on the frontline, you will naturally enter the state of "flow": fully focused, forgetting yourself and the passage of time, free from distracting thoughts and internal friction, and your work efficiency and inspiration will reach their peak.
Many people think that flow is an experience that can only be encountered by chance, but the sharing clearly pointed out that the meaning of management is never to watch employees work, but to proactively create an environment where everyone can enter flow: set clear goals for posts, provide timely feedback for work, match task difficulty with ability, cut unnecessary meetings and formalistic procedures, and reduce meaningless interference. When people don't have to distract themselves from internal friction and can focus on their work, not only will work efficiency improve, but their personal sense of achievement will also be much stronger.
- Strategic decision-making should not rely solely on data deduction. Managers should regularly go to the frontline and use on-site perception to make up for the lag of data.
- Product R&D should not stay on paper deduction. Immersive research should be advocated to leave enough space for technical personnel to focus on their work.
- Organizational management should shift from "control-oriented" to "flow-oriented", stimulating initiative through the environment rather than simply putting pressure through assessment.
- Talent training should not rely solely on classroom lectures. People should be put on the frontline to practice and grow their skills in solving real problems.
- Corporate culture should not stay on slogans. A pragmatic atmosphere of "telling the truth and doing solid work" should be built, so that all employees can focus their energy on getting things done.
The whole sharing steadily applied 2,000-year-old Confucian wisdom, overseas business experience and modern psychological research to Gitane's post scenarios. The core logic is actually very simple: calm down, go deep, go to the frontline, and do things down-to-earth — this is the most reliable path for both personal growth and enterprise development.
The four sharing sessions covered multiple dimensions of R&D, production and management, with both vivid frontline stories and systematic in-depth thinking. The atmosphere at the scene was warm, with frequent golden quotes. It was thought-provoking while bringing laughter, and participants from different posts could all find their own resonance.
Pan Yujie, Deputy Director of the Party-Mass Work Department, hosted the event and shared encouragement with everyone at the end: this reading sharing is not the end, but a starting point. She hoped that everyone could set aside a little time for reading and thinking in their busy work and life, and turn the gains from reading into the confidence to do things well. She concluded with the line "Add civilization to years, rather than add years to civilization", wishing everyone can work steadily and deeply in their posts and create their own value.
In the next step, the Shougang Gitane Branch of Changping Library, as an important cultural position of Beijing Shougang Gitane New Materials Corporation, will continue to carry out diversified reading activities, let the fragrance of books permeate the enterprise, and let learning truly empower growth.
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