经验是人们在实践中获得的知识和技能。经验既可以来自于亲身实践，也可以通过读书学习，间接地来自于他人和前人的实践。而亲身实践更为重要。纸上得来终觉浅，绝知此事要躬行。只有具备丰富扎实的实践经验，领导干部才能较好地履行职责。领导干部能力的不断提高，就是实践经验积累的过程。从这个意义上说，经验也是能力。
经验的积累，需要经过一个从无到有、由少渐丰、反复磨练的过程。这就决定了，能力的提高是循序渐进的。古人说“宰相必起于州郡，猛将必发于卒伍”，就是这个道理。我们党历来重视在基层的实践中锻炼、考验和培养干部，这是由领导人才的成长规律所决定的。因此，在基层积累经验，是领导干部提高能力的必由之路。在今天，我们有的领导干部特别是年轻领导干部书本知识比较扎实，而实践经验相对缺乏，更需强调在实践中取得经验，增长才干。
基层一线承担着推进科学发展的繁重任务，是领导干部获取经验、提升能力的丰富土壤。基层工作千头万绪，往往是“上面千条线，下面一根针”，而解决问题的资源总是相对有限的。这就要求基层领导干部要善于分清轻重缓急、合理配置资源，调动各方面的积极性。在基层，有时多种矛盾交织在一起，有时问题发生非常突然，有时矛盾表现形式异常尖锐。领导干部责任所系，守土有责，无路可退，必须直面问题和矛盾，迅速作出反应和处置。在基层工作，能够与人民群众相濡以沫、朝夕相处，更好地了解国情民意，熟悉群众的沟通方式，理解群众的思想感情，体察群众的冷暖甘苦。这样的宝贵经验，有助于领导干部提高统筹兼顾、处理复杂问题和做好群众工作的能力，只能从基层的实践中来。
成功的经验与失败的教训，从来是人生际遇的孪生兄弟。从某种意义上说，挫折与教训对人的成长弥足珍贵，更加刻骨铭心。一个人只有尝过了酸甜苦辣，经历了考验与磨难，才能真正厚重起来。经受过生活的锤炼，牢记成长中的艰辛，人会更加懂得敬畏、懂得感激、懂得珍惜。也因此不急躁、不轻浮、不懈怠，才堪当重任，行得远路。
任何经验都要从实践中来，到实践中去。要善于总结，举一反三，使经验升华为规律性的认识，用来指导工作。经验只有在实践中不断接受检验，才能不断丰富、深化和发展，才能避免片面化、绝对化、教条化。
领导干部尤其是年轻领导干部，要主动到基层去，经风雨、见世面，收获扎实厚重的人生经验，奠定健康成长的牢固基础。要自觉在实践中坚定信念、锤炼党性，培养与人民群众水乳交融的感情，把实践中获得的经验，真正化为推动科学发展、服务人民群众的扎实本领。
译文:
Experience is capability too
Experience is the knowledge and skill that people obtain from practice. It can be from actual personal practice, what is learned from books, or indirectly from other people and our ancestors who have been there. Actual personal practice is most important, as “no practice, no gain in one’s wit”. Only with a lot of practical experience can leading cadres better perform their duties. Continuous enhancement of leading cadres’ capabilities is the accumulation of practical experience. That means experience is capability.
Accumulation of experience needs to go through a repeated training process of starting from scratch, and from scarce to plentiful. It is therefore determined that capability is improved orderly and progressively. An ancient saying that “prime ministers originate from counties, and valiant generals come from the rank and file” explains it all. Our party has always placed importance on the practical training of the grass root, and the testing and grooming of the cadres, depending on the growth pattern of the leadership talents. Therefore, grass root experience accumulating is the only way for leading cadres to enhance their capabilities. Nowadays, our leading cadres, especially the young ones, have more useful knowledge from books, but are relatively lacking in practical experience. There is more need for them to gain practical experience to beef up their competence.
Grass root assumes the numerous and heavy responsibilities of advancing scientific development. It is a rich soil where leading cadres can obtain experience and upgrade their capabilities. Grass root work is complicated and difficult to unravel, and usually is “thousands of threads above, a needle below”, and the resources for resolving problems are relatively limited. Leading cadres at the grass root are thus required to be good at distinguishing between the important and the unimportant, the urgent and the non-urgent; reasonably deploying resources, and mobilizing all initiatives. At the grass root, various conflicts sometimes entwine, problems sometimes come very unexpectedly, and sometimes circumstances leading to the conflicts are extremely intense. Leading cadres are duty-bound to defend the territory with no retreat, and must confront problems and conflicts, delivering quick responses and resolutions. Working at the grass root avails the opportunity to join hands with the people and help one another, being together day and night, and to better understand the state of the country and public opinion, to familiarize the people’s way of communication, to understand the people’s minds and sentiments, to observe the people’s temperament and experience their good times and bad times. Such a valuable experience that helps leading cadres to upgrade their capability of proper planning with overall consideration, handling complicated problems and managing people well, can only come from practical experience at the grass root.
Successful experience and lessons from failures have always been twin brothers of one’s life experience. In a sense, set backs and lessons are precious to the growth of people, and should be remembered with deep gratitude. Only after tasting the joys and sorrows of life and experiencing trial and tribulation can a man be truly wholesome. After going through training in life and remembering the difficulties in growth can one better understand how to respect others, be grateful, and cherish. One will then not irritable, frivolous or slacking off, and can thus be competent of shouldering high responsibilities, and go far.
Experience of any kind comes from practice, and goes back to practice. One must be resourceful, and convert the experience into objective knowledge and make use of it in works. Experience that has been subject to continuous testing can then only be continuously enriching, intensifying, and developing, thus avoiding one-sidedness, absolutization and dogmatism.
Leading cadres, especially the young ones, have to volunteer to go to the grass root to weather the storms of living and experience life, and to acquire the practical and profound experience of life, establishing the foundation that grows healthily and steadily. They must consciously be firm in their conviction in what they do, and toughen up the party spirit, learn to get along with the people harmoniously, and really turn the experience acquired from life into practical skill to move forward with the scientific development and serve the masses.