Mao essentially decided that the nation could be psyched up into more industrial productivity. Among many other bad ideas, he famously ordered that individuals build small steel furnaces in their backyard to increase steel production. This was not a good idea. First off, it didn't actually increase steel production much. Secondly, it turns out that people making steel in their backyard who know nothing about making steel make bad steel. But the worst idea was to pay for heavy machinery from the USSR with exported grain. This meant that there was less for peasants to eat, and as a result, between 1959 and 1962, 20 million people died, probably half of whom were under the age of 10.