Chairman Lee Kun-Hee’s “great decision” in making a topnotch corporation
“Chairman Lee, the population of the United States is 270 million.”
This was totally out of the blue. Chairman Lee raised his head and looked at me with a confused expression, wondering why I was suddenly talking about the US population. I had succeeded in changing the subject and grabbing his attention, so I hurriedly continued my explanation.
“Even though the US has the world’s largest economy, and it leads in technology and culture, its population isn’t only made up of brilliant and talented people. There are also many people who are a burden on its society. But it’s still the strongest country in the world.
Within this 256M DRAM that we made, there are the same number of cells as there are people in the US population. But if just one of these 270 million cells is defective, we won’t be able to sell the 256M DRAM.”
Chairman Lee then smiled at me brightly, glanced over at the group of presidents, and broke into laughter saying, “That’s a great analogy.”
--- p.23~p24

It takes passion to ask questions
Thinking back, I was probably the only engineer/manager who liked posing questions to partner companies. I was practically obsessed with wanting to know what our clients’ demands were, and where the market was heading. And that’s why I always met with our clients’ CTOs. Our sales division staff wanted me to meet CEOs and purchasing department executives, but I knew who among my counterparts could answer my questions. I needed to hear from the CTOs to read the technological tea leaves and be prepared for the future before anyone else.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the development of “mobile DRAM,” one of Samsung Electronics’ most successful products in the mobile era, began after a meeting with the CTO of a client. The partnership between Samsung Electronics and Nokia remains strong to this day ever since the former began supplying f lash memory to the latter in 2002. I was very fortunate to have had a conversation with Nokia’s CTO about a smartphone developed by that company.
--- p.143

“Create what you want it to be, not what it is.”
Several CEOs come to mind when talking about the nomad spirit. I have met many people privately and as a business manager, and have learned much from them. They also motivated me to write this book.
One of them is Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce.
(...)
I was not able to engage in lengthy conversation with Marc Benioff at the WEF. Nevertheless, I had the impression that he dealt with people without concerns over their status and accepted his counterparts with an open mind.
He approached me during the break and told me he was interested in 5G and had looked into it. He said my speech earlier reaffirmed its importance and then thanked me. I answered by inviting him to come to my office if he ever found himself in Korea. A few months later, he really did come to visit my office.
Initially, Marc Benioff’s liaison officer contacted me and said that Mr.Benioff was scheduled to participate in a 20th anniversary ceremony in Japan and then head straight back to San Francisco in his private jet.
However he wanted to visit KT in Seoul. I answered that he would be welcome anytime. The next day, he came to my office with a bright yet serious expression on his face. Greeting them like old friends, I took him and other Salesforce members who were with him on a tour of our 5G facilities and demonstration site.
--- p.181~183

An encounter with an ardent believer in and early adopter of technology
My relationship with Klaus Schwab, also known as the “president of the global economy,” started in 2017. I visited the WEF headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, to give a presentation on KT’s project to prevent infectious disease globally.
At that time, KT attracted public attention with its GiGAtopia strategy and “5G will be the power that changes the world” declaration.
KT was making a quantum leap as a telecommunications technology company by leaving behind its old image.
I was truly excited about the meeting with Klaus Schwab. Klaus is widely known for founding the WEF in 1971 and developing it into an independent global organization. He has long endeavored to build a venue where global leaders can share agendas and have neutral and fair discussions. He introduced himself in several media as “an ardent believer in and early adopter of technology,” and emphasized his firm conviction that technologies would contribute to the advancement and development of humanity. I was deeply impressed by his activities and philosophy, and I expected that his ideas would be similar to mine.

<b>기술이 세상을 어떻게 변화시키는가?<br/>새로운 미래를 만든 리더들과의 만남을 통해<br/>얻은 통찰과 깨달음에 대한 기록</b><br/><br/>이 책은 개인의 성공, 기업의 성장, 기술의 발전을 이야기 하는 것에 머물러 있지 않다.<br/>30여 년 동안 여러 시련에도 꺾이지 않게 저자를 붙잡았던 것은 ‘기술’과 ‘사람’이라는 단어였다.<br/>플래시 메모리, 모바일 D램, SSD, 기가토피아, 그리고 5G까지 이제는 일반 명사가 된 기술들을 준비하고 세상에 내놓는 순간에도 저자는 항상 ‘이 기술들이 세상을, 사람들의 삶을 어떻게 변화시킬까?’라는 화두에 몰입했다.<br/>그와 교류했던 세계의 많은 리더들도 그러했다. 그들은 변화된 세상의 모습을 그려왔던 세계적인 리더들의 이야기들은 어떻게 미래의 세상을 예측했고, 이를 위한 기술의 변화를 선언하고, 그것을 치열한 노력으로 실행하고, 그렇게 성장해 온 기술들이 세상을 어떻게 변화시키는지에 대한 이야기가 담겨있다.<br/>지금 어떤 돌파구를 찾고 있다면, 새로운 세상에 대해 두려움이 생겼다면 이 책에 나오는 리더들을 만나보자. 그동안 평범했던 삶이 특별하게 바뀌는 계기를 만들 수 있을 것이다.<br/><br/><b>리더가 새로운 세상을 연다</b><br/><br/>[이건희] 현재 삼성전자가 세계적인 기업이 된 중심에는 이건희 회장의 ‘정확한 판단과 전폭적인 지원’이 있었기 때문이다. IT 역사상 최악의 해라고 불릴 정도로 힘들었던 2001년, 조 단위의 투자금이 들어가야 하는 바람에 주저하고 있을 때 이건희 회장은 다음과 같이 질타했다.<br/>“지금 투자를 안 하면 후배들은 언제 글로벌 1등을 할 수 있겠나?”<br/>위험을 품은 과감한 투자라고 언론은 말했지만 이건희 회장의 적극적인 지원의 결과, 현재까지도 반도체는 한국 경제의 든든한 버팀목이 되고 있다. 위기의 시기일수록 통찰력과 과감한 결정이 중요함을 다시 한번 알 수 있다.<br/><br/>[스티브 잡스] ‘현재가 아닌 상상력에 기반한 미래를 창조해야 한다’라며 항상 미래를 준비하기 위해 고민했던 스티브 잡스는 “기술은 한계는 어디까지인가요?”라는 질문을 끊임없이 했다. 5년 뒤, 10년 뒤에도 애플은 혁신적인 제품을 만들어야 하는데 그러기 위해서는 기술의 확장을 알고 있어야 했기 때문이다. 스티브 잡스가 만든 제품을 보면, ‘기술로 세상을 어떻게 변화시킬 것인가?’에 대한 답을 찾기 위한 노력이 중요함을 알게 된다.<br/><br/>[일론 머스크] 한 번 성공하기도 힘든 시대에 세계 시장을 뒤흔들며 계속 성공하고 있고 지금도 기록을 경신하고 있는 일론 머스크. 세계 자동차 시장에 ‘전기차’라는 한 획을 그었으며 우주 로켓 개발에 왜 그리 돈이 많이 드는지 분석해본 적 있느냐면서 로켓 재활용이라는 신기원을 만들었다. 그런 일론 머스크를 볼 때마다 지도에도 없는 길을 가기 위해서는 혁신을 파괴적으로 해야 함을 알게 된다.<br/>이 외에도 세계 경제를 움직인 다양한 분야의 리더들이 책에서 독자들을 기다리고 있다.<br/><br/><b>새로운 세상을 준비하는 다음 리더는 누구인가?</b><br/><br/>경쟁이 치열해질수록, 혁신적인 제품을 만들어야 할수록 뛰어난 리더가 필요하다. 요즘처럼 시장을 꿰뚫어 보고 세상을 뒤흔들 결과를 설계하는 탁월한 리더가 필요한 시대도 없었던 것 같다.<br/>그렇다고 독불장군처럼 혼자만 나가라는 말이 아니다. 조직원들에게 꾸준하게 동기를 부여하고 각자 성과를 끌어내도록 하는 리더십도 필요하다. 이러한 리더십을 갖춘 리더가 되고 싶다면 이 책의 페이지를 넘기면 된다. 이제 이 책을 통해 리더가 될 당신을 응원한다.