Monday, November 29, 2004
LG’s 'foolish' old man
LG’s 'foolish' old man
By Aloysius Choong, CNETAsia
November 18, 2004
In the village of Jizhou, there once stood the two mountains of Taixing and Wangwu. Yu Gong, a 90-year-old grandfather, lived to the south, and often had to travel long distances to get around the mountains. He was deeply troubled by it.
One day, he decided to level the two mountains: grain by grain, rock by rock. "You are deluded, Yu Gong," Hequ's Zhi Sou told him. "You are already so old and weak. You cannot even pull out a blade of grass. How will you be able to shift the mountains?"
Undeterred, Yu Gong replied: "Your mind is too inflexible. Even if I die, I have my children, my grandchildren and all their scions. My line will go on and on, but those two mountains can never get taller or bigger--what do I have to worry about?" With this, he silenced Zhi Sou.
The story of Yu Gong is one that LG Electronics CEO Kim Ssang Su often alludes to. He wants to see Yu Gong's grit and determination in his employees.
"If one steadily strives in his work, he will eventually achieve something great," he said in this interview with CNETAsia.
At the same time, Yu Gong-whose name literally translates to "foolish old man"– might not have been as smart as Zhi Sou (meaning "intelligent gentlemen"). But perhaps because of this, he was not constrained by the preconceptions of smarter people.
The two values are very much evident in Kim himself. He admits that he "works very hard", waking up at 5.30 sharp each morning to exercise and prepare for the day. "When I think about how my judgment and actions as a CEO will determine the lives of tens of thousands of people, I cannot stop working, even for a moment," he writes on his personal Web page.
He is also well-known for declaring that a 5 percent productivity gain is difficult, but a 30 percent target is, ironically, achievable.
The reason? A seemingly impossible problem forces executives to think outside the box for a solution.
In the story of Yu Gong, the Heavenly King himself eventually heard about the incident. He was so moved by Yu Gong's will that he dispatched two deities to carry the mountains away.
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In his career at LG which spans 35 years, S.S. Kim has outgrown his rural beginnings to become the CEO of a top global enterprise.
Some might say that, in the business world, he has moved mountains himself.
Q: Which Asian values do you firmly believe in? How do you apply these values to your business?
Q: In Korea, where Confucian ideas are prevalent, family ties, priority of community/group over individual, enthusiasm for education and diligence are prioritized. I firmly believe in the priority of the whole over individuals, which lays emphasis on "We, not I".
What is the biggest challenge when expanding overseas? Our goal is to be among the top three in electronics, information and communications by 2010. In order to be one of the global top three companies, we should not only be so in outward appearance but also in all areas of management. Therefore, our branding will become especially important in realizing our vision and goal.
Since I became CEO of LG Electronics, I have always emphasized making our brand a premium brand.
For a while, LG Electronics was relatively unknown in the global markets. Now, however, LG Electronics has become one of the most favored brands in many countries and, in some countries, LG has been selected as one of the national brands. We still have more work ahead in securing a premium brand position.
How would you describe your management style?
My management style focuses on three areas: early innovation, stretch goals and field management.
Early innovation means that we should innovate in advance and put it into action earlier, thereby maximizing our performance. One such early innovation process is TDR (Tear-down & Redesign).
We occasionally repeat the same inefficient and unproductive processes, due to limited resources and time. TDR enables us to solve existing problems on a different level while finding innovative solutions, thus maximizing the creation of value and minimizing losses.
Stretch goals are an essential part to LGE's global success. I like to tell my people that 5 percent is impossible but 30 percent is possible. Using past methods, we barely achieved even a 5 percent improvement.
However, if we change the approach to induce innovative ideas, a 30 percent innovation can be achieved. If we set a 30 percent stretch goal, we can take a fundamentally different approach; since we have to change the very idea and methods for innovation. We should take a creative approach in order to gain results that are greater than expected.
I am also a firm believer in field management. Reports submitted by LGE managers are what I refer to as taped recordings of what happened from someone else's perspective.
Being actively involved in the field allows me to witness the action live and make a decision right there on the spot.
What is your definition of "right" people and what qualities do you look for?
An ancient Chinese proverb says, "A foolish old man (Yu Gong) can move mountains". This implies that if one steadily strives in his work, he will eventually achieve something great. I refer to people like Yu Gong as the "right people".
The "right people" are the very people who delve into what they are assigned to do and move forward persistently to accomplish their goals.
Also, the "right people" will become "great people", when they grow mature and come up with substantial achievements, and are armed with unrivalled abilities.
I also believe that the "right people" should be assigned to the right place at the right time to realize fast growth and fast innovation as well as substantial achievement. This also means that the company needs the "right people" who share the company's values, challenge themselves persistently and boldly with lofty goals, and have the passion to work.
What do you hope to be remembered for when you leave your company?
I have been with LG Electronics for the last 35 years. I first entered LG Electronics as a mechanical engineer and have spent most of my career in the field. I watched our company grow from a small Korean company to a global company that it is now, and I feel proud that I took part in it. Because I have been with LG for so long and because I feel very much at home with LG, I truly enjoy my work and being at the forefront in the field work.
When I leave my company, I want to be remembered as a global CEO who brought LG Electronics further into the stratosphere of global brands. My agenda remains in making LG Electronics into a global top three company.
There is a saying that goes: when a tiger dies, it leaves its skin. A man leaves his name. I want to go down in LG history.
How do you motivate yourself and your employees?
I motivate myself and employees by setting high goals such as Global Top 3 by 2010.
In order to produce a winning organization I motivate myself and employees by creating a corporate culture that continuously challenges higher goals and the word "no" is not an option.
Who do you look to for inspiration?
I admire Jack Welch as a CEO and Toyota as a company. When we had a strategic alliance with GE, I had a chance to meet with Jack Welch and I was very impressed with him.
When we met, most of our discussion involved business. He was very businessoriented, just as a CEO of a global company should be. And we both shared a passion for working and making decisions in the field, and stretching goals.
I want my company to be more like Toyota. We want to be a great, strong company that does not stop in generating growth and one that is not susceptible to external factors. There has not been a labor strife at Toyota for the past fifteen years and we have not had one in the last thirteen years. I found that we have many similarities in innovation and production strategies.
By Aloysius Choong, CNETAsia
November 18, 2004
In the village of Jizhou, there once stood the two mountains of Taixing and Wangwu. Yu Gong, a 90-year-old grandfather, lived to the south, and often had to travel long distances to get around the mountains. He was deeply troubled by it.
One day, he decided to level the two mountains: grain by grain, rock by rock. "You are deluded, Yu Gong," Hequ's Zhi Sou told him. "You are already so old and weak. You cannot even pull out a blade of grass. How will you be able to shift the mountains?"
Undeterred, Yu Gong replied: "Your mind is too inflexible. Even if I die, I have my children, my grandchildren and all their scions. My line will go on and on, but those two mountains can never get taller or bigger--what do I have to worry about?" With this, he silenced Zhi Sou.
The story of Yu Gong is one that LG Electronics CEO Kim Ssang Su often alludes to. He wants to see Yu Gong's grit and determination in his employees.
"If one steadily strives in his work, he will eventually achieve something great," he said in this interview with CNETAsia.
At the same time, Yu Gong-whose name literally translates to "foolish old man"– might not have been as smart as Zhi Sou (meaning "intelligent gentlemen"). But perhaps because of this, he was not constrained by the preconceptions of smarter people.
The two values are very much evident in Kim himself. He admits that he "works very hard", waking up at 5.30 sharp each morning to exercise and prepare for the day. "When I think about how my judgment and actions as a CEO will determine the lives of tens of thousands of people, I cannot stop working, even for a moment," he writes on his personal Web page.
He is also well-known for declaring that a 5 percent productivity gain is difficult, but a 30 percent target is, ironically, achievable.
The reason? A seemingly impossible problem forces executives to think outside the box for a solution.
In the story of Yu Gong, the Heavenly King himself eventually heard about the incident. He was so moved by Yu Gong's will that he dispatched two deities to carry the mountains away.
advertisement
In his career at LG which spans 35 years, S.S. Kim has outgrown his rural beginnings to become the CEO of a top global enterprise.
Some might say that, in the business world, he has moved mountains himself.
Q: Which Asian values do you firmly believe in? How do you apply these values to your business?
Q: In Korea, where Confucian ideas are prevalent, family ties, priority of community/group over individual, enthusiasm for education and diligence are prioritized. I firmly believe in the priority of the whole over individuals, which lays emphasis on "We, not I".
What is the biggest challenge when expanding overseas? Our goal is to be among the top three in electronics, information and communications by 2010. In order to be one of the global top three companies, we should not only be so in outward appearance but also in all areas of management. Therefore, our branding will become especially important in realizing our vision and goal.
Since I became CEO of LG Electronics, I have always emphasized making our brand a premium brand.
For a while, LG Electronics was relatively unknown in the global markets. Now, however, LG Electronics has become one of the most favored brands in many countries and, in some countries, LG has been selected as one of the national brands. We still have more work ahead in securing a premium brand position.
How would you describe your management style?
My management style focuses on three areas: early innovation, stretch goals and field management.
Early innovation means that we should innovate in advance and put it into action earlier, thereby maximizing our performance. One such early innovation process is TDR (Tear-down & Redesign).
We occasionally repeat the same inefficient and unproductive processes, due to limited resources and time. TDR enables us to solve existing problems on a different level while finding innovative solutions, thus maximizing the creation of value and minimizing losses.
Stretch goals are an essential part to LGE's global success. I like to tell my people that 5 percent is impossible but 30 percent is possible. Using past methods, we barely achieved even a 5 percent improvement.
However, if we change the approach to induce innovative ideas, a 30 percent innovation can be achieved. If we set a 30 percent stretch goal, we can take a fundamentally different approach; since we have to change the very idea and methods for innovation. We should take a creative approach in order to gain results that are greater than expected.
I am also a firm believer in field management. Reports submitted by LGE managers are what I refer to as taped recordings of what happened from someone else's perspective.
Being actively involved in the field allows me to witness the action live and make a decision right there on the spot.
What is your definition of "right" people and what qualities do you look for?
An ancient Chinese proverb says, "A foolish old man (Yu Gong) can move mountains". This implies that if one steadily strives in his work, he will eventually achieve something great. I refer to people like Yu Gong as the "right people".
The "right people" are the very people who delve into what they are assigned to do and move forward persistently to accomplish their goals.
Also, the "right people" will become "great people", when they grow mature and come up with substantial achievements, and are armed with unrivalled abilities.
I also believe that the "right people" should be assigned to the right place at the right time to realize fast growth and fast innovation as well as substantial achievement. This also means that the company needs the "right people" who share the company's values, challenge themselves persistently and boldly with lofty goals, and have the passion to work.
What do you hope to be remembered for when you leave your company?
I have been with LG Electronics for the last 35 years. I first entered LG Electronics as a mechanical engineer and have spent most of my career in the field. I watched our company grow from a small Korean company to a global company that it is now, and I feel proud that I took part in it. Because I have been with LG for so long and because I feel very much at home with LG, I truly enjoy my work and being at the forefront in the field work.
When I leave my company, I want to be remembered as a global CEO who brought LG Electronics further into the stratosphere of global brands. My agenda remains in making LG Electronics into a global top three company.
There is a saying that goes: when a tiger dies, it leaves its skin. A man leaves his name. I want to go down in LG history.
How do you motivate yourself and your employees?
I motivate myself and employees by setting high goals such as Global Top 3 by 2010.
In order to produce a winning organization I motivate myself and employees by creating a corporate culture that continuously challenges higher goals and the word "no" is not an option.
Who do you look to for inspiration?
I admire Jack Welch as a CEO and Toyota as a company. When we had a strategic alliance with GE, I had a chance to meet with Jack Welch and I was very impressed with him.
When we met, most of our discussion involved business. He was very businessoriented, just as a CEO of a global company should be. And we both shared a passion for working and making decisions in the field, and stretching goals.
I want my company to be more like Toyota. We want to be a great, strong company that does not stop in generating growth and one that is not susceptible to external factors. There has not been a labor strife at Toyota for the past fifteen years and we have not had one in the last thirteen years. I found that we have many similarities in innovation and production strategies.
# posted by MiDBA @ 11/29/2004 06:26:00 PM 
