'Change maker' creates new rules
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Cover of “Change Maker” by Lee Na-ri
By Yun Suh-young
"When everyone else thought it was a crisis, they saw opportunity." The book's back cover sums up what the publication is about.
"Change Maker" by Lee Na-ri, a former journalist at The Joongang Ilbo and incumbent executive in charge of new projects at Cheil Worldwide, Korea's largest advertising agency, puts together the stories of 43 innovators from around the world who had challenged the norms to create new paths.
In the prologue, Lee defines entrepreneurship as "finding an opportunity, breaking through the limitations and risks, and adding value to the market through innovative thinking and action."
Change-makers find out problems that people have overlooked and figure out a solution before no one else does. Change-makers are curious about how the world changes. Change-makers have great people around them who inspire them, give out a helping hand and foster them to become who they are. They have an eye for figuring people out, an ability to discover the jewels around them. Change-makers are used to being rejected and are open to the notion that nothing goes as planned. In other words, they are flexible at finding a new solution to a problem. Change-makers accept failure and learn from it.
Above are some of the qualities ascribed to the change-makers introduced in the book. Chinese software company Xiaomi was once called the "Mistake of the Continent" as people thought it was a mere copycat of Apple. However, its CEO, Lei Jun, did not give up. Riding on the trend of mobile internet and the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, Jun said, "When a pig is at a crossroads of a typhoon, even a pig can fly," meaning that it is important to ride on the trend. Xiaomi became successful and now people wonder whether Apple will be called the "Xiaomi of America."
From popular companies such as Facebook, Airbnb, Linkedin, Uber, Xiaomi, Alibaba, Tesla Motors, Dropbox, Netflix, Amazon, IKEA, Google and Uniqlo to lesser known ones such as Open Source Ecology, Heatherwick Studio or Code for America, the book introduces change-makers in various fields of IT, e-commerce, fashion and even farming.
Three to four pages are dedicated to each of the 43 change-makers introduced in the book and they explain how they have overcome obstacles to create influential changes in the world we live in.
It is a pity, however, that no Korean is mentioned as one of the 43 change-makers, although the author is Korean. It may be because there is not a Korean who is as globally influential as the people selected to be called a "change-maker." Yet we do have people who are innovators in this society who might have been worth covering. Introducing some examples that hit home could have inspired student readers by serving as their role models.
Nevertheless, reading about global influencers introduced in the book is a good enough inspiration for anyone dreaming of creating a difference.