Pick My Brain

[juniholic]

삶이 왜 이렇게 전쟁같아야 하는걸까.

왜 다들 이렇게 힘들게 살아가야 하는걸까.

힘들어 하는 이모를 보며.

힘들어 하는 절친을 보며.

겉으로는 멀쩡히 살면서 너무나도 힘들게 사는 사람들을 보며 드는 생각.

[juniholic]

Saturday at Coffee President (2013/03/09)

went to my favorite place, Coffee President

i like how they built a modern cafe under a traditional Korean rooftop.

witty decorations.

vintage interior design.

a variety of coffee beans

(my boyfriend recommends their C.O.E., Cup of Excellence)

cute car.

I also like their crème brûlée. Though it's not excellent, it's good enough.

[juniholic]

On the fence

I'm still on the fence with this year's presidential election.

It will be my very first vote and I'm not willing to be one of the bandwagon jumpers with little coherence to their worldview.

This December's decision is clearly a harder than average call since something has to give for change and no candidate is being entirely honest about the cost of his/her approach in addressing the major issues.

I'm basically left to decide which dishonesty is worse, and which unacknowledged cuts or tax hikes I'd rather risk having to bear. 

[juniholic]

Open Innovation

Companies have been working closely with external partners for innovation process. Through joint projects with universities, companies retrieve latest findings to be used by their internal R&D departments. However, this new concept called Open Innovation (OI) takes a step further by integrating external problem-solvers into the innovation process.

By applying OI, the source of innovation of a company is diversified: not only the R&D department but customers, suppliers, other companies, as well as online communities play crucial roles in the development process. 

Along with intensified global competition, risks of innovation increased as development and product cycles became shorter and shorter. By OI, the time it takes to introduce new products/services and the numbers of failed end-products are cut down since thoroughly canvassing customers' opinions have become possible. 

Many cases have proven the effectiveness of Open Innovation. Proctor & Gamble (P&G)'s creation of the "Swiffer" duster was led by its "Connect+Develop" website, where customers can submit ideas and help to solve concrete problems. 

'Threadless', one OI pioneer develops all of its products on the basis of customer suggestions. In fact, around 1,000 ideas a week are generated by the Threadless community. 

The commission of an external service provider is another type of OI. Corporations build up a world-wide network of experts and command substantial fees for taking on a specific research problem. An example of this is the innovation company ‘InnoCentive’ and its online platform ‘InnoCentive Challenge’. The company activates over 180,000 challenge-solvers worldwide. To date, this community was able to solve 400 of the some 900 challenges posed by 150 companies around the world. 

However, intellectual property rights along with inadequate culture of innovation and data-protection issues are the biggest hurdles to the OI. In the mean time, the majority of respondents of the international Delphi Study 2030 (“The Future Prospects and Viability of Information and Communication Technology and the Media”) said that OI is a new R&D paradigm that would significantly increase by 2024 and enhance the efficiency of innovation processes.

[juniholic]

Companies’ Non-Market Strategy should be strengthened 

It is time that Korean companies preemptively find and resolve issues that require society’s interest and cooperation. Interest on corporate social responsibility has never been higher. Rising social attention of companies and a widening scope of interested parties have made non-market strategy a hot issue influencing corporations worldwide. Companies in Korea are now facing social demand to pursue mutual growth with interested parties along with the government’s vision of “Fair Society.”

Responding to such a trend, using their accumulated corporate capabilities in resolving social problems, Korean companies will enhance their corporate image in return. This will help them secure a competitive advantage in the market. A notable example of this would be Proctor&Gamble’s case, which donated its water purifier to poor countries suffering from chronic water shortages. This created a humanitarian corporate image which eventually contributed to boosting P&G’s profits. 

Thus, companies should make social action part of their regular routine and should publicize their effort by using various communication channels and opening information to the public. Yet, it should be kept in mind that social activities simply aimed at heightening a company’s reputation without genuine motives can lead to tarnishing the company’s image and reputation.

[juniholic]

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.

Confucius

[juniholic]

I believe that great ideas can make our world a better place by sharing them. I am for TED and for the sharing of ideas. Just like what Leonardo DiCaprio said in his movie <Inception>, ideas are like virus! They grow inside you and become the next motivation for your future actions.

All that is needed to participate in this project is a simple recording device and YOUR VOICE. 

This morning, I just submitted to dub my voice for talks that I have enjoyed the most.

Anyone who's interested, click the photo!

Short explanation about the Project:

TEDxSeoul에서 시작한 '열린 더빙 프로젝트.' 현재까지 '열린 번역 프로젝트'가 기발한 아이디어를 비 영어권 사람들에게 알리는데 기여했다면, '열린 더빙 프로젝트'는 그보다 더 나아가 동영상으로 TED 강연을 접하기 어려운 장애우들이나 Low-tech 환경에 있는 사람들에게도 TED의 아이디어를 실어 나르게 될 것이다.

[juniholic]

One of my favorite TED TALKS by child prodigy Adora Svitak. She says the world needs "childish thinking."

Some quotes from her talk that really got to me:

"Who's to say that certain types of irrational thinking aren't exactly what the world needs? Maybe you've had grand plans before, but stopped yourself thinking: That’s impossible or that costs too much or that won't benefit me. For better or worse, we kids aren't hampered as much when it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do things. Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking."

“In order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about it first.”

"The world needs opportunities for new leaders and new ideas. Kids need opportunities to lead and succeed."

[juniholic]

Thoughts on 'Wikileaks'

지난 이틀 동안 ‘위키릭스’를 통해 기밀 외교 전문이 공개되었다.하지만 이 '기밀'은 대부분 외교관의 예측보다는 바램이나 개인적 생각들이 대부분이었다. 언제나 국가안보라는 명분으로 국민의 알 권리가 희생되었기에 이번 사건은 사회적 파장이 크다고 생각된다.

이번 ‘위키릭스’ 사건이 시사하는 바가 과연 무엇일까? 정말 '기밀시대의 외교'는 막을 내려야 마땅한 것일까? 과연 어디까지 국민의 알 권리가 국가안보를 위해 양보 되어야 하는 것일까?

또 한편으로 중국에 의존해오던 북한이 남한주도하의 한반도통일을 찬성한다는 식의 중국측 전문을 접하고 향후 동북아의 관계가 어떻게 흘러갈지 궁금하다. 이번 사건을 통해 북한이 '현실감각'을 가지게 될 것인가 아니면 '갈 때까지 가보자'의 심보의 도발을 유도할 것인가.

최근 빵빵 연이어 터진 사건들에 의해 동북아와 세계가 출렁이고 있다. 정보화시대에 살고 있는 우리는 지난 역사에 비추어볼 때 인터넷 연결속도만큼이나 짧은 시간에 많은 혼란과 변화를 겪는 거 같다.