In this episode, we talk to Sokwoo Rhee, EVP of Innovation at LG Electronics and Head of the LG Nova Innovation Center in Silicon Valley.
LG Corporation was founded in 1958 in Seoul, South Korea — in the early days, it was known as Lucky-Goldstar — and it made toothpaste, laundry detergent, and the country’s first radio. Today, people don’t think about Lucky Goldstar — here in the US they may remember the tagline “Life’s Good” — but they may own some of the company’s electronic devices and appliances like OLED TVs, laptops, air purifiers, or refrigerators.
Rhee started his career as an entrepreneur in the wireless networking industry, before becoming a Presidential Innovation Fellow, then an associate director at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, before landing at LG in 2021.
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Here’s a snippet from this episode that captures some of Rhee’s advice for innovators working in big organizations.
Scott Kirsner:
What is a piece of advice, as concrete as you can be, about trying to be a change-maker, trying to advance new ideas when you do feel surrounded by bureaucrats, checks and balances, suffocating processes, you name it?
Sokwoo Rhee: So I’ll give you two answers. One answer is more of a high-level strategic answer. Second answer is a more of a tactical answer.
You have to keep trying to convince the top leaders that what you are doing is correct.
So, the strategic answer is this. You have to keep trying to convince the top leaders that what you are doing is correct. But here’s the issue: You cannot convince them unless you show them evidence of progress, because top leaders cannot always make unilateral decisions. They need evidence to convince others. So again, as I said, little by little, show the progress, become the speedboat or cruiser, instead of trying to boil the ocean of the whole aircraft carrier. That’s a strategic answer.
I [can] give you a tactical answer. I don’t know whether you’re gonna like it or not… Try to find ways to operate independently. And when I say independently — let’s say you convince the leader, and they give you some time to do things. They’re not gonna give you all the resources. They’re not gonna give you everything you need, but you gotta show the result. …You got to just focus on it. What that means is, there is going to be tons of interference…you just have to figure out how to isolate them from you, or how to disconnect them.
Everything goes down to the financials, frankly speaking. You’ve got to figure out how to fund yourself. …Even if I operate inside of LG, I have this mentality: “I’ve got to raise money.” If I want to do something I want, then I’ve got to…find an investor who’s willing to put in money for it. OK, so that’s really tactical, but probably the most important advice for anyone who wants to create new things in a corporate environment.
