[Desk Column] Even a Glancing Blow from the Chairman Causes Knockout

Kim Min-jin, Director of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Director of the Culture and Leisure Department

Since the installation of driving guidance lines (road surface color guidance lines), traffic accidents have drastically decreased. Just a few lines drawn on the road surface made an enormous impact. I first witnessed this in downtown Seoul about five years ago. On the black asphalt road, there were white lanes. The black and white gave a solemn and serious atmosphere, making the road feel dull and bland. The appearance of cartoon-like sky blue and pink lines was refreshing.

In 2016, Seoul City pilot-tested driving guidance lines at three locations, including Yeongdeungpo Rotary, where traffic routes were chaotic. This was applied after reviewing analysis results from the Korea Expressway Corporation. Seeing the effects, the number of installation sites increased every year. It was possible because analysis showed that lane change occurrences and accident risks decreased by 50% and 45%, respectively. Now, it has expanded nationwide.

One blogger described it as "a revolution achieved by a single line." It is a cost-effective idea that drastically reduced traffic accidents for just the price of paint, so it deserves such praise. Not only did accidents decrease, but the economic benefits from smoother traffic flow were also significant. Overseas cases? Expressway Corporation staff? Police? City hall employees? Someone must have come up with the idea, but it is so simple and intuitive that one wonders if anyone had similar ideas in the 1990s or 2000s. It is easy to imagine that it took tremendous effort and perseverance to realize it.

Hospitals introduced something similar long ago, and it is good because patients can easily find their way. Hospital staff also benefit because they don’t have to answer the same questions repeatedly every day, and the faster flow of customers benefits the hospital in many ways.

The story of Lee Yun-hwan, a self-made medical foundation chairman who started as a physical therapist, is striking. The book "Let’s Go to Yukil Pharmacy" was published in 2007. He got hooked on this content after reading about 100 pages: "To prevent customers from standing while waiting, consultation tables and chairs were installed in the pharmacy." Upon reading this, Chairman Lee immediately ordered 30 chairs and installed them in front of the administration and nursing departments of the nursing hospital he operated.

When he read about 200 pages, this passage caught his eye: "The pharmacy kept its lights on all night to make the alley without streetlights safer." He called an electrician and ordered lighting like that of the Lotte Hotel in Jeju Island. He immediately spent 150 million won on lighting construction. His nursing hospital was located by the national road before entering Andong Terminal after exiting the highway. For residents returning home from out-of-town work, the nursing hospital became a landmark signaling arrival home (Andong). The hospital lights soon became a landmark of the area.

"Reading hundreds of books is not important. Knowledge read with the eyes is dead knowledge." He says that knowledge must be put into action to be alive. Buying lottery tickets or praying to God for a hundred days is useless. His execution speed was faster than today’s delivery services.

Let’s think about it from another perspective. If the head of administration suddenly suggests buying 30 chairs after reading a book, or the general affairs manager wants to spend hundreds of millions of won to light up the hospital exterior like a tourist hotel night view, what would you do (if you were the chairman)?

This is the week when New Year’s addresses pour in. The decades-old unchanged repertoire is change and innovation. "If only Mr./Ms. ○○ would change first..." Every year, secretariat and PR office staff who ghostwrite New Year’s addresses think this. When the will to change and ideas meet authority, innovative events happen. Even a chairman’s punch can cause a knockout.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.