HomeWork features AHAM members’ insights on careers, success, life outside of work, and AHAM membership. This month, we spoke with Dochul Choi, Senior Vice President, Global Business and Technology Strategy, Samsung Electronics America, and AHAM Treasurer.
Name three goals (personal or professional) you are pursuing in 2018.
(1) Stay abreast of ever-changing technologies and their human impacts.
(2) Continuously thinking of ways to make the Earth healthy and a better place for my grandchildren.
(3) Keep my youthfulness, both physically and, more importantly, mentally.
How do you jumpstart your morning?
Swimming, and of course my morning ritual wouldn’t be complete without a cup of coffee and the Wall Street Journal.
Predict an innovation that will revolutionize the next generation.
Digital technologies have completely changed the way how information flows. The next big thing will be the technology that completely changes the way materials flow. We are witnessing some nascent technologies and startups, such as drones, Amazon and JD.com, which might eventually lead us to an unfamiliar place. If materials can flow as information flows today, many of our “earthly possessions” would become unnecessary. Who would want to own a refrigerator or a clothes washer and dryer if freshly prepared gourmet meal or freshly done laundry can be delivered to your door step at a snap of a finger?
What is the best career advice you have ever received?
“Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life.”
“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change” - Confucius
“Do not settle in your comfort zone and always seek new challenges.”
What home appliance can you not live without?
I am probably one of the few who could live without any of them if I had to. I have very nice memories of my childhood without any of the home appliances available today.
I want to understand how we have come to an era where today we are living with all sorts of home appliances. As history repeats itself, I am trying to foresee the future by thinking of the end of this era and a dependency on appliances.
What do you gain from your involvement with AHAM?
AHAM allows me and other members to inspire the home appliance industry by sharing beliefs, and to deliver the positive impacts that home appliances have on our lives.
What is your best advice you have for somebody who wants to succeed in the home appliance industry?
The home appliance industry may not look as stirring as information and communication technology. However, the kitchen has been the center of the home and where family has gathered since ancient times, and will remain this way for a long time. Appliances are probably among the few technological devices left that keep people together rather than pulling them apart. Home appliances bring family together and reinforce better living, while digital devices could hinder good old human interaction.
