Real Man

Translator: MarcTempest

Chapter 54

For a moment, Yoo-hyun coldly pointed out the reality.

Kim Hyunmin, the manager, still kept his distance from work, and it was hard to achieve results no matter how hard he worked under him.

There were too many complaints, but he couldn’t express them openly because of his human side.

No matter how good a person is, he will show his true nature when cornered.

He would squeeze and scold his subordinates and even vent his anger.

But Kim Hyunmin was different.

He never lost his composure in any situation.

Even when Yoo-hyun said he wanted to move to another part, he didn’t stop him and let him go.

-Don’t live too hard. You’re good at everything, but I feel sorry for you.

He always said that, so he took it for granted.

He found out later.

In the end, his words were not wrong.

How far did he see?

It was a curiosity that came to him after he had accumulated a lot of experience.

He felt a warm memory in his heart and a curiosity about his actions.

What was the reason?

His curiosity grew more and more.

Then he heard the nervous voice of Oh Jaehwan, the team leader.

“Manager Kim! Why is the progress report of the 3rd part project like this?”

“Hey, I told you verbally. It’s only for you to see, do I need to make detailed data?”

Kim Hyunmin’s relaxed answer made Oh Jaehwan’s face even redder.

“I need to know for sure to report to the person in charge.”

“Then I’ll tell you again. Why are you so depressed?”

“Ha, just come here.”

Oh Jaehwan’s sigh was heard from afar.

For a moment, Park Seungwoo, the Assistant manager who met Yoo-hyun’s eyes, shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s our part leader.”

“Are you okay?”

“Who are you worried about? He’s the one with the strongest mental in our department.”

The best.

Yoo-hyun also admitted it cleanly.

He even said everything he wanted to say in front of the group leader.

While thinking, Park Seungwoo spoke again.

“Did you book the meeting room?”

“Yes.”

“Just in case, send an email to all the part members.”

“I already did.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t check. You’re so quick.”

Yoo-hyun smiled awkwardly at Park Seungwoo’s smiling face.

That afternoon.

In a small meeting room with two tables attached, the 3rd part members gathered.

It was a place where they shared the progress of their projects every week.

The peculiar thing was that there was no data.

It was Kim Hyunmin’s idea.

It was a precaution not to make unnecessary data.

Frankly speaking, it wasn’t a good choice.

There was no preparation, so they just casually talked about it.

There was no substance and it was hard to understand what others were saying.

They didn’t care much about each other’s projects either.

It was a situation where everyone just listened.

Park Seungwoo spoke first.

“I thought of two backup plans for this PDA. The first one is to supply the same panel to Channel Phone 2.”

“Channel Phone 2? That’s Shin Chanyong’s project that he’s going into this time?”

“Yes. I know he’s proposing it this time, but I think it would be better if we could make it as common as possible with the same inch and resolution.”

It was literally a panel similar to the one used for PDA, that is, a panel that could use the same production line as Channel Phone 2.

This way, even if the order quantity of PDA was insufficient, they could operate the production line.

They could switch to Channel Phone 2 right away.

Since stopping the production line would cause huge damage, it was an idea to find another backup plan that could handle the amount of water they poured out.

Of course, Channel Phone 2’s expected volume wasn’t much, so it was only a partial backup level, but what about it?

Kim Hyunmin tilted his head slightly as he listened quietly.

“Really? You might end up giving Shin Chanyong what you’ve built up so far. Are you okay with that?”

This was what Kim Hyunmin wondered about.

It was Park Seungwoo’s merit that he brought this project that he thought was impossible to this point.

There was still a lot left, but it seemed like he had crossed over seven parts of the ridge on the surface.

If Park Seungwoo’s opinion was followed, he had to hand over the panel he had developed so far to Shin Chanyong, the manager.

Moreover, if he made a mistake, he might have to take on additional work while meeting Shin Chanyong’s demands.

It was like picking his nose without touching it from Shin Chanyong’s point of view, who had to decide on the product specs of Channel Phone 2.

Park Seungwoo wasn’t a fool either.

He just didn’t have any other solutions.

“It was hard to find a more realistic backup plan than this.”

“Well, let’s try. I’ll talk to the team leader.”

Kim Hyunmin decided as usual.

There was no specific feedback on what the risk factors were, what needed to be prepared, and whether the direction was right.

To put it nicely, it meant that he trusted his part members’ opinions completely.

On the other hand, to put it badly, it meant that he could avoid responsibility.

Choi Minhee, the manager who was quietly listening, opened her mouth and closed it again.

He knew very well that it was a busy situation, and he didn’t want to make trouble by saying anything.

That’s why he gradually stopped getting involved in other projects.

This kind of useless consideration created a wall between the part members.

Park Seungwoo, who was worried, came up with another opinion.

“And the second one is to make a low-cost full-touch phone with the same inch.”

“Low-cost full-touch? Was there a customer who ordered that?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Then? Who’s going to buy it?”

This time Kim Hyunmin cut him off.

The eyes of the other part members gathered.

They were curious about what he was talking about.

Park Seungwoo took a breath and continued.

“Isn’t there a customer need for full-touch phones in the last future technology report?”

“So?”

Kim Hyunmin’s face hardened and Park Seungwoo’s voice sped up.

“I thought it would be good to make it a low-cost version with the same inch as PDA so that it could be shared with PDA line. It’s about popularizing full-touch phones.”

“It sounds good, but so what? You mean it’s just an idea?”

“Yes…”

Kim Hyunmin frowned as if he had a headache at Park Seungwoo’s answer.

The team leader told him to come up with a proper backup plan right away.

But what he thought of was just an idea product that didn’t even have a customer yet.

It was impossible to make it by next year’s first half in common sense.

Usually, a leader would have been furious and asked why he couldn’t think of anything else.

But Kim Hyunmin was different.

“If you want to do something, that’s good, but how are you going to make it into a product? Isn’t that nonsense?”

“I’m going to submit it to the mobile phone division contest.”

Yoo-hyun glanced at Park Seungwoo, the Assistant manager, and smirked.

He remembered what Yoo-hyun had said a while ago.

-Assistant manager, I’m talking about the mobile phone division contest. If we win the prize here, it will be productized right away, right?

It was amazing how he always gave him the right information at the right time.

According to Kim Hyunmin, the assistant manager, there was no official channel for a ‘Eul’ component company to propose a product concept to a ‘Gap’ product company.

But if they used the internal contest, there was a slight possibility.

This was Park Seungwoo’s idea.

Kim Hyunmin chuckled.

“Are you sure? It seems like you have a lot to prepare.”

“I’ll try.”

“Just do it.”

He said he would try, so Kim Hyunmin told him to just do it.

Choi Minhee, the manager, and Kim Younggil, the Assistant manager who were listening next to him, shook their heads.

It was ridiculous to talk about catching clouds at this point when the project was ending.

The idea of entering the contest itself was laughable, let alone making it into a backup for the PDA panel that would be mass-produced in the first half of next year.

And it was a mobile phone division contest?

It was a contest that LCD division had never won even once.

Then Choi Minhee shared the progress of Hyunil Automobile’s built-in navigation panel.

“The progress of Hyunil Automobile is…”

Kim Younggil, who was next in line, talked about the second product he was negotiating with Apple.

“The next Apple Phone 2 panel is…”

They were all big projects.

In fact, they took a lot of work, but there was only one person in charge.

They didn’t have time to care about each other’s projects.

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

Kim Hyunmin nodded his head as usual.

It was nice that he didn’t tackle them.

But he only passed them by too easily, so there was no tension in the meeting.

Yoo-hyun confirmed once again as he went through the part meeting.

It would be hard to collaborate like this.

The personnel evaluation was right in front of them, and they couldn’t afford to take care of other projects that weren’t their own achievements.

The problem was that this vicious cycle would repeat next year, and eventually the part would fall apart.

This wasn’t a human problem.

It was a structural problem.

Yoo-hyun couldn’t see it in the past, but now it was different.

The current work of the 3rd part was based on project units.

It might seem like the same structure as other parts, but it was completely different.

The 1st part and the 2nd part were both in charge of a single product called mobile phone.

There were many types derived from it, but the customers were limited.

In addition, the development department was unified and the production line was shared.

That was a big advantage.

They had individual projects, but they also had a lot of room to handle them together.

But the 3rd part was in charge of completely different products.

Choi Minhee, who was in charge of navigation, Kim Younggil, who was in charge of MP3 and Apple Phone, Park Seungwoo, who was in charge of PDA.

They all had to play separately.

To be honest, Kim Hyunmin’s poor management was also a problem.

But it was an organization that was out of control from birth.

‘We have to change.’

The best thing would be to have more people here, but it seemed hard to expect that right now.

The best thing to do was to make the most of the existing human resources.

To do that, they had to change their work within the part by function units.

Choi Minhee would be in charge of customer side, Kim Younggil would be in charge of development side, Park Seungwoo would be in charge of sales and marketing side.

It seemed best to divide their roles like this.

The first thing to do for this was to use their expertise and the second thing to do was to integrate development, quality and production line through this process.

That way they could avoid losing their center and seize the opportunity in the face of the huge wave of smartphones that would soon come.

He had failed miserably in the past because they were scattered all over the place.

But he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

Yoo-hyun thought of the contest as his focal point.

One success experience could change an organization’s DNA!

There was a prerequisite for this.

Who would take the lead and pull them along?

Yoo-hyun looked at Kim Hyunmin.

The key to everything was in Kim Hyunmin’s hands.

After the meeting, Kim Hyunmin said.

“Anyone want to have a drink today?”

It wasn’t a coercion, but a customary thing to say.

He went when he felt like it, but now it was too hectic.

Everyone was busy.

Choi Minhee answered first.

“I have something to do at home.”

“I have to go too. I’m sorry.”

“I think I have to stay here today. I have to write a backup plan report.”

Chanhoo, the staff member, and Park Seungwoo also shook their heads.

Kim Hyunmin just laughed as if he had expected it.

It was a good opportunity.

Just the two of them?

Yoo-hyun made up his mind and raised his hand.

“Can you buy me something delicious?”

Was it an unexpected thing to say?

Kim Hyunmin burst into a big laugh at his eyes blinking twice.

“Something delicious? Hahaha. Okay. Let’s go. I have to consult with our youngest anyway.”

A while later, in a tavern near the company.

Kim Hyunmin asked Yoo-hyun, who was sitting across from him.

“Do you drink well?”

“A little.”

“You just like alcohol.”

Yoo-hyun smiled as he listened quietly.