Recommendation
Prologue: A New K-Management Strategy: "Theory of Solving Losses"

Chapter 1: Innovation in Crisis Management Philosophy: The Strategic Value of Small Losses
A linguistic innovation called 'aekttam'
The power of decision-making based on positive psychology
Evolving Koreans' Risk Perceptions, as Seen Through Data
The Digital Evolution of Soldering: The Role of Collective Emotion and Content in the Social Media Era
The Risk-Reward Dynamics of Proverbs
Insights into Risk Diversification from War History
The Roots of Korean Strategic Thinking

Chapter 2: Mindset Management in an Age of Uncertainty
Rationalization vs. Strategic Accommodation
The Uncertainty Principle and the Normalization of Operational Risk
The illusion of control and comfort strategies
Red Teaming as a Risk Response Strategy
The Wisdom of Acceptance and Reinterpretation
The Potential of Brain Neuroscience and Leadership Learning
Antifragile Building Strategy
Correct and incorrect soldering
An era where fairness becomes a strategy
The Soldering Mindset: A Psychological Strategy for Turning Failure into Opportunity
Philosophy of Execution: The Persistence Strategy of Giuje and Leadership

Chapter 3: Leadership that Turns Failure into Assets
A new definition of failure and success
The depth of failure creates the height of management.
A Failure-Driven Innovation System: Silicon Valley's "Fail Fast" Philosophy
The psychology of jealousy leads to differences in strategy.
Failure Management Leading to Sustainable Growth

Chapter 4: Disruptive Innovation and the Transition to Sustainable Management
An innovative methodology for dealing with failure and frustration
Applying Disruptive Innovation in an Uncertain Environment
ASML's Blue Ocean Strategy, Reinforced by Soldering Theory, Wins
A business comedy where decoupling and soldering theories meet.
The 21st century core competency is a combination of flexibility and resilience.
Sustainable Management Beyond ESG
The Defeat Syndrome and the Evolution of Leadership

Chapter 5: Insights into Restoring Corporate Value in a Crisis
Design and implementation of intended failure scenarios
A Textbook for Restoring Corporate Trust: The Tylenol Case
Rebuilding Quality Management Systems After Failure: Toyota's Recalls
The Cost of Leadership Absence: BP's Deepwater Horizon Disaster
The Power of Transparency and Response: The SKT, KT, and Lotte Card Hacking Incidents
Risk-Taking Entrepreneurship: SpaceX's Experimental Model
The difference between excuses and strategic responsibility

Chapter 6: Prepare for the Future with a Soldering Management Strategy
Timing and Decision Factors for Risk Response
Core Principle 1.
A friendly mindset that actively embraces failure
Core Principle 2.
The principle of continuous self-destruction
Core Principle 3.
Portfolio Approach Principles
Core Principle 4.
Antifragility principle
Core Principle 5.
Iterative Feedback Principle
Core Principle 6.
The principle of patience and perseverance
Core Principle 7.
Learner Mindset Principles
Building Brand Trust with Positive Failure Narratives

Epilogue: The K-Management Counterattack: From Korean Intuition to Global Strategy
References

A time of transformation: turning failure into strategy

Rapid changes in technology and society, including OTT, artificial intelligence, the metaverse, and the global supply chain crisis, have made unpredictability the new "default."
In this environment, organizations can no longer survive with perfect plans and watertight strategies alone.
Crisis is no longer the exception but the norm, and risk has become a constant we must live with rather than something to be controlled.
What businesses and organizations need now is not a culture that avoids failure, but the flexibility to handle and leverage failure—in other words, organizational resilience and immunity.
"The Soldering Theory" identifies this turning point and suggests that organizations can become stronger by intentionally designing and experiencing small failures rather than fearing or hiding them.
Perfection is only a theoretical ideal; actionable strategies are based on repetition and learning.
To prevent a major, destructive crisis, organizations should instead experience small failures in a controlled environment, thereby identifying and addressing system vulnerabilities.
This book goes beyond the simple consolation that "failure is okay," and emphasizes the need to redesign organizations so that failure is a necessary component of survival.

A Business Reinterpretation of the Phrase "It's Soldered"

Everyone has probably said “I’ve had a stroke of luck” at least once in their life.
When experiencing an unexpected accident or loss, it is interpreted as a 'defensive incident' that prevents a greater misfortune.
This short expression contains a collective wisdom about time and danger that goes beyond mere comfort or superstition.
The mindset of reinterpreting current losses as investments in future security is a psychological skill and cultural survival strategy for surviving in an uncertain world.

Professor Lee Dong-woo does not view this familiar expression as simply emotional avoidance.
Rather, the term 'weighing the losses' is seen as a psychological structure of accepting inevitable losses, but reflecting on the flaws in oneself and the system through that experience and preparing for the next time.
"Theory of Soldering" translates this folk sentiment into the language of modern management strategy, expanding it into a structural way of thinking that allows us to manage uncertainty by experiencing and controlling failure in advance.

This interpretation can be said to be a unique characteristic of K-management, which is different from Western risk management methods.
The view that even if short-term losses are accepted, they serve as "insurance" against greater crises in the future is an expression of the practical wisdom that Korean society has cultivated over a long period of uncertainty and competition.
Ultimately, soldering is not about 'how to endure' failure, but about 'how to utilize' failure.

Global examples of designing and leveraging failure

What makes "Theory of Soldering" so remarkable is that it goes beyond simply presenting the concept, proving its effectiveness through concrete examples of companies that have actually used failure as a strategy.
SpaceX is a representative example of a company that actively uses rocket launch failures as a ‘learning opportunity’ rather than a ‘failure.’
Elon Musk redefined rocket explosions with the technical term RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly), and organizations analyzed failures rather than hiding them, incorporating them into the next experiment.
As a result, it became the world's fastest-growing space company.

Other challenges, such as the Tylenol recall, Toyota's recall response, and Netflix's Quickster failure, initially appeared as risks, but ultimately became growth assets that brought trust and opportunities for recovery to the organization.
What these companies have in common is that they do not hide their failures, but rather actively analyze and share them at the organizational level, and reflect them in their subsequent strategies.
On the other hand, cases like BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster where failures were covered up or downplayed resulted in a loss of social trust and even threatened the survival of the company.

Through these cases, Professor Lee Dong-woo repeatedly emphasizes that it is not the failure itself, but how a company responds to it that determines its fate.
The soldering theory shows that the key is not to hide or avoid failure, but to transform it into planned experimentation and create a structure for continuous learning throughout the organization.

7 Strategic Principles Your Organization Can Implement

『Theory of Soldering』 does not stop at simply presenting concepts.
This book presents seven actionable principles for organizations to follow to strategically embrace and leverage failure.
First, we need a 'failure-friendly mindset' that views failure as a controllable experiment.
By designing failure as a predictable experiment rather than a misfortune, organizations can detect crises early and build resilience.
Second, ‘continuous self-destruction’ is required to be able to tear down old structures on one’s own.
Only organizations that do not rest on their laurels and bring about change from within can stay ahead of environmental changes.
Third, a 'portfolio approach' that can tolerate some failures in various attempts is important.
By decentralizing the structure so that it is not shaken by a single failure, experiments become sustainable and the organization becomes more resilient.
Fourth, we must have an 'iterative feedback structure' that allows us to quickly learn and reflect after failure.
Learning speed is competitiveness, and the more agile an organization is, the more agile it is in responding to change.
Fifth, a ‘psychological safety’ that creates an environment where people are not afraid of failure must be established.
When organizations can expose failures rather than hide them, they can recover and grow more quickly.
Sixth, a culture based on ‘patience and perseverance’ is more important than short-term results.
Innovation doesn't happen overnight, and the ability to endure failure is what leads to sustainability.
Seventh, we need a 'learner mindset' that interprets failure as a learning opportunity rather than a stigma.
An individual's failure experience becomes a strategic asset that can be shared and utilized by the entire organization.
These seven principles apply to any business, regardless of size or industry. In fact, many organizations are adopting this philosophy and transforming their cultures into ones that are resilient to failure.

Survival Strategies for Everyone Who Isn't Afraid of Failure

Although "Theory of Soldering" is a book for managers and practitioners, its target audience is by no means limited to businesses.
This book provides practical life strategies for anyone who takes risks, including entrepreneurs, freelancers, teachers, self-employed people, and artists.
Failure is not something that only certain professions experience; it is a reality that everyone encounters repeatedly in their daily lives.

This book proposes a new perspective: one that views failure not simply as "failure," but as a small experiment, a learning process, and a preemptive measure to avoid crisis.
This allows us to have both a strong inner self and flexible thinking as we live in an age of high unpredictability.

If failure cannot be completely avoided, the ability to design and interpret it is the most powerful survival tool.
"Theory of Soldering" is a Korean-style practical management book that responds to the needs of the times and provides both emotional comfort and practical strategies.
This theory, which originated from the emotions and experiences of Koreans, now goes beyond management to become a guide for everyday resilience and a shift in mindset.
For those who are not afraid of failure and are contemplating how to live with it, this book will be the most realistic and warm guide.