With Americans ranking No. 11 in the world in the number of new patents, "our hold on innovation is slipping," making "entrepreneurial thinking ... more important now than ever."

So said Young Mi Park '79 Dec. 7 at the New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Her sold-out event, "Nine Reasons Why Career Success Today Requires Entrepreneurial Thinking," was part of Cornell@NYPL, a partnership between Cornell and the New York Public Library.

Park drew from her experience as COO of Thevi Ltd. and as a former executive at Sesame Workshop, Levi Strauss, Burger King and American Express; she has turned around failing business units, received industry recognition for best brand image and advertising, and spearheaded successful new product and new market development. In addition to extensive experience in the United States, she has worked in or with businesses in Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Guam, Japan, France, Canada and Mexico and has devised business development strategies for Europe and Latin America.

In her presentation, Park noted that job satisfaction has been declining since the 1980s: "Medium tenure at all corporations is 4.5 years," she said, and "job satisfaction is at an all-time low" hovering around 20 percent; 75 of employed people are job hunting, she said, while unemployment among non-college graduates is 10 percent, with underemployment around 17 percent.

Among the nine lessons she's learned at some of America's best corporations, Park said, "I once networked myself into an interview and was promised a follow-up call by my contact, almost certain to get a job offer." After several weeks of not hearing anything, Park began to question what she'd done wrong to offend the person. "My self-esteem took a plunge," she said. Then several weeks later, "I learned that the CEO had been fired, and my contact at the company had been let go."

Thus Lesson Four: Don't take it personally; it's not about you.

Lesson Two stemmed from a story from her childhood: "I grew up at a time when few other Asians lived in my community," said Park. "When I would meet other Koreans, I'd somehow think they were perfect, and I had to be perfect too." Later, after moving to Korea as an adult and working for several years, Park said, "I realized, not all Koreans are perfect. And I didn't have to be perfect either." Thus the lesson: Choose your rules carefully.

Some of Park's other lessons include:

• Liabilities can be strengths;
• Champion yourself;
• Choose to be unique;
• Think less, act more; and
• Everything is an opinion.

Cornell@NYPL was established to bring together the resources of two of New York City's largest educational and cultural institutions to educate city residents. "The New York Public Library seeks to engage and enrich the lives of New Yorkers through programs at its branch libraries across Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island," said Elaine Charnov, the library's director of education, programs and exhibitions. "The New York Public Library is thrilled to form an ongoing partnership with Cornell University."

This Cornell@NYPL event was sponsored by the Cornell Entrepreneurial Network.

John Mikytuck '90 is a freelance journalist in New York City.