Against All Odds. Jorma Ollila

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СКАЧАТЬ many factors came together to make it what it was. I have also described my childhood and my roots in Ostrobothnia, because I believe they are significant. But above all I believe that in Finland it’s possible for people to get on in life irrespective of their background, if the will and the effort are there.

      I was a young adult in the 1970s. I wanted to give my own account of that time both in Finland and in the wider world. It’s only one viewpoint, but I have tried to be honest about it. I didn’t really thrive in the Finland of the seventies. This led me to make fundamental decisions that changed the direction of my life.

      I have also said a little about my family, but only reluctantly. I have tried to protect my privacy as far as possible. My family has nevertheless paid a price for my work and the media exposure it has brought. Without the support and understanding of Liisa and our children I wouldn’t have achieved anything it would have been worth writing a book about.

      I have put my thoughts into words in part orally and in part in writing. Harri Saukkomaa, the other creator of this book, has produced most of the text. I thank everyone who, over the years, has helped make this book possible: the interviewees, the people in the background, and our publishers Otava.

      — Jorma Ollila

       FOREWORD

      By Harri Saukkomaa

      WHEN I STARTED WORK ON THE BOOK of Jorma Ollila’s life, I literally didn’t know what I had taken on. I imagined that the book would be ready in two or three years. Ultimately the book became an adventure that lasted over a decade, during which time I talked to Jorma Ollila about life, leadership, and the future of the world in different surroundings on land, in the air, and at sea. These interviews and conversations spread over hundreds of hours. I also interviewed more than fifty people who knew Jorma Ollila in one way or another. Several of my interviewees sadly died before they could see the book in print.

      The book is a life story, in which Jorma Ollila tells his own tale. We decided very early on to tell the story in the first person. This is the most difficult form to use, but it’s the only one that ensures that the writer’s and the subject’s perspectives are aligned, and where there is a single voice. As the writer I was certainly impressed by the book’s subject matter and narrative style. I wrote most of the text, which is based on the interviews with Jorma Ollila and others. The book also draws on material in the public domain: books, academic studies, and media reporting.

      While the book was being written we lived through the global financial crisis, the dotcom bubble, the 9/11 attacks on the United States, wars, revolutions, and various smaller events in world history.

      Nokia saw good periods and bad periods and the crumbling of its dominant market position. In preparing the book I got to know the leaders of Nokia extremely well: their ideas, anxieties, joys, sorrows, and dreams. I learned how Nokia was led and why the company will have a place in the economic history of the world. I also learned why strategies are sometimes impossible to implement, and why success may be impossible, even though all the stars seem to be promisingly aligned. That is why this book is named Against All Odds.

      I thank Jorma Ollila for some terrific conversations, for enjoyable and memorable moments. I thank everyone I interviewed and all the information sources I used. I thank our Finnish publisher Otava for its patience and strong support. I thank everyone who has read and commented on the manuscript at various stages. In particular I thank Tuukka Hetemäki, who edited and corrected the text during the final stages without sparing either his intellect or energy. And I thank my wife Melek Mazici for support and understanding during this extended project.

      — Harri Saukkomaa

       PREFACE

       TO THE U.S. EDITION

      WE HAVE MADE SOME MINOR CHANGES for readers of the U.S. edition. The most significant is that the epilogue now goes up to 2016. It also briefly covers the most recent developments at Nokia and offers American readers some insights into Nokia’s achievements in the United States.

      We are happy and proud that our book has been published in the United States. We wish to thank our translator Richard Powell, our publishers Jim Pennypacker and Maven House, and our agent Elina Ahlbäck for their outstandingly fruitful collaboration.

      — Jorma Ollila Helsinki

      May 8, 2016

       PROLOGUE

       One Day in January 1992

      NO ONE WAS HAPPY when I was chosen as Nokia’s CEO on 16 January 1992.

      Nokia’s share value immediately slumped by ten percent, ending the day four percent down. That told us what investors thought of my prospects. Commentators thought I was too young – I was then forty-one – and too inexperienced to lead a great Finnish company. Nokia’s employees feared the worst: a former banker and finance director had been parachuted into the smoldering ruins to salvage what he could and sell it to the highest bidder. My family’s view was that I had taken on an impossible task. They expected it would take over my life completely, so that my three children would be lucky to see me late in the evening, if then. Perhaps the next time they saw me would be on our summer holiday. All in all a promising start.

      I have to turn this around, make it positive, I thought as I left Nokia’s head office that dark evening. I myself was happy, even though others disapproved of my appointment. At least there was an end to the dithering and uncertainty. I had my own ideas on what Nokia’s CEO should do. Even so I had barely the faintest idea of what I had let myself in for. This made life easier: I had boarded a roller-coaster whose terrifying swoops, loops, and dips I could never even have imagined. If someone had jumped into the car beside me and told me the success story Nokia would be, I wouldn’t have believed them. If someone had asked me what kind of future I expected for Nokia, I’d have replied: “I haven’t a clue.” If, that is, I’d been compelled to be honest.

      If someone could have described just how bad my most difficult times at Nokia would feel, I wouldn’t have believed it. Or if I had believed it, I would have revoked my decision to take on leadership of a company sinking under the weight of its financial problems. I was captain of a vessel where only the bridge remained above the waterline: the hull was already submerged, and water was coming into the engine room.

      The previous CEO had been sacked after falling out with the chairman, who had then retired. The chairman before him had committed suicide. After that there’d been an attempt to sell Nokia to the Swedish firm Ericsson, which had been wise enough to decline the offer. No wonder then that morale within the company was at rock bottom. My appointment as Nokia’s CEO would mark the end of one era in the firm’s history, and the start of a new one. I did not, however, yet know that back in 1992. I knew only that the previous generation had tasked me with rebuilding the company they had all but destroyed.

      Nor of course could I know that I would lead Nokia for over fourteen years. At that time I didn’t dare think as far as six months ahead. When I was offered the top job at Nokia, I had remarked to my wife Liisa that it was a position one could lose at a moment’s notice. The shareholders might have had enough, the investors could withdraw their money, or the company’s share price could fall so low that it could be snapped up like a tasty snack.

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