Interview with Yasuhisa Iida, Group CDO of Japan Post: The Transformation to the "Post Office of the Future" - Part 2 (Dentsu Inc. BDS, Yamahara)

This series delves into the essence of top executives who break all biases and personally execute business transformation within their companies as architects (overall designers).

Continuing from the previous installment, Shingo Yamahara of Dentsu Inc. interviews Mr. Yasuhisa Iida, CDO of Japan Post Group, who is driving the group's DX (Digital Transformation).

JP Digital champions the concept of the "Post Office of the Future," aiming to enhance the value of customer experiences across all touchpoints—including physical post offices—through digital power. This time, we discuss the future vision for post offices and the Japan Post Group.

Part 1: Interview with Yasuhisa Iida, Group CDO of Japan Post: Transformation Toward the "Post Office of the Future" Part 1 (Dentsu Inc. BDS, Shingo Yamahara)

Japan Post Group CDO Yasuhisa Iida (right) and Dentsu Inc. Business Design Square Shingo Yamahara

We want to provide "hospitality that embodies the essence of the post office" as a hub for local communities

Yamahara: Last time, we focused on the concept of the "Post Office of the Future." When Japan's 24,000 post offices become these "Post Offices of the Future," what kind of entities do you envision them becoming?

Iida: Post offices are everywhere in Japan, in areas with large populations and in sparsely populated regions. Leveraging this characteristic, I believe they can become community hubs within the context of regional revitalization. Using post offices as bases to disseminate information, they can play a role in forming communities. There must be services people living there would find convenient and welcome if offered at the post office, and I think we should pursue those.

In fact, even now, there are examples in various local post offices where staff, without formal manuals, are devising their own ways to support residents.

For instance, I once spoke with the postmaster in Abashiri City, Hokkaido. He told me, "Mr. Iida, digitization can sometimes cause problems." When I asked what he meant, he explained, "An elderly gentleman often comes in. We don't help him; we deliberately have him fill out the application form himself. I watch him do it to confirm, 'This gentleman can still write by himself.'" I was struck by that story. If I were from Abashiri City and had an elderly father, wouldn't I be happy knowing the post office staff cared about him like that?

Yamahara: That's a story unique to the post office.

Iida: I don't think everything should be standardized with the mindset of "we must do this for the community." Instead, I'm thinking about how we can systematically organize and implement initiatives that genuinely benefit residents.

The digital transformation (DX) of post offices also connects to reforming how employees work. By effectively incorporating digital tools to streamline operations, we want to use the freed-up time to provide new value to the community.

Yamahara: So, the theme of "Future Post Offices" is enabling Japan Post Group's 400,000 employees to better express the heartwarming, human touch values inherent to post offices.

Iida: Exactly. I believe Japanese hospitality is truly a wonderful culture within the world. And post offices should have their own unique form of hospitality. We want to draw that out more and more. Through DX, we want to create more time to face our customers directly.

Yamahara: Talking with you, Mr. Iida, really makes me realize how many intangible assets the post office holds. With 24,000 post offices nationwide and all the data they collect, do you also see the potential to turn these into value?

Iida: Yes, absolutely. New ideas keep coming to mind. As a corporation, we have the mission to increase sales and maximize profits, but that's not all. It might sound arrogant, but what we provide is social infrastructure, and there's a greater purpose in that. However, we also face legal constraints when conducting business.

For example, we're not permitted to use the nationwide post office network or the regional information we hold for real estate brokerage. We must create new value within these constraints, and it can't be just about making money; there must be a greater purpose. It's challenging, but that's precisely why I find it interesting.

Yamahara: So, precisely because there are laws restricting our activities, that's what sparks ideas no one else has thought of – ideas that push beyond those boundaries.

Iida: Even when you want to do something, you often get told it's not possible due to legal or organizational reasons. But rather than just listing all the things you can't do every day and thinking "I can't do this or that," it's far more interesting to explore what you can do within those constraints. Then, by delivering results and building on them, if people come to see that "those folks are doing good work," even those initially resistant to change might open up. Ultimately, making it tangible is crucial.

Yamahara: I think large corporations especially suffer from narrow perspectives due to organizational biases. Even so, as a leader, I feel you, Iida-san, are moving everyone forward disruptively and creatively, saying, "This is how we should do it!"

Iida: For me, it's enough if customers think, "The post office's services are great." The post office is everywhere, a familiar presence. If everyone living in this country thought that just once a day, that would mean 100 million "likes" every day – that's wonderful. I want to make that world a reality.

My role is to inject "continuously evolving DNA" into the organization.

Yamahara: This shifts the perspective a bit. Executives or department heads tasked with corporate transformation are sometimes told, "Achieve something in the short term." This inevitably forces them to think with a short-term lens. What are your thoughts on this?

Iida: As a corporation, we also have mid-term management plans and other initiatives requiring relatively short-term focus. These are company declarations, so we must execute them. But that's not the end of the story.

The "Post Office of the Future" we envision won't be completed in just a few years. We'll keep working toward realizing that ideal post office. After all, the post office will continue to exist long after my time is up. So, I see one of my roles as injecting this "DNA of continuous evolution" into the organization.

Yamahara: So you hope that the people working in Mr. Iida's team will become leaders themselves in 20 or 30 years and drive the next wave of transformation?

Iida: Exactly. The transformation of the post office has only just begun, but I would be delighted if as many people as possible could internalize this "DNA of continuous evolution." And another thing I keep in mind in my work is that I don't want it to be a case of "It has to be Iida." I want people, especially the younger generation, to see what I've done and realize, "Oh, this is how it should be done," and feel that they can do it too. I want to increase the number of such people as much as possible.

To achieve that, I believe it's essential to embody the principles outlined in our Credo through my daily words and actions. Honestly, I think many newcomers to our organization find the Credo difficult to grasp when it's just explained to them. That's precisely why I must take the lead in demonstrating what the Credo truly means.

Yamahara: So everyone is watching your back, Mr. Iida.

Iida: I think they're watching very closely.

Yamahara: When I visit JP Digital's office, the atmosphere feels incredibly positive—bright, forward-thinking, and driven by a palpable energy.

Iida: I'm really glad to hear you say that.

Yamahara: Finally, as Group CDO, could you share your vision for how you want to shape the Japan Post Group's organization?

Iida: I want to embed the concept of marketing more deeply. Having worked as a marketer myself, I want to build marketing concepts and functions. I believe part of DX is marketing. Leveraging Dentsu Inc.'s expertise in marketing, I want to hone the Japan Post Group's marketing capabilities.

Yamahara: Injecting digital transformation and marketing into Japan Post Group as an "ever-evolving DNA" to fundamentally transform it into a better organization.

Iida: Exactly. It's about improving the organization's constitution.

Yamahara: So, while preserving Japan Post Group's essential DNA, we'll drive transformation with a vision for 50 or 100 years ahead. Though our project with Mr. Iida has only been underway for a year, I distinctly feel things happening at an unprecedented pace and people starting to move.

We look forward to continuing as partners in realizing the "Post Office of the Future," helping to concretely create new value. Thank you for today.