Hidetoshi Okayasu

Please tell us about your current job.

I work in the strategy consulting industry. We create strategies for global companies in the midst of stiff competition, and help them execute these strategies in order to"win the game."I am mainly involved in company operations, meaning I work to improve cost-effectiveness. We hold discussions with client company executives, middle management, and on-site employees in order to achieve transformation within the client enterprise. My job as project leader is to facilitate cooperation with the various experts involved. We identify the questions that need answering and the goals to be achieved, and then optimize the performance of our diverse team to create impact for our clients.

How is the knowledge and experience gained at Tokyo Tech being utilized in your current position?

During my time at the Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology, we took an academic approach to solving social problems without constructing borders between the humanities and the sciences. Physics, chemistry, biology, economics, sociology, history… People say the world changes when observed from different perspectives. Rather than think this way, our lab utilized a universal language to unite all these fields under one concept, or system. We never allowed disciplinary borders to limit the number of solutions to the problems we encountered. It was this attitude, together with the culture and sophistication acquired through discussions with others, that I feel are very useful in my job to this day.

What are your future goals?

Other than become a successful consultant, I want to use my consulting experience with a variety of clients to devise an original theory that shines a new light for Japanese companies struggling against their international competitors. There are many professionals in the consulting industry who built their careers going back and forth between business and academia. Harvard University's Michael Porter is just one example. I still have a lot to learn, of course, but I want to continue towards better achievements by learning from people in both academic and corporate circles.

Do you have a message to students aiming for Tokyo Tech?

In your entrance examinations, you are often asked to provide"correct answers" to questions, but when you start dealing with challenges faced by companies or nations, there is rarely one set solution. Also, no matter how good your solution might be, it has zero impact if you cannot motivate your counterpart to act. If you believe your hypothesis is correct, you need to mobilize all possible knowledge, together with your energy and personality in order to convince people. That is how you change the world. Come to Tokyo Tech and equip yourself with the underlying strength to do exactly that.

The content of this article was accurate at the time of the interview.

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