During my time at Serco in 2006-10, I had the opportunity to learn from our CEO and Chief Strategy Officer about an approach they created called Journey to Excellence, or J2E. By the time I was introduced to it, they were working to operationalize it, and I had the chance to be part of the leadership team that developed J2E in more detail, and formally launched it across the company. I found the J2E approach to be groundbreaking in its simplicity, yet so impactful in how it drove the alignment and integration of the various elements of what is required to successfully drive the transformation and turnaround of a company.

With J2E, the company was able to achieve significant strategic outcomes, grow both organically and inorganically, and be recognized as a great place to work. Since my time at Serco, I was able to take this experience and apply the same J2E approach in several of the companies I have worked in – either within my part of the business or at the overall company level. What is great about the J2E approach from my perspective it that it can be applied to a small company (including in startup mode), to a mid-size company, and to a large global enterprise – and I can say this as I have been part of it being leveraged successfully in each of these different scenarios. And a sincere kudos to the creators of J2E, who I know continue to successfully champion applying it in the private equity portfolio companies they are involved with today.

In the next 3 blog posts I will provide a high level summary of how I have applied the J2E approach and principles in my roles in companies over the last several years, with the 3 main elements of J2E being the following:

• Vision, Mission, Values, and Strategy
• The 3 Pillars of Excellence and OKRs
• Operating Model across the 3 Horizons