JBA History
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Over 35 years of experience in leading transformational change
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John Black and Mike Rona, retired president, Virginia Mason Medical Center, at the Toyota Museum of Industry and Technology in Nagoya, Japan, on June 15, 2003. Mike and John met November 9, 2000, on Delta Airlines 706 from Seattle to Atlanta. Mike was enroute to Washington, DC and John to Madrid, Spain, to meet with the Minister of Health. John's PowerPoint presentation about Lean Production and the Toyota management method, which he shared on the flight, became a breakthrough for VMMC's and healthcare's approach to improvement. Mike returned to Seattle and briefed his boss, CEO Dr. Gary Kaplan; their commitment, with Black's help, began the groundbreaking work to introduce Lean as the Virginia Mason Production System and management method. The dramatic progress and relationship continues.
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PeaceHealth - 1st Full Lean Healthcare Implementaion - 1996
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Japan Gemba Kaizen - Virginia Mason - 2003
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John Black - Japan Kaizen - 1994
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John Black has more than 35 years of experience leading high-impact transformational change. He was in the trenches of the “quality revolution” of the early 1980s, starting with the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company’s (BCAC’s) 757 airplane program. The Lean transformation at Boeing was an incredible challenge.
From employee involvement to quality improvement at Boeing
It began in 1982 when Ernie Fenn, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s 757 program, wanted to make the 757 program into a more participative culture. Black developed a model process for increasing employee involvement. This process became so successful that Phil Condit, chief engineer, briefed a customer about it—former astronaut Frank Borman, who’d circled the moon in Apollo 8 and later became CEO of Eastern Airlines. Borman asked for Black’s help putting the same program in place at Eastern Airlines. For the next eight months, Black reported directly to Borman to achieve that.
In 1983, Black began reporting to Bill Selby, director of operations for the Defense and Space Division of Boeing Aerospace (the company’s military division). Selby led a continuous quality improvement (CQI) steering committee organized by Black. Together, they started “quality of work life” programs based on concepts being introduced by General Motors and Ford, as well as Black’s previous experiences. Black benchmarked leading companies, drafted the first Boeing quality plan, and established the first quality center in 1984. The program was touted by Boeing Chairman Malcom Stamper as the model all Boeing sites should be following.
In early 1985, BCAC executives came to Selby saying that, based on the success of quality and productivity efforts in his organization, they needed Black in BCAC. Airline customers were complaining about deteriorating product quality and the company urgently needed to fix the problems. Reporting to Jim Blue, vice president of a new, centralized quality assurance organization, Black formed and led a quality improvement center (QIC) that could quickly figure out how Boeing could improve.
Forming teams for transformation
The wherewithal to tackle this challenge came from Black’s previous military assignments as an Army officer during the Cold War and Vietnam War and human resource development for Headquarters U.S. Army Europe, as well as an initial assignment at Boeing to create Boeing’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) program. Those experiences prepared him for forming dynamic teams that could bring about difficult cultural transformation.
The challenge at Boeing was huge. BCAC had 86,000 employees, most of whom had to be taught to do things differently. In addition, many managers believed that having the largest market share automatically made Boeing world class, but metrics showed that it was not. To kick-start the improvement engine, Black created a highly skilled “special operations” core team, which provided technical support and horsepower for the QIC. As director, he recruited organizational development consultant Joanne Poggetti, as well as statisticians, systems administrators, and various consultants. These team members and 13 upwardly mobile, executive potential or “expo” candidates attended seminars conducted personally by Deming, Juran, and Bill Conway of Conway Quality. Then the QIC team designed and launched 18 quality improvement courses and seminars that would be attended by more than 34,000 employees. In addition, Black invited CEOs to speak at two-day Managing Quality seminars. Between 1986 and 1989, the QIC also trained more than 15,000 people in facilitation, team leadership, team membership, an introduction to process control, and quality improvement. Black also created innovative partnerships with both of Boeing’s major unions. This was JBA’s first model of Lean implementation, one that has been used successfully over and over again.
Redefining world-class
By 1990, Black had been named director of world-class company studies for BCAC. He convinced Bruce Gissing, senior vice president of operations, to go to Japan to really understand what “world-class” meant. Boeing’s first Japan study tour participants visited world-class companies including Hitachi, Komika, and Toyota. Subsequent trips involved all leaders at the CEO, senior vice president, and VP/director levels, and the company launched world-class competitiveness training for what eventually became more than 100,000 BCAC and Boeing Aerospace employees. Over the next 10 years, Black and his QIC led the company’s Lean implementation, adapting Japanese methods and sending hundreds of managers to Kaizen Seminars in Japan taught by Shingijutsu Consulting senseis.
By 1996, Black had become director of Lean manufacturing education and training support, and Boeing began to focus on kaizen events. More than 6,000 employees participated in 756 kaizen events over 1996 and 1997. Between 1997 and Black’s retirement in March 1999, these workshops saved $900 million in costs, reduced inventory by 313,689 units for a savings of $156 million, and cut distances traveled by workers by nearly 7 million feet—almost 1,300 miles—saving $342 million in labor hours. They also reduced cycle times by 43,173 hours for a savings of $4.3 million; eliminated 48,680 hours of lead time saving $4.8 million; reduced setup times by 5,303 hours and saving $1 million; and freed 146,443 square feet of floor space, saving $286 million.
Creating John Black and Associates (JBA) to help others
Upon retiring, Black formed JBA and began helping other organizations successfully and profitably apply the Toyota Production System (TPS) model—often called “Lean production” or just “Lean”—to their own operations. While still at Boeing, however, Black spoke at a 1995 quality conference attended by the CEO of PeaceHealth. That healthcare organization subsequently embarked on the Lean journey—long before Lean became a topic in healthcare—led by Joanne Poggetti of Poggetti and Associates (and Black’s former Boeing colleague). Black provided support, and early results were astounding.
An increasing focus on Lean healthcare
Then in October 2000, Black encountered another farsighted healthcare president and soon began leading Lean operations at Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC) in Seattle, Washington. Thanks to Mike Rona and Virginia Mason’s visionary (CEO), Dr. Gary Kaplan, the results at Virginia Mason are well known. By 2008, the hospital could no longer keep up with requests for Lean tours and lectures, so it created the Virginia Mason Institute (VMI) to help other healthcare systems—and their patients—by sharing the possibilities Lean brought to healthcare and how others could achieve similar improvements. Kaplan became board chair of the globally recognized Institute for Healthcare Improvement, while in 2010 the Leapfrog Group named VMMC America’s Top Hospital of the Decade. Rona embarked on a consulting career to spread the potential of Lean to other healthcare organizations.
In the last 15 years, Black has built JBA in association with other Lean pioneers, career healthcare professionals, and globally recognized experts in the Toyota Production System. The JBA consulting team has led Lean implementations with not only VMMC but also Park Nicollet Health Services, Premera Blue Cross, Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health. JBA has also worked on special projects, such as 3P Lean facility design, for Providence Health and Services (ambulatory care 3P event, Spokane, Washington, and walk-in clinic, Monroe, Washington) and for Seattle Children’s Hospital (Japan Super Flow, Japan kanban, and Japan 3P seminars). The most recent implementation, for the entire healthcare system of Saskatchewan, is the largest Lean transformation in the world to date. In just three years, it has significantly reduced healthcare defects, increased capacity, and saved millions of dollars. The impact of this transformation was best captured by Dan Florizone, CEO of the Saskatoon Health Region, when he said, “We have begun what I believe is the most complex, large-scale quality improvement undertaking in the world. I can say we in Saskatchewan healthcare are very early in our journey, and I am certain we will continue to be humbled by the scale and scope of what is still before us. The vision is for our 44,000 team members to be given the time, the tools, and the support to generate ideas, test them, and become better every day for those we serve. We are and will remain students of John Black.”
From employee involvement to quality improvement at Boeing
It began in 1982 when Ernie Fenn, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s 757 program, wanted to make the 757 program into a more participative culture. Black developed a model process for increasing employee involvement. This process became so successful that Phil Condit, chief engineer, briefed a customer about it—former astronaut Frank Borman, who’d circled the moon in Apollo 8 and later became CEO of Eastern Airlines. Borman asked for Black’s help putting the same program in place at Eastern Airlines. For the next eight months, Black reported directly to Borman to achieve that.
In 1983, Black began reporting to Bill Selby, director of operations for the Defense and Space Division of Boeing Aerospace (the company’s military division). Selby led a continuous quality improvement (CQI) steering committee organized by Black. Together, they started “quality of work life” programs based on concepts being introduced by General Motors and Ford, as well as Black’s previous experiences. Black benchmarked leading companies, drafted the first Boeing quality plan, and established the first quality center in 1984. The program was touted by Boeing Chairman Malcom Stamper as the model all Boeing sites should be following.
In early 1985, BCAC executives came to Selby saying that, based on the success of quality and productivity efforts in his organization, they needed Black in BCAC. Airline customers were complaining about deteriorating product quality and the company urgently needed to fix the problems. Reporting to Jim Blue, vice president of a new, centralized quality assurance organization, Black formed and led a quality improvement center (QIC) that could quickly figure out how Boeing could improve.
Forming teams for transformation
The wherewithal to tackle this challenge came from Black’s previous military assignments as an Army officer during the Cold War and Vietnam War and human resource development for Headquarters U.S. Army Europe, as well as an initial assignment at Boeing to create Boeing’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) program. Those experiences prepared him for forming dynamic teams that could bring about difficult cultural transformation.
The challenge at Boeing was huge. BCAC had 86,000 employees, most of whom had to be taught to do things differently. In addition, many managers believed that having the largest market share automatically made Boeing world class, but metrics showed that it was not. To kick-start the improvement engine, Black created a highly skilled “special operations” core team, which provided technical support and horsepower for the QIC. As director, he recruited organizational development consultant Joanne Poggetti, as well as statisticians, systems administrators, and various consultants. These team members and 13 upwardly mobile, executive potential or “expo” candidates attended seminars conducted personally by Deming, Juran, and Bill Conway of Conway Quality. Then the QIC team designed and launched 18 quality improvement courses and seminars that would be attended by more than 34,000 employees. In addition, Black invited CEOs to speak at two-day Managing Quality seminars. Between 1986 and 1989, the QIC also trained more than 15,000 people in facilitation, team leadership, team membership, an introduction to process control, and quality improvement. Black also created innovative partnerships with both of Boeing’s major unions. This was JBA’s first model of Lean implementation, one that has been used successfully over and over again.
Redefining world-class
By 1990, Black had been named director of world-class company studies for BCAC. He convinced Bruce Gissing, senior vice president of operations, to go to Japan to really understand what “world-class” meant. Boeing’s first Japan study tour participants visited world-class companies including Hitachi, Komika, and Toyota. Subsequent trips involved all leaders at the CEO, senior vice president, and VP/director levels, and the company launched world-class competitiveness training for what eventually became more than 100,000 BCAC and Boeing Aerospace employees. Over the next 10 years, Black and his QIC led the company’s Lean implementation, adapting Japanese methods and sending hundreds of managers to Kaizen Seminars in Japan taught by Shingijutsu Consulting senseis.
By 1996, Black had become director of Lean manufacturing education and training support, and Boeing began to focus on kaizen events. More than 6,000 employees participated in 756 kaizen events over 1996 and 1997. Between 1997 and Black’s retirement in March 1999, these workshops saved $900 million in costs, reduced inventory by 313,689 units for a savings of $156 million, and cut distances traveled by workers by nearly 7 million feet—almost 1,300 miles—saving $342 million in labor hours. They also reduced cycle times by 43,173 hours for a savings of $4.3 million; eliminated 48,680 hours of lead time saving $4.8 million; reduced setup times by 5,303 hours and saving $1 million; and freed 146,443 square feet of floor space, saving $286 million.
Creating John Black and Associates (JBA) to help others
Upon retiring, Black formed JBA and began helping other organizations successfully and profitably apply the Toyota Production System (TPS) model—often called “Lean production” or just “Lean”—to their own operations. While still at Boeing, however, Black spoke at a 1995 quality conference attended by the CEO of PeaceHealth. That healthcare organization subsequently embarked on the Lean journey—long before Lean became a topic in healthcare—led by Joanne Poggetti of Poggetti and Associates (and Black’s former Boeing colleague). Black provided support, and early results were astounding.
An increasing focus on Lean healthcare
Then in October 2000, Black encountered another farsighted healthcare president and soon began leading Lean operations at Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC) in Seattle, Washington. Thanks to Mike Rona and Virginia Mason’s visionary (CEO), Dr. Gary Kaplan, the results at Virginia Mason are well known. By 2008, the hospital could no longer keep up with requests for Lean tours and lectures, so it created the Virginia Mason Institute (VMI) to help other healthcare systems—and their patients—by sharing the possibilities Lean brought to healthcare and how others could achieve similar improvements. Kaplan became board chair of the globally recognized Institute for Healthcare Improvement, while in 2010 the Leapfrog Group named VMMC America’s Top Hospital of the Decade. Rona embarked on a consulting career to spread the potential of Lean to other healthcare organizations.
In the last 15 years, Black has built JBA in association with other Lean pioneers, career healthcare professionals, and globally recognized experts in the Toyota Production System. The JBA consulting team has led Lean implementations with not only VMMC but also Park Nicollet Health Services, Premera Blue Cross, Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health. JBA has also worked on special projects, such as 3P Lean facility design, for Providence Health and Services (ambulatory care 3P event, Spokane, Washington, and walk-in clinic, Monroe, Washington) and for Seattle Children’s Hospital (Japan Super Flow, Japan kanban, and Japan 3P seminars). The most recent implementation, for the entire healthcare system of Saskatchewan, is the largest Lean transformation in the world to date. In just three years, it has significantly reduced healthcare defects, increased capacity, and saved millions of dollars. The impact of this transformation was best captured by Dan Florizone, CEO of the Saskatoon Health Region, when he said, “We have begun what I believe is the most complex, large-scale quality improvement undertaking in the world. I can say we in Saskatchewan healthcare are very early in our journey, and I am certain we will continue to be humbled by the scale and scope of what is still before us. The vision is for our 44,000 team members to be given the time, the tools, and the support to generate ideas, test them, and become better every day for those we serve. We are and will remain students of John Black.”