David Peter Stroh
Encyclopedia
David Peter Stroh is an organizational development and learning consultant. He was a founding partner of Innovation Associates, and is one of the founders and principal partners of Bridgeway Partners.
on August 17, 1950 to Oscar Stroh and Eva Sondheimer Stroh, he was influenced in early years by the European heritage of his parents and extensive travels with them.
where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1973 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and B.A. in Urban Studies. Stroh went on to Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) as a National Science Foundation
fellow, where he graduated with a Masters in City Planning in 1975 while shifting his professional focus to Organization Development. Both fields offered him the opportunity to bring people closer to each other and their environment using the diverse disciplines of engineering/design and the behavioral sciences. Unlike urban transportation planning however, he found Organization Development to be a more effective vehicle for helping people.
and Robert Fritz
.
Kiefer and Stroh published their view of organization development in 1984 in a chapter of the book, Transforming Work, “A New Paradigm for Developing Organizations”. Senge summarized many of the ideas pioneered by Innovation Associates in the 1980s in The Fifth Discipline
, which he published in 1990. Fritz continued his career as both an artist and structural thinker/consultant through such books as The Path of Least Resistance for Managers and Corporate Tides.
from 1987-1993. He rejoined Innovation Associates and stayed with them after it was purchased by Arthur D. Little
in 1995. During that period he developed additional interests in such areas as the management of paradox , reducing the gap between rich and poor and facilitating multi-sectoral collaboration. Stroh was also a charter member of Senge's Society for Organizational Learning
.
In his work, Stroh uses applied systems thinking to apply a practical approach that enables leaders to achieve breakthrough change around chronic, complex problems in the private, public, and social sectors.
Stroh left Arthur D. Little
in 2000, and after a sabbatical with his wife Marilyn Paul in Jerusalem, returned to the Boston area in 2002 to co-found the organizational consulting firm Bridgeway Partners with Paul. He has since focused more of his practice on facilitating social change.
Beginning in 2005, he and Paul developed a new approach that enables leaders to transform how they manage time in a 24/7 world. Managing Your Time as a Leader supports leaders to achieve sustainable productivity by transforming how they manage their time, energy, and attention. They use this approach in executive coaching, training, and their organization consulting practice.
Early life
Born Peter Stroh in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on August 17, 1950 to Oscar Stroh and Eva Sondheimer Stroh, he was influenced in early years by the European heritage of his parents and extensive travels with them.
Training
Two other early interests later evolved into what would become Stroh’s career. The first was designing elaborate road networks and maps, and he became an actor in a semi-professional troupe in the New York City area when he was 12. His interest in travel evolved into a fascination with urban transportation planning, which he pursued first as an undergraduate at the University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1973 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and B.A. in Urban Studies. Stroh went on to Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT) as a National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
fellow, where he graduated with a Masters in City Planning in 1975 while shifting his professional focus to Organization Development. Both fields offered him the opportunity to bring people closer to each other and their environment using the diverse disciplines of engineering/design and the behavioral sciences. Unlike urban transportation planning however, he found Organization Development to be a more effective vehicle for helping people.
Early career
Stroh joined Innovation Associates as a partner in 1978, along with the principal founder Charles F. Kiefer, a former MIT classmate, and two other partners, Peter SengePeter Senge
Peter Michael Senge is an American scientist and director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is known as author of the book The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization from 1990...
and Robert Fritz
Robert Fritz
Robert Jordan Fritz is an author, management consultant, composer, and filmmaker. He is known for his development of "Structural Dynamics," the study of how structural relationships impact behavior from individuals to organizations...
.
Kiefer and Stroh published their view of organization development in 1984 in a chapter of the book, Transforming Work, “A New Paradigm for Developing Organizations”. Senge summarized many of the ideas pioneered by Innovation Associates in the 1980s in The Fifth Discipline
The Fifth Discipline
The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization is a book by Peter Senge focusing on group problem solving using the systems thinking method in order to convert companies into learning organizations...
, which he published in 1990. Fritz continued his career as both an artist and structural thinker/consultant through such books as The Path of Least Resistance for Managers and Corporate Tides.
Later career
Stroh left Innovation Associates in 1986 to work as a corporate organization consultant for Digital Equipment CorporationDigital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
from 1987-1993. He rejoined Innovation Associates and stayed with them after it was purchased by Arthur D. Little
Arthur D. Little
Arthur D. Little is an international management consulting firm originally headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and formally incorporated by that name in 1909 by Arthur Dehon Little, an MIT chemist who had discovered acetate. Arthur D. Little pioneered the concept of contracted...
in 1995. During that period he developed additional interests in such areas as the management of paradox , reducing the gap between rich and poor and facilitating multi-sectoral collaboration. Stroh was also a charter member of Senge's Society for Organizational Learning
Society for Organizational Learning
The Society for Organizational Learning is an organization founded in 1997 by Peter Senge. David Peter Stroh was also a charter member of this organization. It replaced the Center for Organizational Learning at MIT. Since 1999, SoL publishes its own journal, Reflections...
.
In his work, Stroh uses applied systems thinking to apply a practical approach that enables leaders to achieve breakthrough change around chronic, complex problems in the private, public, and social sectors.
Stroh left Arthur D. Little
Arthur D. Little
Arthur D. Little is an international management consulting firm originally headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and formally incorporated by that name in 1909 by Arthur Dehon Little, an MIT chemist who had discovered acetate. Arthur D. Little pioneered the concept of contracted...
in 2000, and after a sabbatical with his wife Marilyn Paul in Jerusalem, returned to the Boston area in 2002 to co-found the organizational consulting firm Bridgeway Partners with Paul. He has since focused more of his practice on facilitating social change.
Beginning in 2005, he and Paul developed a new approach that enables leaders to transform how they manage time in a 24/7 world. Managing Your Time as a Leader supports leaders to achieve sustainable productivity by transforming how they manage their time, energy, and attention. They use this approach in executive coaching, training, and their organization consulting practice.
Publications
- Paul,M. and Stroh,D.P., "The Learning Family",The Systems Thinker, August, 1999
- Paul,M. and Stroh,D.P., "Managing Your Time As A Leader", Reflections: The Society for Organizational Learning Journal, Winter 2006
- Stroh,D.P. and Zurcher,K, "Leveraging Grantmaking - Part 2: Aligning Programmatic Approaches with Complex System Dynamics", The Foundation Review, Winter, 2010
- Stroh,D.P., "Managing Your Time as a Municipal Leader", Nation's Cities Weekly, October 19, 2009
- Stroh,D.P., "Leveraging Grantmaking - Part 1: Understanding the Dynamics of Complex Social Systems", The Foundation Review, Fall, 2009
- Stroh,D.P., "A Systemic View of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict", The Systems Thinker, June/July 2002
- Stroh,D.P., "Leveraging Change: The Power of Systems Thinking in Action", Reflections: The Society of Organizational Learning Journal, Winter, 2000; reprinted in Organisational Learning for All Seasons, Prem Kumar, ed., National Community Leadership Institute, Singapore, 2003
- Stroh,D.P., "Conflicting Goals: Structural Tension At Its Worst", The Systems Thinker, September, 2000
- Stroh,D.P., "Sustainable Development: The Next Generation of Business Opportunity", Prism, Fourth Quarter 1998; co-authors Gilbert Hedstrom and Stephen Poltorzycki
- Stroh,D.P., "A New Paradigm for Developing Organizations", Transforming Work, John Adams, ed., Miles River Press, Arlington, VA, 1998, 1984; co-author Charles Kiefer
- Stroh,D.P.,"The Case for Systemwide Learning", The Systems Thinker, Dec. 1997/Jan. 1998
- Stroh,D.P., "The Systems Orientation: From Curiosity to Courage", The Systems Thinker, November, 1994
- Stroh,D.P., "Mastering the Archetypes of Social Change", OD Network Conference Proceedings, October, 1994
- Stroh,D.P., "Learning to Thrive on Paradox", Training & Development, September 1994; co-author Wynne Miller
- Stroh,D.P., "The Rich Get Richer, And The Poor...", The Systems Thinker, March 1992
- Stroh,D.P., "Purposeful Consulting", Organizational Dynamics, Autumn, 1987
- Stroh,D.P., "Re-Vision", OD Practitioner, September 1986
- Stroh,D.P. and Kiefer,C., "Sustaining Success in Fast Growth Companies", San Jose Business Journal, April 2, 1984
External links
- Bridgeway Partners official website
- David Stroh and Michael Goodman's website, Applied Systems Thinking
- Kali Saposnick, Rethinking the Middle East Crisis: An Interview with David Peter Stroh, Pegasus Communications, 2002