Navigate Complexity, Cultivate Collaboration, Leverage Limited Resources

About Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is a set of principles, a language, and a collection of tools and processes designed to illuminate our thinking about how the systems we are part of actually operate and evolve. It has grown into wide spread use because people are confronted with increasing complexity and the need to collaborate more effectively to address the chronic problems which affect them all.

Working together and with leaders across all sectors and around the world over the past 40 years

we have learned a lot about how systems thinking works best, where its strengths are, how to integrate it naturally into people’s work, and how to get it to take hold in an organization or community. We understand that applying systems thinking involves more than mapping how a system operates or how people envision it functioning; it is ultimately about shifting people’s intentions, thinking, and behavior – both individually and collectively.

The development of our shared knowledge base began while we were graduate students at MIT.

Michael Goodman was a student of Jay Forrester’s, the founder of system dynamics; developed one of the first textbooks in this field; and pioneered the development and application of the systems thinking archetypes . David Peter Stroh trained in organization development; co-founded Innovation Associates, the pioneering consulting firm in organizational learning, with Charles Kiefer, Peter Senge, and Robert Fritz; and authored the best-selling book Systems Thinking for Social Change. Together we have developed many of the innovations that make systems thinking accessible to leaders and enable them to achieve significant, sustainable change.

We hope this site supports you in your mission to create meaningful system-wide improvement.

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Michael R Goodman

Michael R Goodman is an internationally recognized speaker, author, and practitioner in the fields of Systems Thinking, Organizational Learning and Change, and Leadership. Michael Goodman’s main focus is transferring the learning disciplines into organizations to sustain their capacity for learning and change. He also helped create many of the innovations in the field of Systems Thinking that has made it more accessible to organizational leaders.

Mr. Goodman draws on over 40 years of expertise to create curriculum, lead courses and training in the arena of organizational learning and change, and help clients (both for profit as well as nonprofit) apply systems approaches to their critical organizational issues. He has published widely, authoring one of the first textbooks in the field, Study Notes in Systems Dynamics, and serving as the primary contributor to the Systems Thinking section in the acclaimed Fifth Discipline Fieldbook by Peter M Senge. Michael has also contributed numerous chapters to the books The Dance of Change and Schools that Learn. He contributed to the recently published Systems Thinking for Social Change by David Stroh and has also published a variety of articles on applying systems thinking and system dynamics in areas from culture change to health care.

David Peter Stroh

David Peter Stroh is internationally recognized for his work in enabling leaders to apply systems thinking to achieve breakthroughs around chronic, complex problems and to develop strategies that improve system-wide performance over time. He has been described as “a magician” who “helped us tremendously in getting to the core issues” with “the mind of a scientist and the heart of a healer.”

David is the author of the best-selling book Systems Thinking for Social Change: A Practical Guide for Solving Complex Problems, Avoiding Unintended Consequences, and Achieving Lasting Results (Chelsea Green, 2015) He was one of the founders of Innovation Associates, the pioneering consulting firm in the field of organizational learning. He is also a founding principal of Bridgeway Partners, a consulting firm that partners with mission-centered leaders committed to advancing social and environmental transformation, a faculty member of the Academy for Systems Change, and a charter member of the Society for Organizational Learning.

Interview with Michael Goodman

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Customers reviews

Testimonials

“David and Michael helped us streamline nearly 100 recommendations for increasing upward mobility in our community into a coherent systemic theory of change. The change strategy has enabled us to target a manageable number of short-term initiatives that build a strong foundation for accomplishing our long-term objectives.”

Brian Collier, Executive Vice President

Foundation for the Carolinas

“David and Michael have been instrumental in helping Interise design a systems approach for our Leadership in Equitable Anchor Procurement (LEAP) program. Thanks to David and Michael we have a process for mobilizing the diverse stakeholders who represent the supplier diversity ecosystem to shift from understanding what is required for success to taking actions that lead to system change. We have engaged David and Michael for several projects and highly recommend them.”

Nancy S. Lee, PhD

Director of Research and Evaluation, Interise