True North
Who we are

Who is True North?

We are David Schmaltz and Amy Schwab and we own and operate True North. We draw on over sixty years of experience helping high performing organizations adapt to change, re-align strategic initiatives, and accomplish breakthrough results.

We bring practical hands-on experience to your problems. We don't waste your time with theories and ideas about how things are supposed to work. We help you find what will work for you and your organization. We design methods to help you quickly integrate those changes, and we follow-up to help you monitor results and learn from your experiencet!

Our signature Brief Consulting™ cuts to the heart of your issues quickly. Our practice focuses on creating short, very effective engagements that leave you capable, satisfied, and confident that your problem is resolved. We leave you feeling secure that you and your organization are more than capable to handle that issue without us should a next time arise.

We personally work every client engagement. We draw on a broad network of trusted experts when client issues require specialized assistance outside our direct experience. We stay engaged to coordinate outside expertise and ensure aligned, focused, and effective engagements that satisfy your highest expectations.

Our no-nonsense approach focuses on your business goals and objectives. Our innovative methods create sparkly engagements and delightful results. And our integrity and caring leave our clients calling us not just capable consultants but trusted advisers and true friends!

Practical advice from experienced professionals

Our broad understanding of business, how value is created, and how organizations really work helps you develop systemic, well considered, practical solutions to multi-faceted, complex challenges. Our hands-on involvement includes direct experience with:

• Project and program management, project portfolio management and project leadership and soft-skills training
• Large-scale change, communications planning, and organizational design
• Organizational governance, management liability, and board functioning
• Leadership training, management coaching, and team building
• Strategic planning, marketing, promotion, publicity, and sales
• Information strategies and information system development
• Customer satisfaction, process improvement, and performance measurement
• Risk management, insurance, financial analysis, and pricing
• Supervision, general management, and financial management

Methods, tools, and approaches

With True North you won't get a one-size-fits-all approach to your unique situation. We use a broad range of methods to bring the best tools to your job. A few approaches we use include:

• Jungian based preference - Using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and other models, we focus on understanding our gifts and our differences in communication, work styles, and conflict to help us collaborate and engage more productively.
• Family Systems - Family systems models, based on the work of Virginia Satir, provide tools for identifying real systemic issues, resolving conflict, addressing change, and working within dynamic human systems.
• Living Systems, Second-order Cybernetics, Social Constructivism, and resolution-focused systemic management - Shifting to a living systems model from the industrial, mechanical view of organizations allows us to apply the latest advances in systems theory, biology, communications, and linguistics, to bring about inside-out deep and lasting change
• Dialogue, World Cafe™, and Whole-System™ Change - These methods draw on the deep capabilities within living, human systems to create deep, focused, and constructive conversation that result in real change

To learn more, contact us at (509)527-9773 or by email at

Design and Website by Amy Schwab