We are defined by the choices we make.

In business and in life, there are times when the situation demands new perspective to help shape our choices. 

In order to make the best choices we need to understand and effectively frame the challenges ahead. 

Sometimes the path forward is well-worn and obvious, while at other times it is filled with obstacles. On occasion, it makes sense to forge a new one.

The key question becomes: What choices will we make given our finite resources and perceived opportunity set?  

I founded Smith Advisory Services in order to help leaders, boards and enterprising families solve their most complicated challenges.

Helping leaders think it through is what I do best.

“Most consultants know how to do something or things – otherwise they wouldn’t be in business for long. But often the challenge requires thinking from first principles before doing. Unfortunately, not many consultants are adept at and comfortable with thinking before doing.

David is one of that precious few who will think about what is really the optimal course of action before taking action.”
— Roger Martin, trusted strategy advisor to the CEOs of companies worldwide including Procter & Gamble, Lego, IDEO and Verizon. In 2017, he placed first on the Thinkers50 list, a biannual ranking of the most influential global business thinkers. He is the former Dean of the Rotman School of Management where he continues to teach and lead efforts to improve global prosperity.
“He is a maestro at pulling all the essential elements together.

In my mind, his greatest accomplishment was orchestrating the process so that everyone – management, staff and board, developed a common view of the facts, the strategic drivers and options, their relative cost/benefits and the risks etc. The result was that we came up with a strategic plan that...reflected a common understanding in all its key dimensions. This meant we could move forward as a collective with no dissonance around what the priorities should be and why. In short, we had real common understanding and buy-in amongst all key constituencies.”
— David Macdonald, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Glencoban Capital Management Inc., a private merchant banking firm; Chair of the National Ballet of Canada, Endowment Foundation; and a director of the Art Gallery of Ontario Foundation.