Lee Failing

MRM

Lee is a founding partner at Compass and has dedicated her career to improving the quality and transparency of public decisions. As a decision analyst and facilitator, she specializes in helping people work through complex choices involving natural resources and the environment. She is particularly well known for her work in multi-use water systems, where the use of structured decision making, adaptive management and interest-based negotiation intersect. More recently she has focused on working with Indigenous and crown governments and leaders to co-create new pathways to reconciliation and shared decision making.

Lee is an adjunct professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. Co-author of the widely-cited book Structured Decision Making: A practical guide for environmental management choices (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), her latest work, The Decision Playbook, aims to bring collaborative decision making skills into school classrooms.

Lee holds a Masters in Resource Management (MRM) from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manitoba.

How did you come to work at Compass?

I had an idea, a bottle of wine and someone smarter than me to share them with.

What is the best thing a client has ever said to you?

“Wait, don’t we need to clarify our objectives?”

Describe why you do what you do.

Every single day I learn something new, do something that feels worthwhile, or meet someone fascinating.

What was your first job?

Peeling potatoes at a hot dog joint. I was an illegal underage worker with no rights, no influence and no vision. I learned what I don’t want to be when I grow up.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known 10 years ago?

Done trumps perfect.

What truly blows your mind?

Moonrise on the prairie.

Why?

It’s impossibly big, bright and unexpected.