Vancouver, British Columbia
May 15-17, 1996

Leading the Agile Organization

Closing Remarks

Nancy Cline, Presiding President
ARL

I hope the program, "Leading the Agile Organization," was one that you found of value. When reflecting on the last couple of days, I found that, for me, they have been days of learning, productive exchange, and opportunities to share results. This program also gave us the important opportunity to share what isn't working as well as one might hope. This is an important part of our work in redefining the research context.

I would like to share with you just a few lines from a document that a friend gave to me. This friend, who works in a corporation, said to me, "You really need to understand what it is to be a change agent." Reflecting on the last two days, I have found that we are, in fact, change agents. The first excerpt is: "You will always be in the process of development. You will find yourself experiencing higher and higher levels of resistance. You will keep trying to see situations with different eyes." The second is: "You will know rejection intimately. You will live with the tension between blending and differentiating with the client. And your greatest joy will be what you can do for others so that they can do for themselves." I think that provides a summary of our past few days.

Finally, I would like to extend, again, my thanks to Carolynne Presser and all the CARL members and staff for their work in helping to bring this program together. It has been very rewarding to work on a mutually developed program. Also, I thank Duane Webster, all of the ARL staff, and everyone else who made this such an important several days for us. Finally, I thank all of you for staying, for contributing, and for being a very active part of forming our future.

I have very much enjoyed working with you these past several days. I wish you safe travels. Thank you.