President's message.

• Position: Perspectives - Conference notes

This article has been adapted from GFOA President Bob Eichem's annual conference speech in May 2014.

CHANGE AND RESILIENCY

Have you seen significant change in the last three to five years in your organization, or in your career? If you haven't, your situation is extremely unusual. Change has become a major part of our work world. This column will focus on change and the benefits of developing resiliency in dealing with it.

Whether it is the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the pension naysayers, the federal government looking at tax reform that would limit or eliminate tax-exempt debt, or a proposed federal preemption of state and local taxing authority, the list of change goes on and on. The GFOA has consistently taken a leadership role regarding the issues and topics that can affect our organizations, and it is tenacious in finding ways to keep our 18,000 members informed and ready to respond when changes are on the horizon.

AN IDEA TAKES HOLD

I have spent considerable time over the past several years focusing on the topic of resiliency. In the finance area, the evolution of fiscal sustainability efforts has been very important. In 2001, Tim Grewe, then-president of the GFOA, emphasized the need to incorporate sustainability into the everyday aspects of our organizations. It was the first time I'd heard of the word "sustainability" in the context of something other than using recycled paper, but oh, it was so much more.

By 2009, a lot had changed. I was fortunate enough to be one of the instructors for a GFOA pre-conference seminar on sustainability. One morning I happened to notice Tim having breakfast in the same dining room. I had never met him but wanted to tell him about how his introduction to sustainability had led me to what became a major portion of my work in Boulder, Colorado. His reply was, "that is good to hear, I didn't know if anyone was listening." We were listening, Tim.

DEFINING RESILIENCE

What is resilience? Is it the same as sustainability? Short answer: NO. It is not. Sustainability is about stability and maintaining what we have. Resilience is about the elasticity and agility involved in being able to adapt and bounce back from acute shocks (like economic downturns or natural disasters) and chronic stresses (such as homeless and transportation issues) that have occurred and will continue to occur, and continuing to bring disruption to our organizations. Building a...