Reputation-Seeking by a Government Agency in Europe

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The 2009 H1N1 pandemic gave me my first glimpse into the administration of public health. This paper sprang from participant-observation by me within one of the many public health agencies around the world that were working for months and with great dedication to understand and overcome the first flu pandemic in the new millenium. The event had been anticipated, but it still proved overwhelming in the early months and created great stress within many public health agencies. I was able to spend October-December 2009 within an agency, which was well after the most stressful period in April to June. But there remained a dedicated effort, including daily meetings among senior experts and leaders. Observing these and speaking to a host of expert staff members, I was able to chart key decisions and to discover the logics that steered them. I was most surprised by how even true experts rely on deliberation, conversation and sensemaking to reach decisions, and how they juggle multiple priorities that include but are not limited to the strictly technical issues in which they are expert.

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