5 Managing the Unexpected: Complexity as Distributed Sensemaking

Abstract

In 1998 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a statement of their strategy entitled “Preventing Emerging Infectious Diseases: A Strategy for the 21st Century.” They described their central challenge this way: “because we do not know what new diseases will arise, we must always be prepared for the unexpected” (p. vii). Soon after they published that statement CDC was confronted with an unexpected emerging disease, the West Nile Virus, which they misdiagnosed initially.

Investigation of the West Nile incident is an ongoing joint project that involves Joe Porac, Huggy Rao, and Karl Weick, with the assistance of Katherine Lawrence. I am indebted to my collaborators for ongoing discussions that have helped all of us see the larger significance of this incident for organizational theory.