Dr. Shantanu Agrawal: More civility, less division needed in government

Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, deputy administrator for program integrity and director of the Center for Program Integrity at the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, is one of 50 new fellows for the National Academy of Public Administration.

How will you use your NAPA fellowship to promote/influence good government?

The NAPA fellowship will be a great way to stay connected with federal government activities broadly and to get involved in promoting change and best practices. I look forward to working with NAPA and contributing to projects, where I can apply knowledge and management skills from previous years of public and private sector work.

What’s the best management-related advice you ever received?

Practicing medicine taught me a lot about complex problem-solving, which I apply on a daily basis to management issues. Large, complex, difficult to solve problems can be broken down to much smaller issues which can be solved. A good way to start down the right path is to collect objective-driven data. I find this is good way to turn overwhelming decisions into real, easier-to-handle management choices.

What do you think is the most important change the government needs to make in the next 5 years?

We need to bring more civility and less division to government work, and demonstrate a willingness to work with others. The work of the federal government is simply too consequential, and necessary change is not possible without a culture of dialogue and compromise.

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