One of my favorite shows ever has to be House. Such is my love for the man that is Gregory House M.D. that when the fifth series finally started here in the UK last week, I went all fanboy-ish. Last year I wrote four life lesson you could learn from him. Unlike certain new shows that shall remain nameless, he doesn’t come across as (almost) flawless. On top of liking his painkillers, being anti-social and arrogant, he also gets it wrong more often than not. It’s easy to forget this fact, but in the process of curing his patients every week, he probably mis-diagnoses a good 90% of the time. But he’s not afraid to do it.
In contrast to this, House is surrounded by collegues who will often hold back on their diagnosis because they are unwilling to take any risks, or they want to wait for some magical fact to appear that validates them. Essentially they don’t want to make a mistake, but by taking that approach they rule nothing out and they learn nothing new. In essense, they don’t move forward.
On Monday I gave my guide to productively dealing with mistakes. Let’s not forget that mistakes are normal and many famous people throughout the years have stated that they learn the most from their mistakes (“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”). Yet, all too often we try and avoid them. Businesses nowadays are so scared of their employees making mistakes that if you make one, a quick trip to the office complete with warnings and threat will quickly follow. And then what are the consequences for a company’s mindset? House may be fictional but there is a good lesson to be learned here.
House is all about getting the information, getting the facts, proving stuff and ruling things out. He questions everything, systematically and logically. Why is a patient lying about having an affair? How would a tumor explain these symptoms? Try applying that to your own life and, most importantly, how you view the world. Be confident to state your ideas, voice your opinions and try new ideas. You won’t always get it right, but what you do learn will be invaluable.
June 4, 2009 at 08:23AM
I never noticed that he misdiagnoses 90% of the time. I guess it’s because when he’s wrong, they don’t die before he finds the right answer. Thanks for the post. I was having a similar thought with my latest post in that things become impossible only when you stop trying.
June 4, 2009 at 05:26PM
Yeah, it’s no wonder he is compared to Sherlock Holmes in the way he diagnoses. He questions everything and in so doing comes up with often crazy conclusions. Whether he is right or wrong he’s still able to rule a bunch of things out in the process.
June 4, 2009 at 09:22PM
As much as I love the mordant humor of House, vicodin addiction is not a joke and should never be glamorized. I nearly lost a family member this year because of it. He started with back pain, obtained innumerable refills, progressed to street narcotics and then started drinking till he nearly went into a coma twice. So… let’s be aware while we’re being entertained.
June 8, 2009 at 02:18AM
Mel, one only need to look to the last season finale to see that the House character’s addiction is neither treated lightly nor portrayed without consequences. That said, while I agree with the sentiment of this piece, one’s mistakes when on the clock and representing a client or employer, should probably be confined to the realm of experimentation and a sandbox out of the public eye. Public errors in judgement can be disasterous for publicly held companies and those under any sort of investor or government oversight. I’d have House plan my bachelor party (no known allergies), but, knowing the character, I’d only accept medical treatment from him as a last resort.
June 9, 2009 at 06:19PM
Thanks for the reply Noah. It’s certainly true that a character like House would never exist in the real world. He’d have long since been sacked and sued out of existence. But the fundamental message of the show in general (question everything) is certainly a very apt one.