In the fourth season premiere, House – without his usual team – faces a philosophical dilemma. Normally, the doctor believes that people lie but symptoms speak truthfully. Throughout the episode, the patient’s reactions contradict the information on her chart and her health deteriorates. Cuddy becomes so infuriated by House’s actions that she commands him to find a new team and orders other hospital staff to “stop enabling him” with conversation.
The solution is simple: an allergy goes undetected because family members have misidentified the victims of a building collapse, resulting in swapped charts. The delay was not necessarily caused by the missing team. Although more opinions would have put more ideas on the table, House’s management style habitually dismissed suggestions that contradicted his strong beliefs. The problem lasted the full hour of television time because House refused to step back and take a wider perspective.
All of Greg House’s recommendations were based on the premise that the philosophy which had served him well countless times previously was appropriate in this case. However, it was a subjective framework; although they conflicted with the chart, the symptoms presenting at that time were objective. House’s decisions were complicated as he wrestled with his philosophy. Diagnoses like the allergy were suggested by objective events but ruled out for subjective reasons. It’s great to develop a philosophy in coaching or any other field but nobody can rely solely on their beliefs. Someone who takes such pride in his objectivity like House should have earlier realized how his subjectivity was colouring his choices and adjusted his methods to suit the case.