House, also known as House, M.D., is an American medical drama television series that debuted on the FOX Network on November 16, 2004. Gregory House, M.D., is a maverick medical genius, who heads a team of young diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. Most episodes start with a cold open somewhere outside the hospital, showing the events leading to the onset of symptoms for that week's main patient. The episode follows the team in their attempts to diagnose and treat the patient's illness.

House's nationally-renowned department typically only sees patients who have failed to receive a correct diagnosis at other hospitals, so the cases tend to be exceptionally complex and subtle. Furthermore, House tends to resist accepting cases that he doesn't find interesting.

In most shows, House banters with his young scholars, colleagues and patients in an attempt to gather ideas and clues that will help him determine the root cause of the patient’s illness. In the end, House comes to his conclusion by witnessing some visual metaphor that enlightens him to the true cause of the illness. For example, in one episode the patient, a dwarf, is having intense medical problems and none of the symptoms seem to correlate to a recognizable disease. Throughout the same show, a little girl keeps calling her stuffed bear a stuffed dog. At the end of the show House tells the young girl, “just because you call it a dog, doesn’t mean it’s a dog.” This statement leads him to the conclusion - just because everyone thought the patient was a dwarf, does not mean that she is really a dwarf. It ended up that the patient had a disease that stunted growth. “Just because they call her a dwarf, doesn’t mean she is a dwarf.” It was really a symptom, a key symptom, that made all of the other symptoms correlate to the primary disease.

Ok, so why the long setup? House, in all of his obnoxiousness, continues to seek the input of others while looking for metaphors and similes. He does not believe that simply looking at the facts and relying on his skills as a doctor will solve the problem. He recognizes that answers often lie outside of common knowledge and conventional wisdom. These are skills of a true innovator and an example of how to use edge-lessons.

I know, House is not a show for everyone. The thought that a medical practitioner would not limit themselves to the sphere of medical knowledge is encouraging and an example of how innovation principles could be applied.