PhD Defence Stijn Horck

The title of his PhD thesis is:

Failure as catalyst for learning in healthcare Investigations into learning responses in different contexts

This thesis investigates why some failures in healthcare generate value, while others do not. Four studies explore how failures influence learning behaviour at various levels. Chapter 2 introduces the 'System-Failing Creativity' model, analysing how the perception of failure at the individual level can lead to value creation. Chapter 3 focuses on the interaction between a healthcare organisation's context and the specific characteristics of a failure, and how this affects the learning response. Chapter 4 examines the transfer of learned lessons between healthcare organisations by analysing similar innovations developed in different hospitals. Chapter 5 identifies contextual patterns using Natural Language Process techniques that distinguish successful, adjusted, and failed innovation projects. These studies show that organisations can create value by proactively managing failures and highlight the importance of a flexible approach to innovation and knowledge sharing between organisations.

Supervisors: Prof. dr. Andries de Grip, Prof. dr. Paul Louis Iske