Both easy to read and thoughtful, this article by Jonah Lehrer in the New Yorker begins by debunking the idea that the “no criticism” rule in brainstorms unleashes creativity. Lehrer goes to explain why healthy criticism actually sharpens the mind and results in more and better ideas from a team. Expanding from brainstorms to other modes of interactions, he then looks into how work spaces can foster innovation. He has great examples, from an old MIT building whose layout would have had a big impact on a rich history of innovation, to the Apple Headquarters which Steve Jobs designed himself, creating a central atrium and moving mailboxes and bathrooms there to force people to have these chance hallway encounters that create new sparks of ideas !
Now the question is how will we recreate these workspaces in our era of constant travels and virtual collaborations 🙂