Innovation, criticism, novelty, proximity

Jonah Lehrer offers a New Yorker piece about idea production that compares brainstorming, the non-critical working in groups, to alternative methods. He argues criticism can be a good thing, especially with the right mix of new and old talent. Who could argue with his pick of "West Side Story" as the product of a sweet spot of old and new creative talent on Broadway? He also writes about the upsides of a pell-mell physical structure, such as found MIT or Pixar, where thinkers unexpectedly run into each other and come up with new ideas.