Death by Collaboration?

The current fad for collaboration focused work environments is based on ......... what evidence? Mostly anecdotes in fact. Like the equally unproved former fad for brain storming it raises the same worrying question. How can the individual creativity required for truly innovative thinking

take place when the work day is taken up with 'collaboration', or 'brain storming'? Is that how Einstein worked? In today's Financial Times there is an article on "deep work", the truly creative activity that can take place when a talented individual is left undisturbed by 'collaborators'. This has huge implications for work place design which is only now being realised but meanwhile apps are emerging to help deep work take place in environments that seem to have been designed to prevent it ever happening. Apps mentioned are The Forest, Leech Block and Focus@Will. Watch this space.