Jung von Matt uses the shitstorm creatively for recruiting

The desks have to be spick and span in the evening. True creativity is not born in a group, but in an individual talent. This needs absolute peace and seclusion for its best performance. The insights Thomas Strerath gave into everyday working life at Jung von Matt are currently shocking the industry. The dislike rate and the comments under the W&V report speak a clear language: There is talk of the "Uli Hoeneß of the advertising industry," of "defense of the talents," even of "90s bullshit.

But isn't Jung von Matt's creativity concept perhaps right after all? Does a rigid corset really promote excellence and output? W&V Online asked two creativity professors about this. And these view the harsh rules at Jung von Matt rather critically. For Stephan Sonnenburg from Karlshochschule in Karlsruhe, the empty desk is not the ideal starting point for creative work: "Where is the creative stimulus? The approach is very rigid after all. "Like a creative prison," he comments. While such an approach is perfectly legitimate for any company, he says, "You do limit yourself in terms of finding employees." Sonnenburg asks the counter question: "Why not use different spatial concepts?"

Jörg Mehlhorn is the first chairman of the German Society for Creativity

Jörg Mehlhorn, a retired economics professor, taught on the subject of creativity at the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz. He also advocates more individuality when it comes to desks: There are no "patent recipes" for creative work, he says. Some would need chaos on the desk, where they could better associate and take ideas from pieces of paper and documents. Others would need a white surface. A monoculture, however, does not promote a creative climate.

Stephan Sonnenburg researches creativity in groups

"Strerath is right about one thing," Sonnenburg says: "There have to be guardrails. Whatever the guardrails are. That could be the briefing, for example. That's where the creative process starts. The more creative and inspiring the briefing is, the better the creative idea is in the end." Sonnenburg advocates clear ideas in the briefing: "A briefing outlines the playing field. No creativity just comes out of nowhere." Mehlhorn would agree. "Guardrails should give a clearly outlined task. So that there is a clearly defined search space." In the process itself, however, there would then again be a need for greater freedom for the creatives. Nevertheless: "The creative result or innovation cannot be planned. We're only ever talking about probabilities."

Experts disagree about whether a flash of inspiration tends to arise in the quiet chamber of an individual or is more likely to ignite in a group. "The individual flash of inspiration really does exist," Mehlhorn believes. And for this - here he agrees with Strerath - quiet and seclusion are needed so that incubation can occur in the creative process. Mehlhorn therefore also says: "Group work is not a panacea." However, Mehlhorn also qualifies this insight: "Many roads lead to Rome." And sometimes it is better to talk to colleagues after several days of inconclusive brooding and reflect on the problem anew.

Sonnenburg, who previously worked in the industry himself for agencies such as Heller & Partner and Economia, in turn believes in more creativity in the collective. The professor himself has done research on creativity and interaction in groups. His conclusion:  "According to current research, creativity is a processual phenomenon." Research has shown, for example, that an individual produces less output in brainstorming sessions than the group. Optimal results would come from groups of three to five people. If more than five people were involved, a self-reinforcing free-rider effect would set in.

However, brainstorming sessions as such would have to be trained again and again. Research at Sonnenburg's university also found, for example, that some teams stop and settle too early in this phase, he said, meaning they take only 20 minutes to brainstorm instead of the optimal 30 to 90 minutes. The so-called "saturation point" would occur. "But if you overcome this inner pig dog, as studies have shown, the better results come out afterwards, despite the torment." The Strerath interview also has reverberations at Jung von Matt. The agency has found its way to deal with the small shitstorm in its own and creative way. The following was quickly posted on Facebook: "Only assholes work at Jung von Matt! Find out what it's really like at jvm.com/jobs."