There are many reasons partnership increases the creative output of a department. Here are just a few. Partnership harnesses collective energy and loses the blind spots.

Partnership also improves your mental self-discipline. It's very hard to maintain when you're having ideas just by yourself. You can spend a lot of time toying with an idea, looking out of the window, renaming files on your computer, without actually focussing your attention - so you're just half-working.

When you're working with someone else, you both focus each other's attention and you can have ideas on Monday morning, or when you're tired, or when you're hung over. It makes you use your time much more efficiently. Partnership doubles your resources: you can't both have missed that vital news article, event, or piece of information you need to do the job.It also develops your sense of self-criticism.

A solo creative is tempted to think he can wing it in the meeting; if there's two of you, you have to talk about what you want out of a meeting with someone else, what your fall-back position will be and so on. You end up being better researched.