I think it depends on the task. An engineer that designs an assembly line in isolation, usually creates a problem for the actual workers performing the task. When Ford put engineers and workers together, they ended up with less medical problems -- since the workers were not in difficult positions attaching something -- better productivity and higher quality.
When Apollo 13 was in distress, it wasn't a bunch of engineers in isolation that came up with a solution under the time constraint, but the group working together in a room where they could quickly take apart an idea to see if it would work.
There is that a-ha moment that a scientist will have, as he sits in isolation, but it is usually after he has gathered the information from all kinds of sources and it finally gels in his brain.
I get my best ideas when I am running in the morning. I have that time to see it clearly and figure it out. But the compilation of information didn't get there in isolation.
I think the whole introverted, in isolation is out of context.
