[jtbigwoo]

Eating lunch together can foster connections and spark conversations like this.

Also, it's funny the number of times just speaking a problem out loud changes your perspective on things. I've worked on short-deadline projects where we asked team members to set a one-hour time limit on problems. If you're stuck on something for more than an hour, explain the problem to your neighbor and ask for help. There were several times when I turned toward my neighbor and realized the solution before I said a word. I suspect that the act of organizing the problem in order to explain it made it easier to solve.

[KeepTalking]

I agree completely. Lunch conversations are a wonderful time to break into informal conversations that result in ideas/fixes etc. I have worked at 2 places where (informally) the team chose to have lunch together and I have seen that the discussion invariable boils down to work ideas with better results than 'meetings'. I suspect a large reason as to why this works is eventually everyone lets their guard down and results in better/relaxed thinking.