The no-criticism rule is probably more important in a hierarchical organization. At BBDO in the 1940s, I imagine junior creatives were intimidated by senior partners and the challenge was to get them to speak freely. The experiments that show no benefit were done on groups of students, all roughly peers who weren't afraid to utter a silly idea.
The article suggests that brainstorming was invalid all along, but it's more fair to say that it had a time and place. Society and business have evolved towards equality and inclusiveness, so the no-criticism rule is less important.
I think your point might be valid, but it would be nice to test it. The obvious place to try it might be Japan which still has a pretty hierarchical corporate culture.
Perhaps a stronger argument along the same lines is that in a business setting anything that breaks away from the highly dysfunctional mechanics of many business meetings (which are not purely due to hierarchy) has to be a Good Thing.
The article suggests that brainstorming was invalid all along, but it's more fair to say that it had a time and place. Society and business have evolved towards equality and inclusiveness, so the no-criticism rule is less important.