How to Find the Paul McCartney to Your John Lennon

You Can’t Engineer Great Collaboration, Says Joshua Wolf Shenk. But Brilliant Creative Pairs Have a Few Things in Common.

Most of us have been buoyed by synergy or thrived off the energy of another person. We know that chemistry is something that exists between certain individuals—like, say, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. But we don’t know exactly what it is. In front of a standing-room-only audience at The Actors’ Gang, writer Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Powers of Two, talked with Jonathan Ames, creator of the TV show Bored to Death, about the mysterious act of collaboration, which Shenk believes is a recurring quality in just about every instance …

Teamwork Doesn’t Mean We’re All Equal

A Collaboration Expert Tells Us What Goes Into Successful Partnerships

I’ve been in the collaboration business for a dozen years now. Most people (including my parents) have no idea what that actually means. Fortunately, they assume that if I’ve been …

That Time Mozart Jammed with Michael Jackson

Which Creative Greats Would You Pick for a Dream Collaboration?

Even as teenagers, John Lennon and Paul McCartney saw themselves as “the next great songwriting team.” Sitting in McCartney’s living room with their guitars, they jotted down ideas in a …