Collaboration is critical to business success. Not surprisingly, it's critical to success in the arts, too — perhaps especially to performing arts like theatre.

My writing collaborator, Andrew Black, and I appeared this month in a feature interview in The Dramatist, the monthly membership magazine of The Dramatists Guild. We were interviewed, of course, on collaboration. I say "of course" because that is the single most-asked question of Andrew and me — "You write plays together? How on earth do you manage that?"

To: Management
From: A concerned employee

Subject: Performance Management

Well, it’s that time of year again. The leaves are changing color, the kids are headed back to school in their new shoes, and I’m preparing to meet with my boss to have a year’s worth of behavior summed up in a two-or three-word euphemism that will determine my future income and career potential. Yes, that’s right, it’s Performance Appraisal time.

How do you ensure your top performers stay motivated?

Human beings are born with the ability to develop their emotional intelligence. But many of us weren’t taught how to express our feelings effectively, how to be explicit about our needs, or to ask for help in meeting our needs.