It's what Alec said a long time ago (I'm not sure if it even was in the interview that got him fired):

"I know how Jon writes and I know how Richie writes. I put those two guys together. They should be patting me on the back ‘cos without each other they’d still not be writing right. Jon writes cowboy songs, they all start out that way. He needs Richie to hard ‘em up and turn them into Bon Jovi songs."