In business, just as in sport, peak performance depends on your ability to focus only on the things you can control. The key to optimising results is work on the things you can actually do something about.

It's hard making good decisions when times are tough. Behavioural economics tells us there are good reasons for that. We need to find ways of seeing the situation from outside our own head.

Often the luck of the draw seems to determine the outcome. But good fortune can also be encouraged. Research suggests your attitude and your actions can increase your exposure to good luck.

It's easy in business to get stuck in the small stuff. Looking at the bigger picture can be both calming and inspiring. Try stepping back and observing you environment rather than being overwhelmed by it.

Do you have trouble keeping track of all your best thoughts, or all those things you are supposed to remember? Someone gave me a great solution. It's been working like a charm for seventeen years.

Management commentary is full of cute slogans. But do they make any sense? Often their opposite meaning is the way to go.

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Strategic planning is a creative process; slavishly following the plan is not. For your strategy to work, its needs to be flexible and open to change.

The main mission for any business it to create value. Alan walks you through a simple process to start focussing on building value. Fully supported by free downloads and apps, this process leads to fast actions that get immediate traction.

There are several common element to the worst decisions I've made. A central one is not asking for help when I don't really know what I'm doing. You can avoid a lot of disasters just by accepting that some people do some things better than you. The art of management and the art of delegation are closely related.