It's easy to get stuck in the office, yet that's often the last place where good ideas turn up. To stay at the leading edge, the best managers make a point of getting out more, catching up with customers, suppliers, even competitors.

Strategy is the big picture we are trying to achieve, but it's tactics that keep us in the now and make it happen.

Perfect competition is great in theory but it never actually exists. That's because a business can't thrive in perfect conditions. A successful strategy is often based on creating inefficient markets.

Anyone starting a new business could learn a lot from surfing. It's not just about how you perform on the wave, it's also about how you get on the wave in the first place. Alan recalls his teenage years.

You can't change your DNA but you can change which parts of it you use or don't use. Instead of doing what you've always done, try looking outside the square.

It's is often exhilarating to get promoted. Being handed a challenge is uplifting and motivating. But it can also be scary. Alan talks about the common fears that managers face and what you can do about them.

Incentive payments often boost the quantity of output but they don't necessarily do much for its quality. In fact research indicates incentives are counterproductive in a lot of situations. What sort of incentives actually work?

Masses of books are written about leadership. What core principles are common to the best of them?

There is a lot of talk about "charisma" and it's role in management. But too often we confuse charisma with celebrity. Truly charismatic leaders base their power on their character rather than their personality.

It is getting harder and harder to get money from the government for any project, even really sensible ones. To get a hearing, you need to be able to offer some help with public finances. Alan looks at an innovative financing project in which disadvantaged families save the government money by improving their own lives.