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Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your workweek. I'm pointing you to articles about finding focus, top performing companies, diversifying your business, gaming, and after-action critiques.

From Fortune: How the best bosses find focus
"If you find yourself fuzzy in your focus (as I am!), here are a few tips that I’ve collected and could help us cope."

Wally's Comment: Pattie Sellers offers you three things to think about and supports each one with an example. This is your must-read of the week. It will only take you about two minutes.

From Business Week: The Business Week 50
"The BusinessWeek 50 . . . represents our choice of the "best in class" from the 10 sectors of the Standard & Poor's index of 500 stocks."

Wally's Comment: This is the thirteenth year for Business Week's top 50 list. It includes public companies that rank highest in Return on Capital and sales growth for the last three years when compared with other companies in their sector.

You'll find some old standards here. Microsoft and Best Buy make an appearance. But you're bound to notice a company or two that wasn't on your radar before. The analysis by sectors makes it easy to apply the insights you get.

From Industry Week: Diversifying Your Business
"We all know that market opportunities present themselves constantly, even in tough economic times. The key is keeping your eyes open for those opportunities, however unconventional they may seem."

Wally's Comment: There's a powerful suggestion embedded in this article. Think about your business based on what you do, instead of what you produce. It will open your eyes to opportunities that used to be hidden.

From Forbes: Gaming's Clouded Future
"First, the music stores died. Then the video stores. Now a cloud is shadowing the outskirts of the gaming industry. The Web is lurking. There's no telling exactly how this will play out, but there will be blood. "

Wally's Comment: While lots of other commentators are touting computer gaming as a great growth industry, Forbes has spotted some clouds on the horizon.

From Inc: Armed With Data
"Companies repeat mistakes for two reasons: They never identify what went wrong, or, if they do diagnose a problem, they don't institutionalize the solution. Often, managers limit their postmortems to asking for three things that went well and three things that went badly and then initiating a round of applause for Michael, who was here all night making the presentation binders. Some businesses take a more regimented approach, adopting a practice from the military. The U.S. Army is famous for its rigorous debriefings, known as after-action reviews, or AARs."

Wally's Comment: Feedback is the breakfast of champions for companies as well as individuals. The military has made after-action critique a habit. You and your company should, too.

Just so you start the week smiling, I include a link to Rowan Manahan's "interview" with a financial exec who feels entitled to a big bonus. Read along as Rowan asks the questions you'd ask if you could.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.