Questionnaire: Business Class with Alan Iny
On the job, Alan Iny challenges Fortune 100 companies to foster sustainable innovation. In his first book, Thinking in New Boxes (co-authored with colleague Luc de Brabandere), he shows how corporations from BIC to Trader Joe's have stayed in the game by stepping up their creativity
~ by Stephanie McBride
Fondest travel memory — Hiking the five-day Milford Track in New Zealand with my wife right after we were married.
First business trip — Washington, D.C., when I was the manager of the Montreal Chamber Music Festival.
First plane trip — London, England.
Best business travel tip — Make sure to take a walk, and try to eat a little bit of the local food.
Favorite quality in a hotel — It has to feel like the destination, like a French castle or German monastery. Fairmont The Palm really felt like a part of Dubai. Also, it has to have a pool!
Jet-lag remedy — Don’t drink alcohol. And wear pajamas on the plane.
Best thing about traveling — Coming home to my little girl.
I never leave home without — Comfortable shoes.
Next vacation — Wandering the fjords of Norway with my wife and daughter.
Favorite city in the world — Depends on my mood, but I will always love Montreal. Especially the mountain in the center of the city.
Dream travel companion — My wife, Roberta.
Best shopping — Anywhere but the airport. Try to get to the local markets.
Perfect souvenir — Something that represents an architectural feature of the destination, like a mosaic I got from a chapel in Spain.
Thinking in New Boxes is about being “stuck in a box.” To get out of a box while traveling, I like to — Give myself rules and make an ef- fort to try new things. I make a point to get out and explore the destination instead of sticking to the same old airport-hotel-airport routine.
THINKING IN NEW BOXES - PUBLISHED BY PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE Alan Iny is the senior specialist for creativity and scenario planning at The Boston Consulting Group. He has trained thousands of executives and BCG consultants, runs a wide range of workshops across industries, and speaks around the world about coming up with products, services, and other ideas, developing a new strategic vision, and thinking creatively about the future. [more..]