A Glimpse Into the Minds of Inventors and Innovators
What My Parents, IBM, Google, and My Mind Taught Me About Leadership, Creativity, Productivity, Courage, and Personal Responsibility
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From the earliest days of my childhood, my parents taught me a principle that has shaped every aspect of my life: take personal responsibility for everything you do, whether it leads to success or failure. Then my grandparents told me that the more you give without expecting anything in return, the more you will receive.
These lessons, quietly passed down by my parents, later became my foundation not only as a technology and science leader but also as an inventor working on the front lines of one of the world’s most prolific innovation engines — IBM, which helped America reach the moon with their mainframe technologies.
I fell in love with this organization, dedicating over two decades of my best years for many reasons, but the most important one was the same principles my parents and grandparents taught me: take personal responsibility for everything and always give back to society.
IBM always inspired me to take risks with my inventions and innovations, and never punished me when I made mistakes, as they saw them as learning lessons and stepping stones to success.
IBM’s founder, the honorable T.J. Watson, told us that if you want to increase your success rate, double your failure rate.
Wise Mr Watson was right. I made a few mistakes initially, costing the company a few million dollars, but later, the outcomes earned billions. I always took personal responsibility for my mistakes and never regretted my work ethic.
Risk-taking became a habit for me, helping me become more productive, creative, and always enabling me to live in more joyful zones. Here’s a sample and simple calculated risk-taking scenario in my life.
IBM and My Invention Background
For nearly three decades, IBM held the record for the most U.S. patents filed annually. As of 2023, IBM has filed 122,110 patents.
I was privileged to contribute to that record as a Senior Consulting Inventor until I retired from the company in 2021. It was just before IBM made the strategic shift from chasing patent volume to focusing on patent value.
A year later, I left IBM, after it became the #1 patent holder for 29 consecutive years, Google took the lead, especially in the high-impact fields of generative and agentic AI.
Some saw this shift as a loss for IBM. I saw it as an evolution, a natural and necessary next step in the world of invention.
Because authentic leadership, whether in corporations or our personal lives, is not about holding the spotlight forever. It is about knowing when to change, when to let go, and when to start solving more meaningful problems.
How My Brain Became My Most Powerful Lab
Throughout my career, I have always viewed my brain as my primary lab, more advanced than any machine or algorithm.
As a lifelong student of cognitive science and neuroscience, I have learned that the inventor’s mind works best in the space between creativity and productivity in a stretch and risk zone.
Creativity requires openness, imagination, and the courage to ask questions that others ignore. It engages the brain’s default mode network, those daydreaming moments when wild ideas form connections that seem impossible.
Productivity, on the other hand, is execution. It demands the brain’s executive control network, where focus, discipline, and measurable outcomes take center stage. We need to flex our nervous system and regulate our HPA axis for relaxed delivery.
Mastering both states is not easy. But through mindfulness practices, flow state training, and daily reflection, I learned how to move between these modes with greater ease.
My spiritual heroes, like Nikola Tesla and Madame Curie, inspired me as a child to be an inventor and innovator. I imagined conversations with them, asking how they overcame fear and self-doubt. Curie’s wisdom echoed in my mind: “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.”
Taming the Blame Reflex
Understanding fear led me to recognize one of the brain’s most primitive habits: blaming. Neuroscience reveals that when we face failure or uncertainty, our brain’s survival instincts seek someone or something to blame. This is the reptilian brain amplified by the limbic system at work.
As I matured in leadership, I made a conscious decision to tame that reflex using my neocortex and reticular activating system intentionally.
With mindfulness, neurobics, and intense meditation, I trained myself to pause, reflect, and take full ownership of outcomes, even when it felt uncomfortable or when others walked away from responsibility. I am grateful to my parents and IBM for instilling in me this lifelong habit.
This practice not only elevated my leadership and productivity but also deepened my creativity and meaningful relationships with others. It freed me to experiment boldly, without the fear of failure paralyzing the progress.
A Lesson in Risk and Responsibility from Corporate Organizations
When I retired from IBM, I did not blame the company for shifting its invention strategy. I respected it. Leadership requires knowing when to pivot. I applied the same lesson to my own life, embracing the risk of stepping into uncertainty.
I turned my attention to studying emerging innovators like Google, which were building the next generation of cognitive technologies, not just filing patents, but pushing boundaries in how machines create and make decisions.
Google’s rise in generative and agentic AI patents was not surprising to me. It reflected a more profound shift in the innovation landscape, one that rewards agility, creativity, and systems-level thinking over raw numbers. I recognized the signs because I had lived through them.
Why Sharing Early-Stage Insights Matters with Courage
I have always believed in sharing what I learn, even if it feels raw or unfinished. Some might see this as risky or vulnerable.
And yes, there were times when sharing my early findings left me open to criticism or misunderstanding. But I never let that stop me.
For example, I always share my innovation prototypes or pilot programs with the public before they become full services. Perhaps that’s the reason in 2025 my company, Digitalmehmet Content Ecosystem, was honored among the top 50 innovators, none of them are perfect like me. You can read the early inspiring testimonials here.
Authentic leadership, I believe, is about sharing the journey, not just the outcomes. I have learned to speak with both my mind and my heart, knowing they sometimes disagree but ultimately serve the same purpose: to inform, to inspire, and to lead with integrity.
The Inventor’s Responsibility: Beyond the Box, Within the Norms
As much as I value thinking beyond the box, I also respect the rules, norms, and processes that govern society and scientific inquiry.
A good idea in theory can be disastrous in practice if not tested responsibly. That is why I always frame my insights as personal experiences, not prescriptions. I share them to spark thought, not to claim universal truth.
Today, as I watch Google take the lead, I reflect on my own journey with a sense of gratitude and curiosity. The world of invention has always been about change. Those who lead today must be ready to let others lead tomorrow.
To the next generation of inventors and innovators, I offer this reflection:
Your mind is your most powerful innovation lab.
Your capacity to take responsibility is your most reliable leadership tool.
Your courage to share what you learn, even when it feels incomplete initially, is your most significant contribution to society.
Because in the end, it is not the volume of patents you hold or papers you wrote, but the value you create and the humanity you preserve that defines the legacy you leave.
I will soon share my invention and innovation journals, including my technical books, in a new network I established on Substack. It is called
Technology Excellence and Leadership Network.
I will also share my invention and innovation initiatives impacting my writing in my memoirs, in a book titled The Zen of Book Authoring, which will be available on 30 September 2025. I introduced it in a story lately.
In an era marked by technological acceleration, structural volatility, and intensifying competition, clarity is no longer optional. It is essential. That is the foundational purpose of the Technology Excellence and Leadership Network.
This initiative is part of my broader, integrated content ecosystem, serving over 235,000 professionals globally. It is designed for technology leaders, researchers, founders, strategists, and knowledge workers who require timely, strategic insight rooted in both deep experience and practical execution.
After four decades at the intersection of innovation, enterprise architecture, systems thinking, and executive leadership, including engagements with IBM, Microsoft, Siemens, and NATO, I have observed a consistent pain point:
Fragmented content, outdated frameworks, and generic guidance underserve brilliant professionals.
This network will address that gap by offering a credible, experience-backed alternative: a publication where insight, not opinion, drives action.
Thank you for joining the new Technology Excellence and Leadership Network on Substack, an extension of Technology Hits, which I established on Medium in 2021.
Now I am working on an exciting project for health and wellness readers, which will be finalized on 31 December 2025 and will be a gift to society on 1 January 2026.
Introduction to Cellular Intelligence
Although I wrote this book for the general reader, I hope it inspires scientists and clinicians to refocus their attention on mitochondria as the foundation of healing.
We cannot continue to address surface symptoms without restoring cellular function. Lasting health begins deep inside the cell with the signal of mitochondria and genes.
You do not need a medical background to understand this book. If you are searching for mental clarity, emotional strength, or physical renewal, Cellular Intelligence will help you connect the dots.
My goal is to help you rediscover the power of your biology, beginning at the root, within the silent Intelligence of the trillions of cells that sustain your life, feeling, and being every single day.
If you are interested in being an alpha or beta reader, I will offer early access to this unique book at a 90% discount through my new discount shop. Please leave a comment on the story or contact me via this web form.
This small fee is not about profit but to ensure genuine commitment. In the past, many free readers downloaded my previous books but never shared any feedback.
That said, I remain deeply grateful to those who provided thoughtful input. It helped shape my writing, and I expect the same outcome in the early access of Cellular Intelligence, which will be a gift to society on 1st January 2026. I believe it will take me 7 months to refine it with SME input and beta reader reviews for public consumption.
Cellular Intelligence is a continuation of Cortisol Clarity and Train Your Brain for a Healthier and Happier Life, going into more granular details from energy to metabolic signalling.
Gaining cellular intelligence and understanding the role of mitochondria can also help you shed extra pounds and might help you live a healthier and happier life, making you feel younger as you get older, like me.
I wrote Cortisol Clarity to help readers learn about the complex nature of this hormone and provide valuable information to optimize it for a healthier and happier life. It is available in multiple bookstores and in my Health and Wellness Network newsletter as an educational source.
Quick Updates on My Writing & Community Activities
I am pleased that my community activities and solutions for a broad audience were recognized as one of the top 50 innovative organizations of the year. I wrote a heartfelt story about it.
Why My Company Is Recognized Among the Top 50 Innovation Thought Leaders in 2025
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5 Quick Content Sharing Forms Any Writers Can Use Without Registration or Even with Pen Names
The best way to grow our subscriber base and gain authority from search engines is to leave a substantial digital trace…medium.com
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Introduction to ILLUMINATION Health and Wellness Network 🌟
I’m pleased that our Health and Wellness Network was announced as a bestselling publication on Substack in March 2025. I wrote a story about my strategy on Medium to guide freelance writers. Thank you for being part of our joyful and exciting journey.
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Great article. The principle your grandparents told you is the Love Principle in nature. I would love to have a talk about it. And it's applications in the cognitive process. If you are interested, feel free to reach out to me. I also have a couple articles on this topic.