I enjoy renewing myself and my work. For this reason, I like to keep abreast of trends and developments in innovation, intellectual property rights, cultural management and sustainability and to be aware of new practices in the business world. The resources that I monitor create opportunties to learn about new content and meet new people and draw me into the innovation ecosystem. This way, I can establish a network around me that inspires me with new ideas, news and stories. Thanks to this network, I can evaluate both myself and the VitrA Innovation Center relative to others. On a personal level, these resources give me an opportunity to research and improve myself on new subjects and to update myself in my area of expertise. In terms of my institution, I share best practice examples that I think will contribute to our work with my teammates and try to act as a trigger and implementer.

People I follow

Elon Musk, Sheryl Sandberg, Guy Kawasaki, Simon Sinek, Dr. Umut Ekmekçi, Dr. Sertaç Doğanay, Ufuk Tarhan, Emre Başkan, young people, students

Books

The Innovator’s DNA (Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, Clayton M. Christensen), Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell)

Blog-LinkedIn

HBR, ISPIM, The Indiegogo Blog, The Kickstarter Blog, McKinsey, TTGV Xnovate, Başlangıç Noktası, Tomorrow and United Nations Global Compact

Podcast

Patent Effect

TEDx

The Art of Innovation - Guy Kawasaki (TEDxBerkeley); The Playful Wonderland Behind Great Inventions - Steven Johnson; How to Manage for Collective Creativity - Linda Hill (TEDxCambridge)

Film

Padman, Three Idiots, The Imitation Game, The Call to Courage, Interstellar

In truth, it's not easy to come up with creative ideas that have the potential to become innovations; the fear of making mistakes can frighten employees. Yet, we shouldn't refrain from expressing our thoughts about problems in our business processes that need solutions, sharing our innovative solutions, and while we do this, nurturing our internal motivation. Actually, research indicates that just relying on financial resources to promote innovation is not enough; when employees feel important and valued, they begin to think innovatively about problems and to freely share these problems.

By following current news, interaction our markets, and the innovations of our competitors, I evaluate whether we can apply these to our own work processes or organization. It inspires me to observe people who make a difference by doing their job well and to understand the needs driving them. Of course you can develop your innovation perspective through observation and keeping abreast of the agenda, but I also believe that this perspective is a competency and is partly determined by one's nature.

I would recommend Pierre Franckh's The Law of Resonance, which asserts that the only person who can change your development and perspective is yourself, and Mümin Sekman's Her Şey Seninle Başlar [Everything Begins with You]. These two books aren't just about innovation, but I believe that innovation requires that people first get to know themselves and then move on to questioning. Additionally, I'd like to recommend Peter Thiel's book Zero to One, where he talks about the power of new ideas and how companies should create work environments where employees can express new ideas. These books aren't just about innovation, but I believe that innovation requires that people first get to know themselves and then move on to questioning.

I think that Joe Rogan, David Goggins and the Minimalist podcast channels contribute to the development of an innovative and entrepreneurial perspective, as they talk about concepts like innovation and entrepreneurship, technology and engineering, as well as history, life habits, discipline, sports and art. I recommend the movies Moneyball and The Big Short on creating meaning from data, the books Sapiens, Homo Deus, The Gene and The Gift on history, and the business books Hooked, The Power of Habit, The Dip and Running Lean.

Three podcast channels inspire me significantly in terms of productization: How I Built This, Product Hunt Radio, and B2B Growth. Jason Fried, Dan Olsen, Roman Pichler, Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin, Kelsey Hightower and Faruk Eczacıbaşı inspire and energize me with respect to marketing, strategy, product management and innovation. Platforms such as meetup.com, kommunity.com and eventbrite, which support the open source ecosystem and come together to produce solutions for similar problems, organize online events in various fields. The Başlangıç Noktası platform also produces valuable content on a weekly basis on technology, especially on data, artificial intelligence and blockchain.

All this content pushes me to be more environmentally sensitive, disciplined and persistent and convinces me that we can learn from each other and shape the future together through experimentation by reminding me of the extraordinary resources each of us has. By applying practical knowledge and perspectives in my business and private life, I feel less stressed and more empowered.

We organize “Just Create” meetings with focus groups to develop product and technology-oriented ideas at Eczacıbaşı Consumer Products' R&D center. We've created a platform where creative ideas can be developed by drawing on different perspectives. Personally, I keep track of global developments in FMCG products, competitor products, content, claims and consumer insights using the Mintel database. In addition to patents, publications and articles, I search for developments in raw materials from platforms and manufacturers such as in-cosmetics and SOFW.

I'm particularly interested in learning about the success of people who master their profession and are passionate about what they do, and how they became that person. I listen to Nilay Örnek's podcast How to be?; I follow the Instagram posts of Futurist Ufuk Tarhan, who emphasizes technology, design and teamwork in her book T-İnsan [T-Human]. Other discussions I follow to further develop my perspective are Prof. Dr. Erkcan Özcan's Olmaz Öyle Saçma Bilim! [No Such Nonsense Science] talks, Cem Say's TEDx talks on artificial intelligence, and the posts of Özgür Mumcu, Barış Özcan, Can Gürses, Mete Atatüre and Serkan Karaismailoğlu.

In a problem or need-driven approach, you try to come up with new ideas and solutions for resolving a problem or meeting a need; for this reason, everywhere and anything can be a source of inspiration for innovation. You may find yourself thinking about something completely different. For example, when you see a post about a fire, your goal is to extinguish the fire or to heal the environment, but you might also start thinking about how to develop a mineral that could extinguish the fire, what the options are, and what you can do. Or maybe, in the process of thinking about what the world will be like in the future, your desire to contribute something leads you to an idea for an innovative product. I feel very alive when I read content that generates ideas from other ideas.

I follow Cüneyt Özdemir's YouTube posts with Elif Çetin, as well as Barış Özcan and Ufuk Tarhan on social media. In short, they share the innovations being made in the world. These posts contain very candid and up-to-date news. I also scan every tag that may be related to innovation and R&D on Instagram to see if there are any ideas I can get from them. I monitor data, future trends and regulation details published by IMA Europe (the European Minerals Association), which is sector-specific content. In addition, industry reports like Cerame-Unie and Innovation Roadmap, which often have content on minerals, are always on my radar. These reports indicate where sectors are headed and what can be done accordingly.

Motivational Marketing and Happy Brain are inspiring books that don't specifically address innovation but which helped me develop a perspective for interpreting consumer habits and our decision-making processes.

I regularly follow Webrazzi, startups.watch, Back to the Entrepreneur and The Entrepreneur Mind. However, the person I would like to recommend is a professor who inspires me: Erhan Erkut, dean of the Bilkent Faculty of Business Administration during my final year there and well-known for his contributions to innovation and entrepreneurship in Turkey. I especially recommend his 2015 TEDx talk Fikirler Üzerine Mitler [Myths about Ideas]. In this talk, he explains that it is almost impossible to come up with an idea that has never been thought of and that the important thing is developing existing ideas and then establishing a business model for implementing them; he also points out that a mistake-tolerant management style is important if you don't want to hinder creativity.

I track the websites of various accelerators and incubators. For example, the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator website is a good option for following the work of international entrepreneurs. The projects and objectives on this site are often very helpful in terms of innovative thinking, as they're driven by the latest technological and social innovations. I follow companies in Microsoft's start-up ecosystem in order to see the most recent research in the field of information technology. I participate in activities where the projects of start-ups are promoted, and I try to seize the opportunity to establish partnerships for different projects.

I regularly review sites such as Webrazzi.com and egirisim.com and entrepreneurship groups on LinkedIn, in order to keep abreast of developments in Turkey and abroad. I would recommend The Lean Startup book and Impact Hub blog site especially to colleagues interested in entrepreneurship. I also think that it could be eye-opening for everyone to participate in the entrepreneurship and innovation program of their region through Impact Hub.

Obviously, TED Talks have inspired millions of people around the world. “Torchbearers: Ideas in Action” is a series of five-minute episodes that focus on one TED Talk and a real-life initiative that it has inspired. Knowing that the ideas of some of TED Talks have actually been put into practice gives me the conviction and willingness to implement others.

The book Those Who Succeed Through Suffering looks at the most successful people of their time, ranging from Florence Nightingale to Bill Gates, and reveals how they inspired future generations despite their limited circumstances. The different reactions of the protagonists to events and the way they overcome difficulties can be an inspiration in your life.

Fun History Lessons on Netflix covers many diverse topics from science to art, nuclear energy to social issues in episodes about 20 minutes long; each episode traces the development of the subject from the beginning and features compelling perspectives.

MacGyver, which can be watched on Amazon Prime, tells the story of a young man working for the American government who constantly finds a way out of crisis situations with the limited means at his disposal. Sometimes, I look at the problems in my business life from the perspective of the main character; he inspires me to find innovative solutions.

There is no end to what we call innovation, and I think the best way to keep abreast of developments is to focus on certain topics you're curious about. For example, I've been interested in blockchain technology for almost a year, and I started following this topic through research on Twitter. If you're interested in this subject, you can follow Efe Bulduk (@TheBullduck) on Twitter and access all of the YouTube and Telegram content. He also gives links to the most important resources of the sector.

I'm following Phil Knight, whom I discovered relatively late and wish I had discovered earlier. My acquaintance with him started with the book Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE on the recommendation of a friend. Indeed, if the concept of sports shoes exists in the world today, it started with the brand created by Phil Knight. For this reason, I was very impressed by the road he covered on this journey and the business awareness he applied to all end-to-end processes.