Monday, February 1, 2010

Innovation vs Invention

"Are you innovative???
Recently during an interview I was asked the same question. My answer was "yes" and I somehow tried to substantiate...
Innovation is a result - not a process.
An innovation is an idea put into action that creates change. You can try to create ground-breaking ideas intended for this purpose,
but until launched and in use, you won't know if it is an innovation.
On the list of objectives of most marketers is a statement about being innovative or driving innovation.
Telling marketers to "innovate" is the problem. It frames the wrong issue. The mission of the team should not be to "innovate," it should be to:

"Create remarkable ideas that have the potential to induce improvement and change."
(http://brandmistri.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html)


This is what Wiki has to tell:

Distinguishing INNOVATION from invention:

In business, innovation can be easily distinguished from invention. Invention is the conversion of cash into ideas. Innovation is the conversion of ideas into cash. This is best described by comparing Thomas Edison with Nikola Tesla.
Thomas Edison was an innovator because he made money from his ideas. Nikola Tesla was an inventor. Tesla spent money to create his inventions but was unable to monetize them.

It is useful, when conceptualising innovation, to consider whether other words suffice. Invention – the creation of new forms, compositions of matter, or processes – is often confused with innovation. An improvement on an existing form, composition or processes might be an invention, an innovation, both or neither if it is not substantial enough. It can be difficult to differentiate change from innovation. According to business literature, an idea, a change or an improvement is only an innovation when it is put to use and effectively causes a social or commercial reorganization.

So far there is no evidence where innovation has been measured scientifically. Scientists around the world are still working on methods to accurately measure innovation in terms of cost, effort or resource savings. Some of the innovations
have become successful because of the way people look at things and need for change from the old ways of doing things "Innovation . . . is generally understood as the successful introduction of a new thing or method . . . Innovation is
the embodiment, combination, or synthesis of knowledge in original, relevant, valued new products, processes, or services. Innovation typically involves creativity, but is not identical to it: innovation involves acting on the creative ideas
to make some specific and tangible difference in the domain in which the innovation occurs. "All innovation begins with creative ideas . . . We define innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization. In this view, creativity by individuals and teams is a starting point for innovation; the first
is necessary but not sufficient condition for the second".

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