To invent or to innovate?
Innovation and Entrepreneurship: It is important to recognise that innovation implies action, not just conceiving new ideas. When people have passed through the stages of creativity, they may have become inventors, but they are not yet innovators. Let’s see why… For starters, the difference between invention and innovation is:
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Invention – is the creation of new products, processes, and technologies not previously known to exist.
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Innovation – is the transformation of creative ideas into useful applications by combining resources in new or unusual ways to provide value to society for or improved products, technology, or services.
So what are we saying? Well, in essence the elements in the innovation process are:
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Analytical planning – to identify: product design, market strategy, financial need.
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Organising resources – to obtain: materials, technology, human resources, capital.
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Implementation – to accomplish: organisation, product design, manufacturing, services.
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Commercial application – to provide: value to customers, reward of employees, revenues for investors, satisfaction for founders.
What is it to be… inventor or innovator? Personally I’d rather be an innovator than an inventor and have no one to share my new creation with. The adage, “necessity is the mother of invention” might be true. But that is only one side of the coin. The necessity will not be met without transforming the creative idea into a useful application. If it stops at invention, the need will remain.
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