When working with our clients, we often get a lot of questions about innovation, and we’ve seen there’s a lot of confusion on the terminology.
Whether in technology, research, or even humanitarian organizations, the word “Innovation” is often advertised and associated with growth, potential, and the attitude to achieve more and do better. It, along with “invention” and “creativity,” is sometimes used as a buzzword, thrown around a lot but not properly understood.
While creating a company or product, is important to clarify and differentiate these words from each other in order to focus the organization, get value from research and development (and returns on money invested in it), and understand how to structure individual roles within the company.
What is innovation?
So what does innovation really mean? And how does it differ from invention and creativity in a business? Let’s start from a definition of innovation, invention and creativity:
- Innovation is the process of turning a new concept into commercial success or widespread use.
- Invention is the creation of a new idea or concept.
- Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality.
Creativity, invention, and innovation are all interrelated and necessary for growth to occur. We can follow any successful company and see an investment of time and effort into these three concepts. Based on our experience and research conducted, we have discovered these insights:
Creativity
Creativity is the act of channeling imagination into something concrete. It is the very first stage of design, where ideas start to actually take form, and a plan can be developed.
Examples of creativity:
- in the case of Uber, creativity was necessary in producing the concept of ride sharing and of making driving jobs accessible to any individual.
- another example can be the Google Glass, which although were very creative at the time (new, different in the market), were not necessarily innovative (monetary return over investment made by the company).
Invention
Invention is the physical creation of a new concept or idea. Also, from Nesta’s innovation policy tookit, it is defined as The creation of an idea to do or make something without verification that it works, or is commercially valuable. Invention cannot occur without creativity, but just creativity is not enough to properly develop an idea.
Examples of invention:
- product designs, business models, or working prototypes.
- Uber channeled invention in creating a solid and working business model, based upon the ideas they had formed in the creation stage.
Innovation
Innovation ties everything together in business. According to British Standards, Innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas. It involves turning an invention into a commercial success and encouraging its widespread use. This is the stage where bold ideas, once properly developed, are brought to the public eye. This is what Uber has achieved, now that its product is in use all over the world and benefits people everywhere.
Examples of innovation:
- successful products and services like Care of, Amazon Scout, Impossible Food, Google’s self-driving taxis, …
- successful process innovations like Amazon predictive orders, or additive manufacturing processes.
Once again, Innovation cannot happen without creativity or invention, and neither creativity nor invention is useful in business if not properly executed.
As can be clearly seen in the example of Uber, all the three steps are crucial in order to create a profitable business.
Uber achieved innovation through creative ideas, a profitable business plan, and widespread marketing, all of which allowed the product to completely change the car sharing industry. These three stages are steps that will allow you to create and commercialize your product, and make your business grow and succeed.
