Innovation and invention. From the outset, they look very similar; and often the words are used interchangability – but is there a difference?
What is innovation?
Innovation is great ideas realised.
Dr Nick Spencer, Northumbria University
It’s the churn of creation, development and implementation of a new product, process, service or intervention with the aim of positively impacting a stakeholder, a situation, a context through improved efficencies, effectiveness or competitive advantage.
Innovation, generally, is seen to sit within 4 areas: Incremental, Sustaining, Disruptive and Radical; as per:
A common meme on the subject,
Innovation = Invention + Commercialization
Source: MIT Technology Review and Kenneth Morse (founder and managing director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center).
Of course not all innovation is necessarily commericalised. It could be an internal processes, intervention; or it could be framed through a charitable or voluntary interaction.
Regardless, innovation can give organisations the edge in a given situation or context, be it a new market, new product, new service, new processes, new interventions or interactions.
What is Invention?
According to the Cambridge dictionary, invention is defined as:
something that has never been made before, or the process of creating something that has never been made before.
Source: Cambridge online dictionary
And according to Wikipedia,
invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition or process. The invention process is a process within an overall engineering and product development process. It may be an improvement upon a machine or product or a new process for creating an object or a result.
Source: Wikipedia
So, what is the difference?
Invention is about creating something new, whilst innovation introduces the concept of use of an idea or method for a given context or situation.
Invention infers something “new”, whilst innovation infers an improvement, or contribution to an exisiting product, process, service, intervention or interaction.
The main difference could be the pressure for organisations to been seen to creating something wholley new, when quick, innovative wins can be equally as positive.
My take on the difference between innovation and invention
My take: Innovation and invention aren’t necessarily seperate, some examples like the iPhone are both an invention and offers innovation through its design, user experience and leveraging other inventions and features.
Inventions can be protected through intellectual property and patent procedures, whereas innovations may not hold the same weight in a court of law.
The microchip is an invention; however, the Pentium chip or Intel chip are examples of innovation. However, the microchip in itself is an innovation on previous inventions such as the telegraph.
Another example: the car is an invention, but innovations may tackle the underlying reasons behind why a car is needed or may offer transport options.
My take is that innovation and invention are really part of the same thing, to positively discover, develop and deliver new ideas and bring them to market.