Tag Archives: common language

Innovation vs. Invention vs. Creativity

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Innovation vs Invention vs Creativity

There is so much talk about innovation these days, it’s hard to sometimes distinguish the signal from the noise.

In fact, the word innovation gets thrown around so much that it leaves people wondering:

What’s really innovative?

Well, most of the time that people talk about something being innovative, what they describe isn’t innovative, but instead inventive or creative. These three are all very different. Here is how I like to distinguish the differences between creativity, invention and innovation:

  1. Creativity – creates something interesting

  2. Invention – creates something useful

  3. Innovation – creates something so valuable that it is widely adopted, replacing the existing solution in a majority of appropriate use cases

Very few creative sparks result in an invention and very few inventions become innovations.

And the painful truth is that many great inventions take 20-30 years to be realized. Timing your investment is the key to whether you waste a big wad of cash, or still have it to spend when the optimal time to invest in a potential innovation comes.

If you look at most technology-based innovations, whether it’s the mp3 or the VCR, they were invented 20-30 years before they reached wide adoption in the marketplace, and for Gorilla Glass we’re talking more like 50 years.

To further emphasize the importance of timing…

Look at Webvan vs. Amazon Fresh

Look at Pets.com vs. Chewy.com (acquired by Petsmart)

Now these aren’t innovations, but you get my point. You have to know where you are on the commercialization timeline…

And most importantly, sometimes you have to look BACKWARDS before you look forwards, so you know where on the commercialization timeline you are.

If you’re working on a potential innovation now, are you sure it’s a potential innovation?

Are you sure now is the time to go big?

Read more about Premature Innovation

You might also enjoy Are You Innovating for the Past or the Future?

Image credit: blr.com

Innovation Audit from Braden Kelley

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Let’s Chat About the Language of Innovation

Let’s Chat About the Language of Innovation

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Let’s Chat About the Language of Innovation

It was bound to happen sooner or later…

What is it you might ask?

Well, it is the recognition that the language we use (and more importantly, having a common language) when it comes to innovation, to change, or to pretty much any other aspect of business is just as important as it is in our personal lives.

Who does the recognition come from?

Well, none other than the innocats, a cool group of people who host a twitter chat at #innochat every Thursday at 5PM GMT (that’s 9AM for those of you on the west coast of the USA, Noon on the east coast, and well, 5PM for those of you in the UK).

Personally I tend to use Tweetchat.com to participate in twitter chats like this because it makes it easy to follow along real-time. If you go to the Tweetchat.com web site, just enter the hashtag #innochat as the room you’d like to enter.

So, come join me tomorrow (October 9, 2014) for an #innochat on the language of innovation. You can find the introductory post for the session here:

Sorry, link expired

UPDATE: Sorry, link to transcript expired

On that page you’ll also find links to my latest article on the topic and my latest white paper (commissioned by Planview).

If you’d like to commission a white paper, webinar, or keynote speech on innovation, social business, inbound/digital/content marketing or some other topic you think I can help people make sense of, contact me.

Otherwise, come join me for a lively Twitter discussion of the importance of a common language of innovation.

Oh, and if you’re curious what my current definition of innovation is, here you go:

“Innovation transforms the useful seeds of invention into widely adopted solutions valued above every existing alternative.” – Braden Kelley

Keep innovating!

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Build a Common Language of Innovation for 2014

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Build a Common Language of Innovation for 2014As the end of 2013 approaches, why not give your employees and your organization the gift of innovation for 2014?

One of the biggest keys to innovation success is building a common language of innovation.

From creating a definition of innovation unique to your organization, to creating an innovation vision, strategy, and goals, a common language of innovation will accelerate the speed and effectiveness of your innovation efforts by aligning everyone’s understanding of what innovation means to your organization and how you plan to achieve it.

One way that organizations around the world are doing this, is to acquire my book Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire in bulk quantities to help their organization create a common language and understanding of innovation.

In addition to helping organizations identify and remove barriers to innovation, Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire also serves a great innovation primer and a good way to get everyone on the same page.

If you’d like to align and accelerate your innovation efforts going into 2014, consider:

  1. Making a bulk order of Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire from Hooks Books (an independent minority woman-owned bookseller) or 800-CEO-READ (for customized orders) to hand out as gifts

  2. Introducing the Nine Innovation Roles into your organization

  3. Contacting me about my elearning offerings (Level 1 GIMI Innovation Certification eLearning Coming Soon!)

  4. Booking me for a keynote speech, workshop or masterclass – Book Now

Keep innovating!


Build a common language of innovation on your team

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