“No great thing is created suddenly.”

I recently learned a somewhat academic definition of a term I thought I was familiar with. The latest trend in the business world is its heavy emphasis on innovation. From my youth, to me innovation = invention. However in my Innovation and Creativity class I learned that innovation is not quite so. According to the American Heritage Dictionary innovation is: the act of introducing something new. Essentially then, innovation is the act of commercializing an invention. This somewhat demeans what for me was an idealistic concept of being innovative.

On the flip-side, if what you invent never comes to market, you’ve likely failed to make a lasting impact. So, no matter how great it is, an invention must be followed by an innovative process.