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Definition: Innovation, Invention, Creativity, andExperimentation

Creativity is the ability to think and act in ways that are new and novel. In our minds, there aretwo kinds of creativity,

innovation and invention.

Innovation is thinking creatively aboutsomething that already exists (e.g., the tape recorder, Walkman, and CD player are allinnovations on the phonograph). Invention is creating something that did not exist before (e.g.the phonograph). A business example illustrates the difference clearly. When a team bases itsplans on the way the team has operated in the past, they are open only to innovation, such asincreasing efficiency. However, a team that is inventive will ask itself: Can we create a differentway to operate, one that will produce a different way of doing business?Experimentation is the process by which people become creative. When you experiment, youdon't know the outcome. You can only guess. Often, experimentation leads to a surprise --something you didn't expect. This is the power of creativity.Organizations today need more invention than innovation. This means that people inorganizations need to release their creativity in ways that are quite different from the

tried-and-true

methods of the past. It also means that organizations need to be open to moreexperimentation to find out what works and what doesn't.

The Crucial Difference Between Creativity andInnovation

By Mark McGuinness | 4/20/2009 |24 CommentsOne of the buzzwords you hear a lot in the business world these days, is “Innovation”.Yes, it’s a genuinely worthy thing to aspire to. Genuine innovation creates lots of genuinevalue, every young intern knows this. Which is why people like to throw it around likeconfetti. It’s one of those words that sound good in meetings, regardless of how seriousone is about ACTUALLY innovating ANYTHING.“Innovative” is an “external” word. It can be measured. It generally talks about thingsthat have been tested properly and found to have worked in the real world.

“Creative”, however, is more of an “internal” word. It’s subjective, it’s murkier. It’s far harder to measure, it’s far harder to define. It’s an inward journey, not outward. Which iswhy a lot of people in business try to keep the word out of their official lexicon, preferring instead more neutral, more externally-focused language like “Value”,“Excellence”, “Quality” and yes, “Innovation”.

Creative Dreamers vs Productive Innovators?

Hugh’s put his finger on an important distinction that I haven’t seen articulated quite likethis before. He’s put me in mind of Theodore Levitt’s classic definition of creativity andinnovation:“Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.”‘Creativity’ is not the miraculous road to business growth and affluence that is soabundantly claimed these days… Those who extol the liberating virtues of corporatecreativity… tend to confuse the getting of ideas with their implementation – that is,confuse creativity in the abstract with practical innovation.(Theodore Levitt, ‘Creativity Is Not Enough’ (1963))Since business is a uniquely ‘get things done’ institution, creativity withoutaction-oriented follow-through is a uniquely barren form of individual behaviour.Actually, in a sense, it is even irresponsible. This is because: (1) The creative man whotosses out ideas and does nothing to help them get implemented is shirking anyresponsibility for one of the prime requisites of the business, namely, action; and (2) byavoiding follow-through, he is behaving in an organizationally intolerable – or, at best,sloppy – fashion.

Creativity = Ideas

but

Innovation = Ideas + Action

The ideas are often judged more by their novelty than by their potential usefulness, either to consumers or to the company. So:

Creativity = Novelty

but

Innovation = Novelty + Value

Levitt’s article was written over 40 years ago, but it’s still commonplace for writers todistinguish between creativity and innovation on grounds of ideas and action, novelty andvalue:Often, in common parlance, the words creativity and innovation are usedinterchangeably. They shouldn’t be, because while creativity implies coming up withideas, ‘it’s the bringing ideas to life’ . . . that makes innovation the distinct undertaking itis.Creativity: the generation of new ideas by approaching problems or existing practicesin innovative or imaginative ways… Creativity is linked to innovation, which is the process of taking a new idea and turning it into a market offering.

The distinction is alive and well on the internet, in cut-and-dried definitions of creativity vs innovation andInnovation vs Creativity,and among bloggers keen to confront us with‘the ugly truth’ that creativity is merely‘a way of thinking’ and therefore‘a subset of innovation’.The message is clear:

creativity is all very well for intellectuals and bohemianssitting around on bean bags, but it takes an innovator to get things done

.It’s hard to argue with the logic. No reasonable person would claim ideas are morevaluable than action – but then creative people are notoriously unreasonable.Psychological definitions of

creativity

generally contain two separatecomponents. In the first place, creativity requires that we make or think something new,or a new combination of existing elements. This is the element of

novelty

innovation

… However, mere novelty is not enough. To be creative, the idea must also be

useful

, or

valuable

.Bilton is not just talking about ideas – note that he refers to ‘making’ as well as‘thinking’. So on this side of the looking glass, the terms of the equations are reversed:

Innovation = ‘mere novelty’

but

Creativity = Novelty + Value

and

Creativity = Ideas + Action

Like most creativity researchers, we rely on a product definition: A product isviewed as creative to the extent that it is both a

novel

response and an appropriate,

useful

, correct, or

valuable

response to an open-ended task.7A ‘product definition’ means that a mere idea is not enough to qualify as creativity –

action

is needed to transform the idea into a product.In business, originality isn’t enough. To be

creative

, an idea must also beappropriate –

useful

and

actionable

. It must somehow influence the way business getsdone – by improving a product, for instance, or by opening up a new way to approach a process.The study of creativity has generated a wide-ranging variety of definitions…However, most contemporary researchers and theorists have adopted a definition thatfocuses on the product or outcome of a product development process… in the currentstudy we defined creative performance as products, ideas or procedures that satisfy twoconditions: (1) they are

novel

or original and (2) they are potentially relevant for, or

useful

to, an organization.In the management literature on innovation, some authors reverse my distinction between ‘creativity’ and ‘innovation’, with creativity equating to ‘mere novelty’ andinnovation encompassing the dualism of novelty and fitness for purposeSo when you look carefully at the definitions, there is in fact

no essential differencebetween creativity and innovation

. Not for anyone who takes either of them seriously.

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deleted_fbuser_1316570033

good to have clear picture on innovation and creativity . i like it.searching for kuratko type of innovation which are invention, extension, duplication and synthesis

reply05 / 15 / 2010