Innovation is not invention. Innovation is the application of invention in ways that solve new needs. I’m always amazed at how misunderstood this term is…, even though the definition of each is easy to understand:
Innovate | verb |
• [ no obj. ] make changes in something established, esp. by introducing new methods, ideas, or products: the company’s failure to diversify and innovate competitively.
• [ with obj. ] introduce (something new, esp. a product): innovating new products, developing existing ones.
Innovation | noun | the action or process of innovating.
• a new method, idea, product, etc.: technological innovations designed to save energy.
Invent | verb | [ with obj. | create or design (something that has not existed before); be the originator of: he invented an improved form of the steam engine.
Invention | noun | the action of inventing something, typically a process or device: the invention of printing in the 15th century.
These words get interchanged a lot, and incorrectly too. In summary, “Innovation differs from invention in that innovation refers to the use of a better and, as a result, novel idea or method, whereas invention refers more directly to the creation of the idea or method itself.”