From invention to innovation

The words invention and innovation sounds kind of similar, but although the concepts are related to one another they are not the same thing. Both words can be further qualified with descriptive words like Disruptive, Radical, Incremental and Sustaining. Examining all these different concepts and how they relate should make for an increased understanding and better communication. That in turn should lead to better decisions. Here is my 2 cent on how to make it easy to think about these things.

Invention is not innovation

This is an important distinction. An invention is a new and original way to do things, or a new thing that has not been seen before. Innovation on the other hand is about putting inventions to good use. Invention requires specialist knowledge and creativity, innovation requires practical application. Theodore Lewitt put it very elegantly in a letter:

“Creativity Is Thinking Up New Things. Innovation Is Doing New Things.”

The progress we make in business and our societies is due to innovation, but innovation in turn depends on invention. In economic terms the difference relates to availability on the market. A simple way to separate the two concepts is to say that when an invention becomes available as a product or a service it has transformed into an innovation. Strictly speaking though, an invention can be available to some people – e.g. its inventors, their friends and test groups – without being an innovation.

Radical and Disruptive

Radical Innovation and Disruptive Innovation sounds kind of similar. However, in the most popular book on innovation (The Innovator’s Dilemma) they are not used interchangeably. Radical is used to describe a technological or research breakthrough. Disruptive is used to describe a dramatic market change.

Incremental and Sustaining

Incremental Innovation and Sustaining Innovation also sounds more or less like the same thing, but not so. Incremental means that research-wise this was no revolution. Sustaining tells us that the effect on the market was more like a strengthening of positions.

In order to avoid misunderstandings I recommend that the term Innovation is not used to describe all these cases. Below I give my suggestion on what words to use. Also, to understand the concepts better it is good to see them all in the context of market penetration. The figure below illustrates this.

Radical Invention

In this stage amazing discoveries and inventions are thought up, but the market penetration is low. A good alternative to the term Radical Invention is Radical Research.

Incremental Invention

In this stage improvements on already existing inventions are carried through, i.e. to make an innovation easier, safer or more economic to use. A good alternative to the term Incremental Invention is Incremental Research.

Disruptive Innovation

This is where new markets are created and where underdog companies can topple the big market dragons. Disruptive Innovation is key when implementing a blue ocean strategy.

Sustaining Innovations

This is where the companies that dominate the markets improve and continue to grow or safeguard their market shares. Some new competitors may enter the market. In this stage we have more of a red ocean strategy, or perhaps a red ocean market battle.

Not a straight path

It’s important to notice that the path from invention to innovation is not a straight one. However, before we can have Incremental Research we need Radical Research. To improve on something we need to have something to improve. By the same token we need Disruptive Innovation before we can have Sustaining Innovation. Before we can work on increasing our market share we need to have a market.

An insight that the figure above doesn’t reveal is that sometimes a Radical Invention may spawn a Sustaining Innovation. Often Incremental Invention is necessary before we have a Disruptive Innovation. The market will not sway easily unless the quality of the products and services have reached a certain level. But this is not a hard rule. If the upsides of a Radical Invention is amazing the effect on the market may be profound.

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Related reading: business-strategy-innovation.com, ribbonfarm.com, provenmodels.com & venturebeat.com

Image by henrikj