[edparcell]

100% agree. People now use “innovate” and “invent” interchangeably. Typically they use the fancier sounding one because they want to impress people with their long words. They are not interchangeable though. Invention is the initial spark to the first version. Innovation is the polishing process of the next n versions. The iPhone 1 is an invention, and every iPhone after that is an innovation.

Now, the iPhone 1 didn’t do very much, and often there is far more value in the innovation than there was in the original invention. But you don’t get the innovation without first inventing something that didn’t previously exist.

Sadly, using words incorrectly swaps into thoughts, and affects reasoning. Because these words have been conflated, organizations are typically no longer able to reason about invention and innovation correctly, and are uninterested in inventing as a result. I would argue we see this in the lack of new underlying technological inventions after the 90s. It is like we have eaten our own seed corn. Very sad.