Creativity vs. Innovation

We often get asked what the difference is between “creativity” and “innovation.” Though many people use the words interchangeably, they are actually two distinct, though related, entities. We like to keep the definitions simple:

Creativity: The act of producing fresh, original ideas.

Innovation: The act of putting creative thought to practical use.

Given these definitions, it’s possible to have creativity without innovation. After all, you can probably think up dozens of fresh, original ideas that would be of limited —or even no—practical use to anyone. How about a heat resistant pancake griddle? Tennis balls that don’t bounce? You get the picture.

Innovation, on the other hand, is dependent upon creativity. In order to innovate, you need to have the creative idea first. But then—and this is where innovation differs from creativity—you need to shape that idea into something that is actually practical, or on-strategy, for your intended market or business.

Being a best-in-class innovator means fostering creativity and innovation rather than just one or the other. Here are some ways to do both.

Ways to foster creativity:
• Hold ideation sessions with trained facilitators to generate fresh ideas
• Stay on top of the latest trends inside and outside your industry
• Train your employees in proven ideation techniques
• Develop sustainable methods for collecting ideas from employees at every level of your organization
• Create multi-disciplinary teams to cross-pollinate ideas

Ways to foster innovation:
• Use qualitative consumer research to explore and validate your organization’s creative ideas
• Hire leaders who remove obstacles to innovation (time/budget restraints, risk aversion) and cultivate a collaborative, blame-free environment that supports it
• Make innovation someone’s job and let it be their primary mission to do all the things we’ve listed above for fostering creativity and innovation