Do You Know the Difference between Innovations and Inventions?

We all have been there. Suddenly you come up with a good idea that seems to have the potential for business and start to elaborate more on how to develop it until somebody, including yourself, says: Yeah, this sounds good, but it has already been done a hundred times.
When this happens, you just hold it, because you need to know the difference between inventions and innovations.
“Invention and innovation appear to be closely related. Many people believe there must be an invention at the beginning of every entrepreneurial success story. “The rest” is then merely a question of “implementation.” This approach may seem plausible, but it’s highly dangerous,” Guenter Faltin says on his book Brains versus Capital.

Here comes the case of the team that invented the World Wide Web. Web pioneer and entrepreneur Jean-François Groff answered to the following question:

Anything that I am developing today has been done a million times in various ways. What was the inspiration to start working on the WWW standard? Was there a lot of prior work to build on or was it all from scratch.

Here’s his answer: Do not worry about stuff having been done a million times already. The Web was considered primitive junk by hypertext experts; we got rejected from the Hypertext 1991 conference. Whatever you’re working on, if it solves a real problem that has frustrated you, it’s useful. Great inventions like the web are only obvious in hindsight.

This means that there’s always room for innovating what already exists. Think about the refrigerator. Some say that’s one of the greatest inventions. At the same time, the old refrigerators had a huge impact on the depletion of the Ozone layer. Thus, numerous companies tried to remake the same product in a more innovative way that does not cause additional problems.

“The number of inventors who never managed to implement practical applications because some detail or other was overlooked, or whose invention was successfully implemented by someone else, is legion,” Faltin explains in Brains versus Capital.

If you take a look around there are so many products or processes that can be improved through a more innovative approach. Anyone can start an innovative idea if there’s enough motivation and need to make a change. Use knowledge on your advantage and if you need to learn more, take our free online training. All the content of our lessons is from Brains versus Capital.

Afterward, you can implement the acquired skills or teach them to other people that have no access to technology or internet connection. If you need to test yourself as an innovative thinker and maybe future entrepreneur, join our competitions. Submit your innovative ideas and projects and get a taste of the entrepreneurial life.  Keep in mind that with the right skills and a little creativity you can try to innovate everywhere.