Invention is often viewed as a source of economic growth. It isn't. It's innovation that generates new products, new services, new businesses, and new jobs. As a country we need to be focused on innovation more than ever before.
Invention and innovation have been mashed together so thoroughly that it is hard to tell the difference between them—yet they could not be more different.
The implications of this confusion are important, steering budding entrepreneurs down the wrong path, crimping the growth of existing companies, and muddying public policy intended to support business.
It is time to clarify and redefine the difference between invention and innovation.
