While innovation focuses on producing a product that will sell, invention focuses on
producing something entirely new. Innovation entails enhancing or significantly improving an
already-existing good, service, or process; invention is the development of a new product or the
introduction of a new procedure. (Grasty, 2017).
An invention, in its broadest definition, is a concept that is "new," "different," or "better"
than any previous thought. In fact, according to Nelson (1959, p. 103), "the term invention can
be used to include all human creative activity, from composing a poem to developing a chemical
process." New problems come up as humans advance, and it's crucial to create new goods and
services or solutions to deal with these issues. In today's commercial markets, inventing a new
product is essential to ensuring new advances and preventing the globe from becoming stagnant.
To optimize business expansion and profitability, project managers should place developing new
goods and services at the top of their priority list.
Conversely, innovation makes the connections between inventions. Innovation is the
ability to identify areas for development, close a gap in the market, and merge inventions to
create goods that will appeal to consumers and be profitable (Herbert, 2016). Most project
managers would choose to innovate than to invent if given the choice. Though not many people
recall, Alexander Bell invented the telephone, which Steve Jobs then improved and made into a
profitable, globally dominant product.
The terms invention and innovation are frequently used incorrectly interchangeably
because it can be challenging to distinguish between the two, particularly since they both utilize
the word "new" to describe their goods. While inventions produce new ideas, products, or
solutions, innovations bring novel viewpoints to the market and transform inventions into
marketable, useful items (Sener et al., 2017).
