"Innovation is Not Creativity"

From a blog post of Vijay Govindarajan:

Creativity is about coming up with the big idea. Innovation is about executing the idea — converting the idea into a successful business.

Managers seem to be enamored with the Big Idea Hunt for three reasons. First, coming up with an idea does not create tension with the core business. Second, ideation is sexy, while execution is long, drawn out, and boring. Third, companies think they are good at execution. But generally they're good at execution in their core businesses; the capabilities making that possible are poisonous for innovation.

Thomas Edison, the greatest innovator of all time, put it well: "Innovation is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."