I’ve recently found short but – at least to my mind – useful concepts of some innovation related terms on Innovation Zen (quoting James Brian Quinn and Jordan Baruch, Software-Based Innovation, MIT Sloan Management Review):
Innovation consists of the technological, managerial, and social processes through which a new idea or concept is first reduced to practice in a culture. Discovery is the initial observation of a new phenomenon. Invention provides the first verification that a real problem can be solved in a particular way. Diffusion spreads proved innovation broadly within an enterprise or society. All are necessary to create new value.
