The theologian Frederick Buechner once said, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Strip out the religious language, and this sentiment goes right to the heart of innovation – what makes people innovators and the crucial difference between innovation and invention.
We all know it isn’t just enough to invent a new product, service, or solution. The vast majority of people are indifferent to most of the new things they’re offered. True innovators don’t just invent – as their deepest gladness is to make and do things that make a difference. Innovators recognize the innovation isn’t complete if the hoped for beneficiaries are indifferent and the innovation doesn’t sell.
