Innovation & Learning Loop

In recent years I've often heard the words " innovation " and "creativity" used interchangeably. Sometimes mastery and creativity are lumped together as well. But as a technologist, artist and agile coach I believe there is value in differentiating these terms in order to foster each of them. Why? Because a creation can be beautiful, "one of a kind" and highly customized without being innovative (and vice versa) and as such still has great value. To illustrate the difference I will use realist oil painting, another genre I'm familiar with. As a practiced artist, I have the tools and skills to paint oil portraits that are completely customized.  What makes them creative is that they are designed and crafted as a one of a kind object. By capturing a person's likeness in paint by hand, a conservator can not only distinguish between my work and that of other artists but they can also distinguish between two paintings by me of the same subjec...