Elisabeth G. • I find the distinction between creativity: put crudely the coming up with new ideas, and innovation: when new ideas are put into practice, a helpful one.

Active knowledge sharing should result in lots of creativity. Good knowledge management should enable effective feeding / filtering / evaluation / progression of those ideas which are going to lead to innovation.

I expect others will be able to come up with more learned definitions!

In the meantime, people may find this related blog of interest: http://elisabethgoodman.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/knowledge-management-and-creativity-innovation-valuable-adjuncts-to-project-management-a-case-study/

Nick M. • I am not sure it always should result in innovation. Innovation is not always the right outcome - Innovation in the wrong place is "reinventing the wheel". Sometimes KM results in standardisation instead, which in some circumstances can be the correct strategy.

See this blog post on copying vs innovation as a winning strategy, which argues for a blend of both

http://www.nickmilton.com/2010/05/copying-beats-innovation-proven.html

pasquale davide D. • a very interesting question! I believe that there is no innovation without a real investment in human capital! and then what we now consider useless or not the innovation will be tomorrow! so if you invest in human capital and it is believed, however, there will be a return to profit for the company! what today we do not consider it will be useful tomorrow!

Matt H. • It might be the same distinction between the theoretical and the practical. Innovation tends to imply "New" but you could interpret it as What Changed? You could change some personnel, some processess , some technolgy and any or all of these in combination and then ask yourself What is different ? and Is it better?

Abhijit S. • self realization is the only way for KM

Peter C. • I believe innovation is an action that changes or renews what already exists. That action to innovate is a decision process. So the term 'Improved Innovation' does not appear to fit, as improvement is a goal or by-product of innovation.

- -. • Perhaps an organisation with good KM acitivies and a mature culture of sharing knowledge could end up with innovation leading to innovation leading to innovation etc. One business I worked with found this, it was as if the flood gates were opened and the problem we had was managing all the ideas rather than keeping them coming. OK, so it was a design business and they were all closet innovators...but often we find it only takes a small change to get people interested.

T.J. T. • When the thought in the brain (the dream) gets hung up...
... and never hits the mainstream.

Dries V. • The put knowledge into action requires first of all a decision on what course of action to following. That course of action is not necessarily innovation (replacing the horse with the car, transformation (getting a new horse) or any form of change (getting more than one horse or cutting the tail of the horse). The course of action can also be anything else that involves critical reflection beyond what is tangible or visible such as strategizing and planning to find a specific solution or to meet a specific need. If the need is innovation, it can be met by putting knowledge into action. But the need can also be something else.

Gerald D. • preaching to the choir: Knowledge Management (re-use) is not copy / paste and Innovation is not about General Theory of Relativity everyday.
Knowledge Management is so important, because it is too complex to be instructionalized (so there is an innovative aspect); and if knowledge = information + context, then innovative knowledge appears by creating new contexts.