The three stages in the process of innovation: invention, translation and commercialization.

Bruce D. Merrifield. 1986 in "Forces of Change Affecting
High Technology Industries," a speech delivered
by the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce.

Invention: the power of inventing or being invented; ingenuity or creativity; something originating in an experiment. Innovation: the act or process of innovating; something newly introduced, new method, custom, device, etc.; change in the way of doing things; renew, alter.

Webster's New World Dictionary, 1982, Second College Edition.

Phases of Growth: entrepreneurial; divergent; inventive; creative; exploratory management; duplication; modification; improvement; commonality/likeness; shared leadership; divergence and innovation; sharing and integrating differentness; partnering/vision. Innovators can hold a situation in chaos for long periods of time without having to reach a resolution won't give up have a long-term commitment to their dream innovators introduce a maximum of tension into the thinking process, unifying concepts that often appear to be opposed, solving problems which appear impossible.

George Land and Beth Jarman. 1992. Breakpoint and Beyond:
Mastering the Future Today (New York: Harper/Collins Publishers).

This (innovation) life cycle is an S-shaped logistic curve consisting of three distinct phases: emergence (the development of the product or service, its manufacturing capabilities, and its place in the market), growth (where the product family pervades the market), and maturity (where the market is saturated and growth slows).

William G. Howard, Jr. and Bruce R. Guile, 1992,
Profiting from Innovation (New York: The Free Press) p.12.

Innovation cuts across a...