125 Innovation Synonyms You Should Be Using In Your Business

125 Innovation Synonyms You Should Be Using In Your Business Right Now

Synonyms, what the heck?

Yes, being able to find other words to describe innovation can help your business.

You need to know a stack of innovation synonyms if you've got people…

Pushing back against innovating
Who don't understand how innovation can apply to them or their work/ role
Are scared of losing their job by making mistakes
That can't afford to make mistakes/ be seen to be risky
Who don't know what innovation means

Here's why.

Lots of people still don't really know what innovation actually means.

If you watch a few TV ads, you'll see nearly any tech product company use the word innovation, as will car companies, pharmaceutical companies, and pretty much any other company where the marketer has said let's use the word innovation.

But what does innovation actually mean?

The honest answer is not found in the dictionary.

The answer is found in the innovative things you've already done and can do in the future to improve something.

For some people, innovation is about creating an entirely new industry breaking idea.

For others, it's an excel macro formula workaround that saves someone hours if not days of work.

Some would argue it's about adapting a cutting edge trend.

While some would argue it's about discovering a fresh customer insight.

Or validating and prototyping an idea before building and going to market with it.

The truth is, they're all correct.

And that's why having innovation synonyms (having another word for innovation) is so important.

Because it means you can have everyone on the same page to understand you and what you're trying to do.

Innovation can be found in four critical areas:

Generating insights - discovering emerging trends, customer frustrations, needs, desires and industry bottlenecks that provide a commercial opportunity to seize.
Generating ideas - creating solutions or new ideas to solve problems or satisfy needs, fulfil desires, or improve something.
Validating and prototyping - establishing whether people actually want to pay for a solution and testing whether your solution idea can effectively solve a problem or fulfil a desire.
Executing and capitalising on an idea - the development or building of the idea into a commercial product/ process or service. As well as the marketing, pitching and selling of the new solution. With the goal to improve results, be they financial or from a cultural perspective.

Now that we've got the 'what innovation can mean' piece sorted, it's time to discuss how and when you can use them.

Because, believe it or not, not everyone likes innovation.

In fact, some people will do everything they can to avoid innovating.

The reason is simple.

Risk.

Research by Dr Heidi Grant, one of the world's leading motivation psychologists and others, has shown that 90% of the population has a prevention-focused motivation when at work.

This means they are motivated by making sure they don't make mistakes.

Traditional old school innovation, that is, developing new products or service ideas before validating that people want to pay for them, is very risky.

New school innovation, the type we use and teach with our Fortune 500 clients, eliminates the risk by doing the validation upfront, so no time or money is wasted.

But most people don't know that innovation can be risk-free with these little known industry-proven techniques.

And that's why most people (over 90%) think innovation is too risky to do. Therefore they will do everything both unconsciously and consciously to thwart it, despite the incredible profits that can be gained.

This is why we need to know other words than innovation to eliminate the fear for others.

An innovation synonyms case study of one of my clients

Background

Fortune 500 company.
Desperately needed innovation to help them stay current and reclaim their industry leader position.
The processes they were using hadn't changed in 20 years.
They needed to innovate around process and customer experience to reclaim their top spot.

Challenge

CEO was averse to innovation.
CEO thought innovation was too risky and not for their company.
We needed a synonym for innovation.

Solution

I called it a Process Improvement Program instead, despite being innovation through and through.
The CEO was happy with a process improvement program, and gave the green light.
We ran a 3 day process improvement (innovation sprint).
We ensured that we validated all the processes, so there was no risk.

Result

The program was successful, with over 20 new process innovations that improved customer service, cost savings, profits, and helped them reclaim their top market position.

Here are the top 125 innovation synonyms you need to learn that will help your business grow without costing you your job.

Innovation Program synonyms

Agility improvement/ program
Sprint/s
Hackathon
Idea storm
Brainstorm/ing session
Invention program
Start-Up Program
Kaizen initiative

Product Innovation Synonyms

Product modernisation
Product modification
Product improvement
Product variation
Product adaptation
Product enhancement
Product regeneration
Product advancement
Product renovation
Product reinvention
Product overhaul
Product rejuvenation
Product invention
Product fix
Product desirability review

Process Innovation Synonyms

Process modernisation
Process modification
Process improvement
Process variation
Process adaptation
Process enhancement
Process regeneration
Process advancement
Process renovation
Process reinvention
Process overhaul
Process rejuvenation
Process fix
Process invention
Process effectiveness review
Sustainability review
Sustainability improvement
IP improvement

Service/ Customer Service Innovation Synonyms

Service/ Customer Service modernisation
Service/ Customer Service modification
Service/ Customer Service improvement
Service/ Customer Service enhancement
Service/ Customer Service regeneration
Service/ Customer Service advancement
Service/ Customer Service reinvention
Service/ Customer Service overhaul
Service/ Customer Service rejuvenation
Service/ Customer Service fix
Service/ Customer service review

User Experience/ Customer experience Innovation Synonyms (UX/ CX)

Customer journey mapping
Customer experience mapping
User experience mapping
CX/ UX improvement
Process variation
Process adaptation
CX/ UX enhancement
CX/ UX regeneration
CX/ UX advancement
Pain-point mapping
CX/ UX overhaul
Usability review

Insights Innovation Synonyms

Trend forecasting
Future proofing
Trend adaptation
Trend capitalisation
Trendspotting
Trend analysis
Bottleneck identification
Pinch point mapping
Inefficiency identification
Ineffectiveness identification
SWOT analysis
Future world scenario planning
Insight improvement
Insight generation
Customer intelligence review
Competitor intelligence review
Business intelligence review

Ideation Innovation Synonyms

Problem-solving
Mistake prevention
Idea generation
Solution session
Solution improvement
Idea modernisation
Idea modification
Idea improvement
Idea variation
Idea adaptation
Idea enhancement
Idea regeneration
Idea advancement
Idea overhaul

Validation Innovation Synonyms

Process validation
Product validation
Market validation
Insight validation
Minimal risk prototyping
Zero risk validation
Zero risk trialling
Zero risk experimentation
Zero risk pilot program
Pilot program reinvention

Innovation Commercialisation/ execution Synonyms

Marketing reinvention
Value proposition review
Pitch creation
Profit projection
ROI analysis
Viability evaluation
Business model canvas
Automation
Logistic/s modernisation
Logistic/s improvement
Process variation
Technology adaptation
Tech enhancement
Logistics reinvention
Logistics overhaul
Operational fix
Quality improvement
Constructability improvement
Affordability review
Differentiation analysis

CONCLUSION

Having a list of innovation synonyms up your sleeve means you can…

Change the mind of someone pushing back against innovating by calling it another thing.
Help someone understand how innovation can apply specifically to their work/ role.
Eliminate their aversion to risk or fear of losing their job by making mistakes.
Help them understand what innovation means to them.

I hope you learn more than a few of these innovation synonyms and use them to help create your innovation business success.

Cheers,

Nils Vesk

PS: If you'd like to learn more about our proven minimal risk business innovation techniques and courses, or have someone come and innovate for you, contact us here.

Nils Vesk is a Four-Time Author and International Keynote Speaker. Nils has worked globally with over 200 bluechip companies including 3M, American Express, Canon, Caltex, Microsoft, Nestle´, IBM, Fuji Xerox, PWC, HP and Pfizer.