What is Innovation and Why is it Important? Innovation can be viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs. It is making decisions that change the status quo. Innovation means doing something new, different, smarter or better that will make a positive difference. . Innovation can be categorized as incremental, semi radical, radical and disruptive. The term disruptive innovation was defined and analyzed by Clayton M. Christensen beginning in 1995. You will explore this type of innovation further in week 3. One statement that explains the importance of innovation was made by James M. Kilts, former CEO of Gillette, “You need to encourage risk taking. One of the themes in our company is to remember that the opposite of success is not failure, but inertia.” And A. G. Laffey, CEO of P&G said that “innovation is a prerequisite for sustained growth. Review the resources listed in the Books and Resources area below to prepare for this week’s assignment(s).