Quora Answer: What is the Difference between an Innovator & a Visionary?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “What is the difference between an innovator and a visionary?”

An innovator is someone who introduces a new product or service, or a new way of doing something.  He does not actually create something new, in most cases.  Rather, he takes what is already there, and builds on it, to create something new from that. 

A visionary is someone who sees something that is either not there yet, or will be there.  He articulates that vision into a position, and inspires others to move in that direction to make that vision an eventuality.  Innovators and visionaries share common traits.