Second, innovation is a new idea, product, strategy, etc. Stagnation is lack of movement or lack of growth. There are alternatives to stagnation that are not innovation. Consider satisficing.
Third, the end result of stagnation may be other than death. It may be a steady state. Surviving, but not growing, is not death.
Don't sell short progress that has already been made.
I would estimate that for most people born in the 21st century, before they were born there were already more promising undeployed innovations that can't be beat, than new ones that will actually be deployed during their lifetime.
That's not all I do, but just about. Experimentation & discovery is like that. When I started out innovation was still as highly valued as it should be, up until the mid 1970's when people lost interest since nobody could afford to deploy anything any more anyway, unless they were among the most well-heeled who had weathered the economic devastation.
