ARIZONA ODYSSEY OF THE MIND
Why is Odyssey of the Mind like an Apollo Space Shot?

One of my favorite movies is Apollo 13, the story of tragedy averted by American astronauts and engineers. In one scene, the three astronauts are forced to abandon their main ship for the tiny lunar module. The men are in danger of suffocating in their own CO2 unless the crew engineers can figure out a way to redesign the command module’s square air-scrubbing cartridges to fit the LEM’s round receptacles.

Chief engineer Ed Smylie throws duplicates of items that the astronauts have on board--duct tape, cardboard, scissors, a plastic bag --onto a table in front of his ground crew. “You have 2 hours to figure out a way to fit a square peg into a round hole using only these items,” Smylie says.

Wow! Talk about a spontaneous problem! It reminded me that the thinking skills our students develop for Odyssey of the Mind will translate into the adult world. Of course, few of our children will be astronauts and, hopefully, even fewer will have to make real life and death decisions on the spur of the moment; but the ability to improvise, to work in teams and to think clearly and creatively are vital tools in our progressively complex world.

Increasingly the working world is recognizing the importance of training its employees to think creatively and to work cooperatively. National Public Radio recently carried a series on the decline of the American auto industry and the steps that Detroit is taking to be more competitive with Japan. One of the problems is that design innovations can take an average of five years to get from the drawing board to the show room. So the auto industry is looking at ways to work faster. One of the solutions is to develop design teams and encourage the teams to work together creatively. “Innovation is the product of people working together to solve a problem,” says one Ford executive.

In order to develop teamwork and creativity, Ford motor company sponsors field trips to the Innovation Station at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The challenge at the Station is for teams to move and sort 100 brightly colored balls from a 30 ‘ high, green machine. There are no rules; and participants are encouraged to take risks. On the day that NPR visited 340 engineers and executives were practicing the same creative problem solving skills that we encourage in Odyssey of the Mind.

I started as an Odyssey of the Mind coach when my daughter was in the fourth grade. That first year I swore I would never coach another team. Eight years and eleven teams later, I am still at it. I have found that Odyssey of the Mind provides students with an educational experience that they don’t otherwise get in our schools, but quite honestly I coached because its was fun. I hope you have a great time too.

Creatively yours,

Susan Q. Shetter

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Last modified: August 10th, 2001

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