Read the Problem again and again

Too many teams read the problem well in the beginning of the year and let it go after that. It is very important to know the problem well. It is very difficult to know the problem verbatim, but always have a copy of the problem handy. Too many teams lose the focus of what they are doing because they stray from the rules, scoring categories or spirit of the problem.



Define Creativity

As a team, define "Creativity." Make sure that you are getting the most creativity out of your ideas. Is a great parody as creative as a good original story? Think about CREATING and what that means when trying to make a creative solution to long term and when practicing brainstorming. See the bottom of this page for my "Hierarchy of Creative Thought."



Eliminate the Common

Judges do this when preparing to judge a competition. They have in their minds what kind of solutions they are likely to see. When trying to solve a problem, both long term and spontaneous, try to eliminate the common ideas. For example, a cat and mouse theme in a problem based on mousetraps is probably not going to seem that creative (judges will be expecting it). Be different. Do something inspired. BE CREATIVE!



List your Goals

OM is a great place to learn real life skills. Setting and accomplishing goals works is a skill that works beautifully in OM and in "real life." It is a simple task which can add a lot of efficiency to a team.



Use Creative Inspiration

If you know of a painting, play, TV show, book, piece of music or any work of art which is very creative, watch, read, listen or do it. Watch old OM tapes. Creativity is contageous. Try to have music a constant creative atmosphere at meetings. Always remember that OM is not school. There should be no need for the structuralized tension in most schools. Relax and be creative.



Work Hard and Often

My teams had consistant meeting times and we met at least three times a week during the 2-3 months before competition. We volunteered to come in above and beyond our scheduled practices. This much work is not for everyone, but it is necessary to reach the top.



Solve the Problem Completely

I know many teams that do a great job with one part of the problem, but get too wrapped up on one aspect. Take the time to try and cover every scoring category. Get a strategy, and decide specifically what direction to take. Then delegate duties and trust your teammates to get it done. In creative categories, make it so creative that judges can't help but give you high scores.



Have a Good Attitude

Do your best, and worry only about your team. You can control how well you do & how you carry yourself. To older teams, it may seem corny, but remember the OM pledge. OM is not all about winning. Don't be so competitive that you miss what OM is really all about.



Simplify Spontaneous

I think that spontaneous can be the most intimidating part of OM. Practice a lot. Try to re-create competition situations. Do probelms over and over again, analyzing what you can do better the next time. I think the most important fact to remember when training for Spontaneous is this: your goal in training is not to solve many problems, it is to learn the skills to solve any small problem.



"Gifted" doesn't always mean "Creative."

I am amazed at the multitude of programs which make OM strictly a part of a "talented and gifted" program. While I agree that OM kids are both talented and gifted, the labels schools put on kids have little bearing as to how creative they are. "Gifted" students are usually given this label due to testing which usually involves language, math, memorization, etc. Rarely are students ever tested for creativity. At North Olmsted, OM started out as part of the Gifted Program. Our program really took off, both in membership and success, when we opened it up to all students. I don't have enough space to list all of the "normal" kids who were great in OM, but I will mention one, my sister as an example. Becky Willis was in mid-level classes in High School. She got good grades in school, but was considered 'normal' by her teachers. My sister has two World firsts, one World third, two fifth-place finishes and her team's name on the Ranatra Fusca Trophy. She may not have been "gifted" by the school's definition, but she sure was good at OM.

Here is my "work in progress" version of a Hierarchy of creative thought. I think it can be adapted to music, art, engineering, etc.
1. using an existing idea
2. using an existing idea with some adaption
3. making a near exact replica of an existing idea
4. copying an existing idea with some original aspects added or changed
5. making a replica of an existing idea with many creative or humorous changes
6. taking an existing concept one step further by adding new parts, creative or humorous changes; altering an idea enough to make it a new idea
7. creating a concept - something new and creative
8. outstandingly creative - a completely new concept with creative manifestations throughout; something which is creative in many ways.

(do we even need to add "0. not present"?)

Let us take a song, for example, which is used as a subjective scoring category - creativity of song

Each number represents one example of what I would consider a member of the corresponding category in 1-8 above. There are more examples within each category.

1. including a preexisting song in a performance, performed by original artist
2. same as 1, with minor changes in lyrics.
3. team creates exact replica of existing song with existing instruments
4. same as 3, with minor changes in lyrics.
5. team creates a humorous parody using an existing song.
6. same as 5, team modifies song and uses creative means to make the music.
7. team writes a new song.
(7.5. team writes a new song performed on new instruments created by the team? These categories are not perfect...nor should they be)
8. Song is humorous, completely original, based on a new scale and performed on new instruments, outstanding in every way.

Now imagine filling each category with a mouse trap vehicle. To be judged on creativity of appearance.

I think that we can fill in the blanks - from no alteration of appearance to mouse-like appearance to outstanding original design.

It is important for a team to use this progression to determine creativity for their own ideas. Judges will have a similar, more specific guideline in evaluating and quantifying creativity.

When asking yourself "Just how creative an idea is this?" compare it to this guideline. You will find it is easy to regognize common ideas, and hard to create solutions which will fit into the creative categories.

Here is how I would set up a sample a scoring criteria.

This is a scoring category of 1-40 points for "creativity of design"

(0) or 1-4 points Category 1
5-9 points Category 2
10-14 points Category 3
15-19 points Category 4
20-24 points Category 5
25-29 points Category 6
30-34 points Category 7
35-39 points Category 8
40 points creative perfection (is it possible?)

It is great that OM is doing this to make scoring more consistant and fair. It is now up to the teams to make things more and more creative.

This is only the beginning of what helped make my teams so successful. We had dedicated parents, talented kids, and a great network of coaches and administrators throughout our region helping one another. Please feel free to contact me personally if you have any more questions about N.O.O.M. or even OM in general. I am a nice guy and I check my mail often - click here [email protected]

There are many resources for great information to help teams of all levels on the World Wide Web. The best is to look up tips at the Odyssey of the Mind homepage at www.odyssey.org.