The original creative problem solving organization, Odyssey of the Mind, began as the brainchild of Sam Micklus in 1979. Observing a project for his college class, a particularly innovative design sparked his interest. The students had to create a device to travel across water and one student's looked similar to a water spider and "walked" on the water. Though he did not make it across, Micklus admired the creativity and risk entailed.

With the aid of Dr. Theodore Gourley of Project ICE, he founded the organization in his home state of New Jersey and the popularity spread throughout the country and the world. By 1999, Odyssey of the Mind had affiliates in 48 states and 12 countries.

In 1982, the program incorporated under the name OM Association Inc. Creative Competitions Inc. was employed to administer problems, materials and memoribilia.

In 2000, however, the Odyssey of the Mind community endured a legal dispute. OM Association Inc, unsure about the state of the program, started their own program over the summer. Destination ImagiNation, Inc. was born and spread to many of the places where OM had once been. Creative Competitions Inc. reatined the existing Odyssey of the Mind program, albeit with less participants. The basis of both is the same, but each has its own terms and lingo.

For more information about each program, visit the respective websites: Destination ImagiNation Odyssey of the Mind