Kyle Chipman

At Prodactive, we love helping people achieve amazing things through Smartsheet and we love hearing their Smartsheet stories and sharing these to help inspire others as to what can be achieved.

We met Kyle at Smartsheet ENGAGE in Seattle in October 2023 where he was presenting at one of the sessions and we were blown away by his energy, his passion to make meaningful impact in his local community and his massively creative thinking. So we've kept in touch ever since and are in regular contact #ikigai

As we've got to know Kyle better, we've learnt more about his fascinating journey into Smartsheet, from crafting real-time music for Street Fight 4 to spearheading Smartsheet adoption and best practices in his organisation after attending the inaugural ENGAGE 2017 event. Now he’s excited to forge Smartsheet Communities locally while extending support to the public sector, leveraging Smartsheet's FedRAMP approval for transformative impact and best practice dissemination.

Smartsheet superhero? Hell, yeah, we certainly think so! And so does Smartsheet, having given him the accolade of being a Smartsheet Overachiever. So we thought we should help share his inspiring story...

Hi Kyle! Thanks for being our next Smartsheet Superhero ⚡.  Can you share your introduction to Smartsheet?

In 2014, I delved into Smartsheet to compare three prototype schedules for a client request, and found Smartsheet a refreshing departure from the constraints of Microsoft Project in previous assignments.

What was your journey like in mastering Smartsheet?

There were a couple of game-changing moments that really set the course for my journey with Smartsheet. First off, I stumbled upon its potential while working on a personal project: crafting a real-time music composition engine for Street Fight 4. Using Smartsheet to manage schedules and organize game inputs and Ableton values was like discovering a secret weapon. I am a firm believer that the best way to build skills is by employing them on a personal project (something joyful); it's funny how something you love doing can lead you to uncover new powerful tools!

The second pivotal moment came when I attended the inaugural Smartsheet ENGAGE event in 2017. Witnessing the sheer scale of organisations harnessing Smartsheet's capabilities was mind-blowing. It was a lightbulb moment for me. I vividly remember returning to Chicago, buzzing with excitement, and asking our leadership, "Is everyone ready to go all-in with Smartsheet?" No one really knew what I was asking, but it's a moment I remember clearly. Looking back, it was a bit of a leap of faith, but it's those bold leaps that often lead to the most exciting adventures.

How did you contribute to the increased adoption of Smartsheet at Chipman Design Architecture?

I began by tackling the core administrative tasks, like streamlining Travel Requests and PTO Requests using Smartsheet. These were the pain points, the areas where folks in the organisation felt the strain with cumbersome workflows and so were primed for the simplification and automation Smartsheet could provide.

After that, I employed a simple technique: listen to the challenges presented by the Project Managers at the ground level, deliver a solution, assess its efficacy, and permeate across teams to create a best practice. Defining our knowledge-base and documentation was also a critical step which helped Smartsheet adoption.

And how has Smartsheet impacted your organisation in your opinion?

Smartsheet has provided a terminus for information and has allowed us to thread creation, coordination and archiving through our entire technology stack.

Your dedication to Smartsheet seems remarkable. Can you elaborate on the impact it had on your professional life?

Smartsheet has had a multi-layered impact on my professional life. Not only has it offered a toolkit of table-based thinking and structural solutions building, but it has also offered an entry point to support others who use the tool, regardless of scale or sector. The flexibility of the platform has fostered and clarified the value of certain principles – intake, status, responsibility, time, as well as reporting and visual access points.

And what’s next in your Smartsheet journey?

I am excited on two fronts: to continue defining and pursuing In-Person Smartsheet Communities, the first being rooted in Portland, Oregon in the US but designed with the intent to scale as well as continuing to seek out and support folks in the public sector, again, beginning with the City of Portland and the State of Oregon. This second aspect of my journey also highlights one of the most powerful and potentially transformational aspects of Smartsheet, its FedRAMP approval and the .gov component. I’m excited to expand my approach taken with the firm, solving for a singular need, extrapolating it to define a best practice, and applying it to the public sector.

Any final words?

I have two fun resources to share on this front. First is the solutions timeline I built for the Chicago User Group I spoke at back in December 2022. I prepared it to help organise my thoughts ahead of the presentation, but it doubles up as a helpful guide to my Smartsheet Journey with Chipman Design Architecture.

The second is an interactive resume I built in Miro. This carries not only my Smartsheet journey, but my journey in life as well. It also helps to represent my visual thinking.

We have some final words!

Kyle very modestly only lightly touched upon his skills with Miro... now, not only is he a Smartsheet Overachiever, but he's just been made a member of the Miro MVP Program. Here's his LinkedIn post about it.

If this has inspired you, please do let Kyle Chipman know. Also please share this story with those you know have so much more potential to realise, but may not have the self-belief or support to do so. And with leaders in your organisations who say their people are their greatest assets... maybe it's time to get them a Smartsheet licence to see what they could achieve all round.

And if you know of a Smartsheet superhero you would like to nominate or to let us know your own story, please let us know.

At Prodactive we are driven by a collective passion to make a massive difference for our clients and unlock wasted time, resource, and capability. And develop Smartsheet Superheroes in the process... please do get in touch if you'd like to find out more about how we could help unlock potential in your organisation.