Last week was Fleet Week here in San Francisco, marking the beginning of October, which means it’s time for us to announce this month’s MapForThat! Mappie winner.
….And the October Mappie goes to Chris Chartier! Congratulations Chris!
This month’s winning map focuses on Personal Kanban. The goal of Personal Kanban is to help individuals perform tasks better. There are only two rules of Kanban: limit your work in progress and visualize your work. What better way to achieve the second requirement than by using maps! We really like the personal aspect of Chris’ map, giving everyone the chance to become their own Personal Kanban expert.
We briefly spoke with Chris to learn a little bit about the person behind this month’s winning map.
Q: Where are you from?
A: I spent most of my life in Tampa, Florida, but I moved to Bellevue, WA (Seattle area) 4 years ago.
Q: What do you do?
A: I’m a software engineer who specializes in software testing. I’ve been developing software for close to 15 years. Most of that experience was in support of software testing efforts in the aerospace industry.
Q: How do you use MindManager?
A: For everything…. at least it seems like that’s becoming truer and truer every day.
At work, I primarily use MindManager to track the multiple projects I work with (hence the map that I submitted for Kanban). I use maps to make notes for books, blogs, webinars, etc…. I also use them to brainstorm just about everything when brainstorming is required. I’ve been using mind maps lately, to help the brainstorming and development of test cases for software testing efforts. Did I mention I use it for pretty much “everything”? 🙂
Q: Which words of phrases do you most overuse?
A: I’m not sure if I can think of just one word or phrase, but sometimes I tend to think very sequentially. Sometimes, I believe I even think in numbered steps. Because of this, I tend to use words or phrases that sequence things. “Next”, “And then”, “after that,” are some examples…. always putting things in a numbered way. When I create mind maps, it’s not uncommon for me to try to number my nodes because in my head they are in some order.
Q: What is your favorite occupation?
A: Fresh ideas. Always learning and/or creating something new. That’s a lot of what directed me more toward software testing (from software development). It’s newer, there’s not as much information. It’s still early enough to have a lot of new ideas and I feel like I can be a part of that. I’ve just recently started seeing a group of bloggers discussing using mind maps in the software testing arena as a tool…..I want to be a part of that as well. It’s a whole new idea and there is a lot of potential in many different directions.
Q: What is your life motto?
A: Be the change you want to see!
Too often, I work with people who say things aren’t right. They don’t like the way things work. They aren’t happy with the current state of things. However….all they do is complain. I was one of those people for a long, long time. I feel like I finally “woke up” and realize that if I want things to change, I need to start trying to change things instead of waiting for someone else to come and do it.
Q: How does it feel to win a Mappie?
A: It is quite a shock, and I am pretty ecstatic. This was my first map submitted (and there will be more), so it was quite more than I ever expected. It also is a little bit of “validation” for me. I have been trying to promote mind mapping at work lately, so this validates, to me, that I’m on the right track.
The Mappies are Maps For That!’s monthly award. Submissions for the next month are accepted until the 15th of the current month. Any submissions after the 15th are automatically entered into consideration for the following month. To learn more visit Maps For That.com.
