County of Onslow

In local government, GIS has been viewed as the place you go when you need a map. That was never completely accurate, but today it understates the role GIS can play.

GIS touches nearly every part of local government. It supports property assessment, planning, addressing, emergency response, infrastructure, economic development, communication and executive decision-making. The list can get pretty long pretty fast.

GIS is no longer simply mapping. When it’s done right, GIS becomes a resource that touches almost everything an organization does. It connects people with information and, hopefully, it’s used to make better decisions.

The part I think is missed is that technology itself does not create value. You can buy the best software, build impressive apps, collect mountains of data and still not make a difference. One lesson I have learned leading GIS is that successful technology is ultimately about people.

The software matters. The data matters. Technical wizardry absolutely matters. But if folks don’t trust each other, communicate, take ownership or feel comfortable bringing ideas to the table, all that tech can become expensive tools not a soul is using to their potential.

That’s where leadership and culture enter.

Trust Creates Capacity

“It’s a trap!” for leaders to believe they must have their hands in everything.

My responsibility isn’t to be the smartest person in the room or solve every problem. Frankly, if I must solve every problem, I haven’t done a very good job leading. My job is to build an environment where people are trusted to figure things out.

That means giving folks ownership and getting out of the way. People need room to experiment, make decisions, make mistakes and learn. If somebody makes a mistake, I’d rather figure out what went wrong, learn from it and move on than figure out who to blame.

“The goal is to build a department that is succeeding when its leader is not in the room.”

Our work almost never stays inside our own walls. Our folks may work with planning in the morning, tax at lunch and animal services that afternoon. We must listen to what people need and figure out how GIS can help.

You can be the most technically talented person in the building, but if no one wants to work with you, you’re going to have a hard time getting stuff done. Relationships and communication matter as much as technical ability.

Accountability Completes the Equation

Trust without accountability can become complacency. Accountability without trust can become fear. Organizations need both.

I expect my team to take ownership, communicate when something isn’t working, and follow through. In return, they expect me to provide support, remove obstacles, defend goodfaith decisions and give them the tools and authority to succeed.

Eventually, something pretty cool starts happening people start doing things without needing you to tell them. They take ownership.

When employees begin saying, “We’ve got it,” instead of waiting for me to tell them the next step, I know we’re doing something right. The goal is to build a department that is succeeding when its leader is not in the room.

“We’ve got it” is one of the best things I’ve heard from my team. No one needs me to be a hero; they just need room to do what I’ve trusted them to do.

Culture is Infrastructure Too

Local governments invest in technological infrastructure, and rightly so. We maintain servers, networks, databases and software because our operations depend on them.

Organizational culture deserves the same attention.

A healthy culture encourages people to share ideas, question processes, work across departmental lines and take responsibility. It also helps employees understand their work has meaning beyond completing a task.

An address assigned correctly may help first responders reach someone during the worst moment of their life. A dashboard may help leadership recognize a problem before it becomes a crisis. An application may save hundreds of employee hours.

Those things matter.

The map may be what people see, but the real product is better government.

Moving beyond the Map

The future of GIS in local government is not simply better maps or more sophisticated technology. It is about GIS becoming part of how an organization understands problems, coordinates resources and makes decisions.

Getting there requires technical ability, but also things technology cannot provide: accountability, strong relationships and a culture where folks are trusted to solve problems.

Those things aren’t unique to GIS. They’re simply part of good leadership.

Technology will continue to change. Today’s cuttingedge software will eventually be replaced by something better. But organizations that invest in people, build trust, expect accountability and give good people room to work will continue to adapt.

At the end of the day, that may be the most important role GIS can play in local government: not simply helping an organization see where things are but helping it better understand where it is going.