In the early 1990s, a public safety client asked me if it was possible to create a real-time mapping system for 911 dispatchers. They wanted to track where 911 calls were coming from and see the location of first responder vehicles using GPS. That is not a big deal today, but back before smartphones, it was a massive technical challenge that had not yet been solved.
At the time, the software company I worked for had just gone through a major layoff. I was trying to find a project to protect my group and keep them working, so I built a proposal to develop this exact 911 real-time mapping technology.
The executives turned it down.
So I quit my job. I started my second company, Maptronix, from absolute scratch. I hired a new team of people who were ready to do the hard work. We tackled some incredibly difficult problems, and we made it happen. We delivered the novel software solution to the client.
I will never forget a Friday night in a dispatch center in North Central St. Louis when we first went live. An ambulance had been dispatched to a shooting but was headed the wrong way. The dispatcher saw it on our real-time digital map and yelled over the radio to get them turned around.
When there was a pause, the dispatcher turned to me and said, "You just saved some lives."
When you are building systems where failure is not an option, nobody cares about your politics or your excuses. They just care if you can solve the problem and deliver results.
Helena is full of politicians who manage decline and make excuses. They talk a lot and we get band-aids at best. What we need are leaders who know how to build actual solutions. That's Montana common sense.
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