Paul Giroux: Turning Geo Angst into a Global Movement

When Paul Giroux talks about GIS, he doesn’t start with satellites or software. He starts with confusion. “It’s three letters—GIS. For me, it’s basically summed up in one word: confusion,” he jokes. “But all kidding aside, it’s the ultimate converger. It’s technology. It’s a mindset. It’s everything, really.”

Paul isn’t just redefining how we see Geographic Information Systems. He’s reshaping how we use them. As president of Mass Maturity Inc., he’s built tools like SLIMJim—a pragmatic framework to help communities and organizations understand how mature (or not) their GIS programs are. And it all started with frustration.

While working for a local municipality, Paul hit a wall. “I ran into massive issues with the status quo. The organization was structured a certain way. People's capabilities were fixed a certain way,” he recalls. That friction sparked something deeper. He poured his “geo angst” into a master’s thesis that became the seed for SLIMJim.

Instead of keeping the work to himself, Paul put it online for free. And that’s when something unexpected happened: people picked it up. First Patrick. Then Eric. Then a movement.

“That one person is what it takes. It’s not the first person that takes it—it’s the second. And then a movement grows.”

What drives Paul isn’t accolades—it’s connection. “It’s the people,” he says. “Knowing that I found something that could help my peers... and that my peers can actually help me—that’s what drives me forward.”

But passion alone doesn’t build systems. Paul had to act. He tested and refined the model with real organizations like the Iowa DOT, the City of Brampton, and Agriculture Canada.

“It took many iterations,” he explains. “But the result is a roadmap methodology that puts the model at the heart of your strategy.”

Still, even with tools and passion, doubt creeps in. Resistance to change is real. “Right when we think things are going well, detractors get in our way,” Paul says. “We have to eat it, sit with those emotions, digest what the problems are, and then brush ourselves off and try again.”

But Paul doesn’t go it alone. His community steps in when he falters.

“They’ve been my tenacity by proxy,” he says. “When my Twitter feed goes quiet, they know it’s time to move things forward for me.”

Today, the impact of Paul’s work is hard to overstate. SLIMJim has been adapted by the U.S. Department of Transportation, oil and gas companies, and even universities. “How can one spreadsheet make a difference for so many people?” he wonders. “It still floors me.”

His humility is part of what makes this movement stick. Paul shares his story not for recognition but to invite others in.

What we’re trying to accomplish is way too hard alone. You need collective tenacity to overcome stuff.”