How to learn Tableau in 2022: Full platform guide for all roles.

0:00Hey, it's Tim here. Today we have a big one

0:01planned. By the end of this video I'm going

0:03to have enabled you to set yourself on a

0:04path to learn Tableau in a way that I think

0:07is honest and upfront with you about how

0:08much work you'll have to put in.

0:10My approach makes it clear how to take the

0:12skills you have today to give you a head

0:13start to achieve your goal this year.

0:16I'm going to do that by highlighting why

0:17learning Tableau is different today

0:19compared to what it used to be, then cover

0:21some learning paths so whoever you are and

0:24whatever you want to do with Tableau you'll

0:26get value from this video.

0:28As such there are timestamps in the

0:29description below and we also have some

0:31YouTube chapters so you can skip ahead or

0:33come back and watch something again if you

0:35need to. Let's get stuck in.

0:38Let me explain why learning Tableau today

0:40is different from just a few years ago.

0:43You see if you rewind back just 5 years

0:45Tableau was a simple set of tools and you

0:47wouldn't often hear Tableau refer to

0:49themselves as a platform.

0:51As such if you wanted to learn Tableau you

0:53only really had to learn Tableau Desktop or

0:55Tableau Server and given that Server was

0:57mainly a way to browse desktop content and

1:00lacked many of the social features it has

1:01today, if you wanted to learn Tableau you

1:04only really had to learn Tableau Desktop

1:06and from there you could enhance your

1:07journey along the way, learning about

1:09related concepts such as data prep, data

1:12warehousing, deployment methodologies and a

1:15fair few hacks along the way.

1:17Equally the community around Tableau was by

1:19no means young but compared to today's

1:21scale it was relatively small, the majority

1:24of the community today became active

1:26members of the community in the last 5

1:28years.

1:29And so getting back on point most guides

1:30back then and to be fair most guides today

1:33still primarily focus around the authoring

1:35experience with a view of enabling you to

1:37build dashboards with a big nudge to the

1:39free version of Tableau Public.

1:41Now that's all fine and I can't take

1:42anything away from the massive popularity

1:45of that approach except for one thing,

1:47Tableau is now a platform. Let me repeat

1:49that again, Tableau is now a platform.

1:52What does that mean? Let me show you. Here

1:54's a diagram of the Tableau platform created

1:56by Tableau in September 2021.

1:58If all you did in 2022 was learn how to

2:00build dashboards in Tableau the reality

2:02would be that you'd only really be able to

2:04serve these parts of the Tableau platform

2:06and that's before you take into account the

2:09new way Tableau is planning to expand its

2:11platform in the years ahead with the Table

2:13au economy.

2:14More on this in this video over here.

2:16So with the platform getting so large where

2:17should you start if you want to learn Table

2:19au?

2:20Where should you focus your attention? More

2:22importantly you're probably doing this with

2:24a professional goal or a personal

2:25development challenge in mind and you want

2:27to get there probably as quickly and as

2:29effectively as you possibly can.

2:31What skills are your prospective employees

2:33or teammates really looking for?

2:35To explain that let me introduce you to the

2:37Tableau blueprint.

2:39The Tableau blueprint maps out how

2:40successful Tableau deployments are

2:42typically deployed.

2:44As part of that assessment there's a set of

2:45roles that Tableau have identified that

2:47keep coming up in Tableau deployments.

2:50I'll show them on screen now. If you look

2:52at the list of roles they're the ones that

2:54companies usually look to fill when it

2:56comes to available roles but you'll never

2:58see it broken down in this way.

3:00You'll just get a title such as Tableau

3:01developer then when you look at the detail

3:03it's typically covered with a job

3:05description that covers multiple roles

3:06mentioned in this list.

3:08And here's the kicker only a handful of

3:10them really focus on dashboarding.

3:13And for the record this is by no means an

3:14exhaustive list of Tableau related roles

3:16but what becomes clear is that if you want

3:19to learn Tableau you'll have to learn a lot

3:21more than just building dashboards.

3:23You're going to have to develop a range of

3:25skills including your technical skills,

3:27soft skills, analytical skills and lastly

3:29contextual domain knowledge as an

3:31underlying theme across all your skills.

3:34In an enterprise context domain knowledge

3:36gets mixed in with business context that's

3:38context unique to your company and culture.

3:41I'll be referencing these skills during the

3:43rest of the video so to make sure you know

3:44when I'm referring to these skills I'll put

3:46them up on screen as you've already seen.

3:49So where do we start? Where do we want to

3:51go from here? The first thing to do is to

3:53figure out what skills you have today and

3:55where they belong in the Tableau ecosystem.

3:58I tend to break this down into four high

4:00level roles depending on what you'd like to

4:02do.

4:03You either use, build, develop or deploy

4:07Tableau. It's really that simple. There is

4:11one more which is championing Tableau but

4:12that's more of a leadership and culture

4:13thing and I'm still learning that so I won

4:13't pretend to have an answer for that.

4:15Although the Tableau blueprint the resource

4:17I just mentioned is pretty much the

4:18playbook for that so as usual grab the link

4:20in the description below.

4:22Now I'll break these down shortly but

4:23before I do if you don't know what you'd

4:25like to do or you're not sure where you

4:27want to start I highly encourage you to

4:29think about that before you even pick up

4:32Tableau and also ask yourself why.

4:34Focus is such a key element on becoming an

4:36analyst. The industry has already too many

4:38generalists so you'll need to pick a focus

4:41to stand out and understanding why you've

4:43chosen that focus will be a reason you'll

4:45persist through what is at times a tough

4:47journey whilst others give up or get

4:50frustrated.

4:51So let's go through each one and break down

4:52some suggested learning paths. In fact

4:54Tableau actually have a set of learning

4:56paths, link in the description as usual,

4:59already mapped out that solely focus on its

5:00platform but in my breakdown I'll throw in

5:02some additional technologies and skills

5:05that are vital.

5:05I'll also highlight some approaches to

5:06learning that you should start today.

5:09So first up people who just want to learn

5:11how to use Tableau. Most Tableau users don

5:13't need to know how to build anything in

5:15Tableau they just need to use it. However,

5:17if you search how to use Tableau nearly

5:19every result is about building dashboards

5:21which is rather frustrating.

5:23It's why I made this video last year about

5:25how to use a dashboard. That video was

5:27entirely technical but at a deeper level

5:29what should you learn if you just need to

5:31consume something made in Tableau.

5:33Half the challenge is just understanding

5:34how Tableau works at a very basic level.

5:36That includes understanding the interface

5:38and how it works. Tableau is an analytical

5:41tool rather than a snazzy modern day web

5:43application so there are a few quirks to

5:45get used to and whilst you're there it's

5:48also good to understand how to navigate the

5:51server or online environment.

5:53Following that it helps if you understand

5:55how to use the social features to both save

5:57you time but also enable you to share and

5:59take part in the data culture in your

6:01organization. Lastly at an even higher

6:04level it helps to be aware of what Tableau

6:05is.

6:06I also have a video on that approaching 400

6:08,000 views at the time of recording so if

6:10you're one of the few who hasn't already

6:11seen it check it out.

6:13On a more general note there is an

6:14assumption that your own data literacy

6:16levels are reasonably high. People usually

6:18self certify this so don't worry if you're

6:21in that camp but you see sometimes the more

6:23significant challenge as an analyst is

6:25understanding what you're being asked to do

6:27with a dashboard.

6:29And then consequently evaluate whether the

6:31dashboard enables you to do this. If it

6:33doesn't you need the language and skills to

6:35be able to define why it's not working so

6:37you'll want to spend a bit of time

6:39understanding what data literacy means in

6:41your organization, what types of data your

6:44business typically uses and what quirks you

6:45might need to be aware of.

6:47For example a non-standard way of

6:48collecting data that your organization uses

6:51or a treatment to your data that can be

6:53done differently by different teams to

6:55match the way you work.

6:57Lastly you'll also need the skills to

6:58interpret charts. While that seems blind

7:01ingly obvious check out this Infoviz paper

7:03that digs into whether people really

7:04understand what they're looking at when it

7:06comes to charts and data storytelling. The

7:09findings might surprise you, link in the

7:10description as usual.

7:12This kind of knowledge is often assumed so

7:14spend some time building up your lingo and

7:16in conversation with others don't assume

7:18that it's common knowledge so play a role

7:20in educating others where you can.

7:22You can then pair that activity with your

7:24soft skills to talk about data in social

7:26settings from meetings to simply discussing

7:28a data visit you've seen out in society. A

7:31typical example is election based data

7:33visualizations or maybe the annual report

7:35for a charity or a cause you follow

7:37passionately.

7:38When you dig a little deeper you might

7:39start to find that interpreting data is the

7:41biggest and probably most challenging skill

7:43you'll need to develop and you'll also get

7:45really good at finding issues in the way

7:47that data is presented.

7:49You can master all this and you're well on

7:50your way to being a boss when using Tableau

7:52dashboards, but you don't have to stop

7:54there. What if you want to build something?

7:58For those who want to build things in Table

8:00au I couldn't think of a better time to

8:02start learning Tableau. Not only are the

8:04features starting to reach enterprise

8:06maturity requiring less hacks, we also have

8:08the prospect of the Tableau economy on the

8:10horizon to welcome a range of new tools

8:13that should enable you to build some of the

8:15most engaging work in the analytics space.

8:17The power of Tableau is also being synthes

8:19ized and crafted for all skill ranges so you

8:21can start by simply typing a question to

8:23get your first shot using a feature called

8:25ask data or you can invest some time and

8:27skill up all the way to being able to build

8:29complex dashboards and data visits that you

8:32thought were hand built in design tools

8:34like Adobe.

8:35As such you'll first want to figure out if

8:37you wish to build solutions for yourself or

8:39build solutions for others. Let's start

8:41with building stuff for your own use case.

8:43In the Tableau world this is known as the

8:44explorer or creator if we stick to license

8:46types and you'll be building in Tableau

8:48desktop or through web authoring the web

8:50version of the desktop experience.

8:53If you're building for yourself the most

8:54important thing is getting up and running

8:56as you'll be the primary audience of your

8:58own work with the occasional need to share

9:00your work.

9:01Your key focus should be honing your

9:02technical skills so tools become an

9:04extension of your thoughts. As such you'll

9:06need to learn desktop or web authoring as

9:08quickly as you can so you can be familiar

9:10with the tool and how to get around.

9:13Then once your journey has started

9:15immediately apply it in your everyday work.

9:18The approach I tend to recommend is find a

9:19use case for Tableau, build in Tableau and

9:21then iterate that process until you start

9:23saving yourself time.

9:25Once you start saving time invest that

9:27saved time into learning more Tableau and

9:29start honing your analytical skills that

9:31way. That's essentially the ability to ask

9:33better questions and find better answers.

9:36You essentially just repeat that process

9:37and keep iterating until you get better.

9:40You'll very quickly get up to speed and

9:41simultaneously start to understand good and

9:43bad use cases for Tableau alongside the

9:45analytical skills to quickly know what you

9:48can and can't do with the data in front of

9:50you.

9:51Key thing you're doing here is building

9:53tool familiarity so the time between a

9:55question you'd like answered and finding a

9:57great answer in Tableau is measured in

9:59seconds and minutes rather than hours or

10:01days in other tools.

10:03As you start to get more competent start

10:04considering the area of visual analytics

10:06and visual best practice. You'll quickly

10:08start to understand what types of visual

10:10izations work well and you'll also come

10:12across better ways of visualizing data.

10:15As you do you can revise your techniques

10:16and apply some of that best practice, which

10:19will help reinforce the learning. You'll

10:21also want to invest some time into soft

10:23skills to better communicate your work and

10:25know the best way to bring people on board

10:28with the insights you're discovering.

10:30Soft skills might include presenting your

10:31findings, communicating issues, requesting

10:34better quality data or collaborating with

10:36others to make all of those happen.

10:38In my experience there's definitely a good

10:42way and a bad way to go about this. Maybe a

10:46topic for another video hit the comments if

10:46you'd like to see that in the future.

10:46One technical skill I'm deliberately o

10:47mitting is data prep. If you're building

10:50your own work data prep is usually taken

10:52care of for you or it's lightweight enough

10:54that you already have ways of handling it

10:56or can Google your way through it when you

10:59need it.

11:00Still, if you'd like to get deeper into

11:02data prep or more common you have to

11:04because there's no one to do it for you

11:06then you my friend have just been upgraded

11:08to someone who will be building for others.

11:11Like building for yourself your initial aim

11:13should be getting tool familiarity under

11:15your belt, but the path to greatness bears

11:17heavy on any data hero's shoulders.

11:20You see, if you build for others then you

11:22actually wear several hats. Firstly you're

11:24an author when you're prototyping and

11:26working with the data, a designer when it

11:28comes to converting those prototypes into

11:30working analytical products for others to

11:32use,

11:33an analyst when looking at previous

11:34iterations of work or understanding the

11:36requirements of your end users or the

11:38business, and lastly a data scientist if

11:40what you're building requires you to not

11:42only build the final product, but also find

11:44, cleanse and then prepare the data required

11:47to do this.

11:48I did say I'd be upfront with you about the

11:49challenge ahead. To do all of that you're

11:52going to have to think carefully about the

11:54skills you have today and the skills you

11:55need to pick up.

11:57So let's break these down. Let's start with

11:58technical skills. As a consultant who's

12:00been using Tableau for just over eight

12:02years one thing I can absolutely promise

12:04you is that you can't get away with just

12:06learning Tableau as the only tool you know,

12:08even if you decide to learn everything in

12:10the platform.

12:11You'll often have to reach out into the

12:13ecosystem of competing or complementary

12:15tools to enhance, enrich or improve the

12:17quality of your data. At the same time I'm

12:19also the person who told you that focus is

12:21really important aspect of learning.

12:23So where are you supposed to start? Let me

12:25start with the non Tableau skills first

12:26because I think there's a ton of great

12:28videos and resources already out there to

12:30cover these.

12:31You just need to hit a search engine and

12:33understand your own learning style to

12:35choose what works for you. You can't avoid

12:37Excel and as a Tableau user as much as I

12:39hate opening Excel to work with my data.

12:42That's where so much enterprise data lives

12:44and not knowing your basics here is almost

12:47criminal. You don't need to be an Excel

12:49genius you just need to know your way

12:50around the tool so you're comfortable with

12:52how named ranges work, how pivot tables

12:55work,

12:56how to find the source sheet for a

12:57particular chart or how to decipher a

12:59function, so you can understand what it's

13:01doing and then replicate it in Tableau.

13:04Again I'm not saying you need to learn

13:06these off by heart you just need to know

13:08how to use the features and how to help

13:10yourself, help yourself.

13:12The next is SQL. Whilst you might think

13:14Tableau prep will save you from needing

13:16this, the reality is having a basic

13:18understanding of SQL gives you the

13:20technical skills to browse a database with

13:22confidence, understand how an organization

13:24is storing data and in some cases doing

13:27some data prep in SQL can save you some

13:29tedious work in other tools or even improve

13:31performance in Tableau itself.

13:32Data with Barra, a great channel I'm

13:33following has just started a SQL course so

13:36be sure to check him out. It will also

13:37expose you a little more to the world of

13:39data warehousing which becomes much much

13:42more important if you're keen to help

13:43deploy Tableau or be a solution architect

13:47in this space.

13:48Pair these two tools with Tableau and you

13:50're more or less on the right path. Other

13:52tools you might often hear about are Altery

13:54x, Snowflake, AWS, Matillion, Databricks and

13:57the list gets longer with every year that

13:59passes.

14:00In terms of Tableau, the best curriculum to

14:02follow here is actually an exam guide for

14:04the Tableau certified data analyst exam. I

14:07like this because it breaks down the

14:08learning objectives by domain and I think

14:11it gives an appropriate percentage focus to

14:13each domain.

14:14You can also reinforce your understanding

14:16of building content in Tableau Desktop with

14:19the curriculum laid out in the desktop

14:21certified associate exam. It covers many of

14:24the same topics and both of these guides

14:26layout some great order and direction to

14:28learn the topics but hold fire on how to

14:30learn I'll cover that as a final section of

14:30this video.

14:31I'll also do some detailed exam guide walk

14:33through soon so stay subscribed for that

14:36content. I would also spend a decent amount

14:38of time getting to know Tableau Server and

14:40Tableau Online.

14:41For this you just need to focus on the

14:42front end capabilities, that is

14:44understanding how to manage, create and

14:46govern content on the platform. Every

14:48quarter Tableau keeps adding new features

14:50so this is an ongoing activity and it can

14:52be hard to get your hands on a server to

14:54practice or even shadow someone.

14:56If you're absolutely stuck, join the Table

14:58au developer program where you get access to

15:00a single site on Tableau Online. This is

15:02all you really need to learn, you get full

15:04access to the front end controls of server

15:06and it takes away the complexity of

15:08infrastructure that in and of itself is a

15:11whole separate technical skill I'll cover

15:13when it comes to deployments in Tableau.

15:15The main goal here is to reach the skill

15:16level to manage a site, troubleshoot

15:18permissions, have oversight of ownership,

15:21do basic monitoring and maintenance and

15:23understand how content interacts with each

15:25other so all in all you're scaling up to

15:27become a site administrator.

15:29Also pay particular attention to Tableau

15:31prep and data preparation in general, you

15:33might have access to a tool such as Alteryx

15:36or you might have no tools so you'll have

15:38to learn how to do it in SQL.

15:40Whatever you do, learning the art of data

15:42prep will teach you a lot about the shape

15:43of your data and this informs your approach

15:45when it comes to building content and

15:47making sure you understand what data you

15:49need to answer key analytical questions is

15:51a really important step.

15:54More on that shortly but before we go on to

15:56that let's touch on soft skills. Soft

15:58skills will help you get the most out of

15:59people you interact with and ensure you're

16:01building something people will actually use

16:03.

16:04Now I hate the term soft skills because it

16:06's never clear what they actually are and in

16:08many cases they're really hard to acquire.

16:10The easiest way is to work in a culture

16:12that cultivates opportunities but I

16:13appreciate not everyone has that

16:15opportunity so you'll have to work a little

16:17bit harder to acquire them.

16:19Soft skills I tend to see make or break

16:21careers are the following. The first one is

16:23a pretty obvious one communication. Yes the

16:25soft skill you see in every resume or job

16:27description and role ever advertised.

16:30But what it really means is the ability to

16:32communicate your own work either by

16:33presenting your findings, preparing your

16:36findings in a way that's easy to digest

16:38both in one to one setting or in group

16:40settings.

16:41It also includes your ability to document

16:43and explain your own work. Teams usually

16:45have to collaborate or step in and help

16:47when things go wrong so being able to

16:49explain your work is more vital than you

16:51think.

16:52It also involves an element of confidence,

16:54not the kind of confidence where you walk

16:56down the street like a boss. Here I'm

16:58talking about using a good communication

17:00style as a way to help others build trust

17:02and confidence in you and your own skills.

17:05Research is so key and often underrated.

17:07Put simply you need to be humble and

17:09realize you can't possibly carry every bit

17:11of information in your head and at least

17:13whilst you're building your career you just

17:15have to accept that there will always be

17:17something new around the corner or someone

17:19smarter in the room.

17:20So get used to finding good accurate

17:22information fast both technical and non

17:25tactical. It sounds so simple but you'd be

17:27amazed how many people simply don't open

17:29Google, type their question into it and

17:31check the first three results to see if

17:33their question can be answered quickly.

17:36It's also about knowing where to look and

17:37knowing what to trust. A few more obvious

17:39ones, problem solving, teamwork, attention

17:42to detail, these all come up time and time

17:44again.

17:45These are pretty generic soft skills so

17:46spend a bit of time making a conscious

17:48decision to develop these and if you're

17:51finding it difficult to do that then stick

17:53around for the learning section of this

17:55video where I explain some approaches to

17:57tackling this and learning it effectively.

17:59The last thing here is making sure to immer

18:01se yourself in discourse so you surround

18:02yourself with a community of people who are

18:05doing great things with Tableau.

18:07Getting to grips with visual best practice

18:09and enhancing your analytical skills only

18:11really happens if you venture outside of

18:13your day to day audience, mediums and

18:15challenges at work.

18:17Business data can be some of the most

18:18difficult data to learn with because often

18:21it comes with a history, bureaucracy and

18:23even sometimes gatekeepers.

18:25So if you want to enhance yourself you

18:26might find it easier stepping out of the

18:28business world and working with data about

18:30your hobby or some other sport or passion

18:32that you're into.

18:34As long as you understand the activity you

18:36'll naturally start to translate that

18:38knowledge and passion into questions and

18:40those questions will start to form the

18:42basis for good analytical thinking and

18:44processes.

18:45One question I get asked a lot is whether

18:46you need a numerate based degree or a high

18:48set of numerate skills in order to work

18:50with Tableau.

18:51It will certainly help but the short answer

18:53is no, you just need to understand basic

18:55maths and be familiar with simple concepts.

18:58The really complex stuff you can pick up as

18:59you go and again the more useful skill here

19:01is being able to learn the maths quickly

19:04and apply it to your use case rather than

19:06being a walking talking calculator.

19:09Domain knowledge is also quite easy to pick

19:11up in the Tableau community.

19:13You'll often find Tableau user groups

19:14focused around a particular industry or

19:17alternatively you might naturally meet

19:19others who work in your industry and use

19:21Tableau.

19:22Both are a great way to start building some

19:24domain specific knowledge so you can better

19:26understand the level of maturity and data

19:28literacy competence in your industry.

19:31Thankfully the Tableau community exists

19:32exactly for this purpose and it has

19:34probably one of the most open communities

19:36out there so I highly encourage you to sign

19:38up to the forums, head to Twitter or

19:40LinkedIn and just start talking to people.

19:43If that's not your style never worry

19:44because you're probably not alone so kick

19:46out those research skills and find the

19:48places where those questions are being

19:50answered online and find a way to answer

19:52them that works with your style of learning

19:55.

19:55The last group of people who might want to

19:57build something are developers.

20:00I'm talking about people who want to build

20:02applications or tools and integrate Tableau

20:04with other systems or build new ways of

20:06using the product using the APIs that Table

20:08au have made available.

20:10There are over 11 APIs across seven high

20:12level categories and this list will grow

20:14over time especially as Tableau becomes a

20:16more intimate part of Salesforce.

20:18I'd say first start with a good

20:19understanding of what Tableau is.

20:21The most common mistake or misconception

20:22that developers might make is they might

20:24think that they can manipulate Tableau's

20:26document object model.

20:28They think it works like something like D3.

20:30js and that tends to cause disappointment

20:32when they realize that it can't.

20:34Starting by understanding what Tableau is

20:36will immediately ground your approach to

20:38understanding what you can and can't do

20:39with Tableau especially with the APIs.

20:42Once you get going you can more or less

20:44apply the same learning model as someone

20:46who uses Tableau as an end user and then

20:48even delve a little further into building a

20:50visualization for yourself as outlined

20:52previously.

20:53Just so you understand the mechanics of how

20:54things work but this is about as far as I

20:56would go because the community is already

20:58filled with great people who know how to

21:00build amazing stories.

21:02So the next step would be to embed yourself

21:03into that community and find people who

21:05would be willing to collaborate with you.

21:08This way you get to focus on doing what you

21:10do best and that's understanding how to

21:12develop products with the Tableau APIs and

21:15also understanding how the Tableau APIs are

21:17implemented.

21:18To find out about all of these head over to

21:19the Tableau developers page and figure out

21:22and understand what APIs they have, what

21:24programming language and tools they use and

21:26lastly also find some great people to

21:28connect with.

21:29Once you have that as a developer you

21:30should start piecing together what you need

21:32to learn and what skills from the past

21:34experiences you can bring to your role.

21:36You need a lot of self direction and

21:37motivation to keep you going and you'll

21:39also need to be comfortable asking for help

21:41in the Tableau forums or the dedicated

21:43developer community portal.

21:45A developer I follow closely is a good

21:46friend and colleague Andre. Check out his

21:48channel here. He breaks down Tableau APIs

21:50beautifully on his channel.

21:52At this point you know a ton more about

21:54being a developer than I do so I'll stop

21:56here and let you do you.

21:59Okay we've just covered a ton of content

22:00focused around building products in Tableau

22:02but what if you're coming from a more

22:04technical background and you've already had

22:07experience managing technology

22:09infrastructure or you're just naturally a

22:11more technically minded person who feels

22:13completely comfortable in the command line

22:16of a tool, you love getting into technical

22:18detail or just hate to see a computer not

22:21being fully optimized.

22:23For you I think the best thing to do is to

22:24focus on learning how to deploy Tableau.

22:27Deploying Tableau essentially means you

22:29become familiar with the two main

22:30approaches around deployment on premise and

22:32cloud deployment.

22:34On premise deployment will lead you down

22:36the path of server architecture covering

22:38topics such as distributed installations of

22:41Tableau, high availability, making sure

22:43that ongoing maintenance is carried out on

22:46time and in a good manner and also making

22:48sure that the server works for thousands of

22:50people across your organization.

22:52You'll also have to learn how to integrate

22:53other technologies, things like

22:55authentication databases and metadata

22:57stores.

22:58Mastering these skills will leave you fully

23:00confident to plan and build and then deploy

23:02a Tableau server in any organization.

23:04You don't necessarily need to become an

23:06expert at building in desktop but it wouldn

23:08't hurt for you to have a strong awareness

23:10of the workflows and how it all works.

23:13This is by far one of the most technical

23:14aspects of Tableau so I'm not about to go

23:17through and list all the aspects you'll

23:19need to pick up but if you'd like a rough

23:21guide I'll point you to two guides.

23:23The first being the Tableau Certified

23:24Associate Exam Guide which is very much the

23:26best curriculum I would follow if you're

23:28getting started with Tableau Server or

23:30Tableau Online.

23:31And once you get more comfortable check out

23:33the exam guide for the now retired Tableau

23:35Server Certified Professional Exam, link in

23:37the description below.

23:39I've sat this exam, I call it the beast, it

23:41's a 7 hour exam and requires you to

23:42literally sit in a room and build

23:44environments hands on.

23:46It's one of the toughest exams I've ever

23:47sat but it's got an absolutely fantastic

23:49guide for really understanding the whole

23:51entire Tableau platform.

23:53The toughest part of learning all this will

23:55be getting hands on experience, especially

23:57on premise.

23:58I've been really fortunate to be in a

23:59company with a culture that allows you to

24:01have a go, break things and then fix them

24:03with the support of world class

24:04professionals around me.

24:06So trust me I really do appreciate how

24:07fortunate I've been and how much harder it

24:09's going to be for anyone watching this

24:11video to just get their hands on a Tableau

24:14Server.

24:15But this is where I think you also have to

24:17be creative.

24:18Explore things like installing a trial on a

24:19PC with absolute minimum requirements,

24:22maybe see if you can get access to a

24:23virtual server in the cloud, offer to

24:25shadow the resident expert or head to

24:27events like the Tableau Server User Group.

24:30This process will take time but each nugget

24:32of information you get will get you closer

24:34to your goal.

24:35Many of the core concepts you pick up will

24:36be transferable to many other infrastruct

24:38ures and technologies as well.

24:40And factor in that this is a long journey,

24:41it takes two to three years to get

24:43comfortable around a server assuming you

24:45get decent levels of exposure to practice

24:48hands on.

24:49You also need about a year's worth of

24:50experience troubleshooting to really know

24:52what you're doing around a server.

24:54But again that only refers to Tableau

24:55Server.

24:56Tableau Online doesn't have such a large

24:57overhead, you can just get started with

24:59that straight away.

25:01A lot of the same soft skills that apply to

25:03building a dashboard apply here, but the

25:05particular one I'd like to call out is

25:06attention to detail.

25:08You'll quickly realise, at least from a

25:09technical point of view, that there's never

25:11one way to do anything and there's always

25:14never necessarily the best way.

25:16What you do have instead is context and

25:17context doesn't always reveal itself and

25:19that's often the biggest factor that

25:21decides why you do things one way over

25:23another way.

25:24As a result you can't simply settle once

25:25you've learned something.

25:27Take authentication as an example. Every

25:29organisation is different and Tableau has

25:31several ways of implementing it.

25:33Authentication. It's not until you try H1

25:36once, see them working, see them break and

25:39then fix them, will you have confidence in

25:41authentication.

25:42And that's just one topic, so this also

25:43means you'll need patience, a lot of time

25:46and a very clear idea of what you're

25:47working towards and what you've achieved.

25:50Because if you do make progress, your

25:51prospective employees or colleagues will

25:53want to see evidence of that.

25:55So as you go, make sure you make notes,

25:57make sure you understand what you're

25:58learning and log your achievements.

26:01And if you come across adversity, spend

26:02time reflecting and capturing your learning

26:04points.

26:05Often communicating these will be the only

26:07way to articulate in an interview that you

26:09really know what you're talking about.

26:11Wow, okay, that's a lot. We've been going

26:12for some time now. It's now time to cover

26:15how to actually learn this stuff.

26:17This advice applies to everything I've

26:18covered so we can cover it in one section.

26:21So what's the best approach to actually

26:23learn stuff?

26:24The first thing, well this to me is

26:25probably the most important thing in this

26:26video, so listen up.

26:28It's not about the resources you have

26:29access to, it's more about how resourceful

26:31you are.

26:32I'll say it again, it's not about the

26:34resources you have access to, it's more

26:36about how resourceful you are.

26:39Yes, this part here has nothing to do with

26:40resources, in fact everyone always asks me

26:42what resources I would recommend to learn

26:45topic X.

26:46And it's taken me a while to realise that

26:47actually that doesn't matter.

26:49What matters more is your ability to use

26:51what you have to maximum effect.

26:53When you realise a gap in your knowledge,

26:54solve that in the most efficient way

26:56possible.

26:57You can't possibly ever retain everything

26:58you come across either, so make sure you

27:01save great resources when you come across

27:03one.

27:04Or learn hacks and tricks to make sure

27:05Google always gives you the most practical

27:07answers rather than just the best search

27:10engine optimised result.

27:12You could have access to the best Udemy

27:13course and have done every activity going

27:15on any given day of the week.

27:17But if when the rubber meets the road you

27:19don't put those skills to use, then you won

27:21't reinforce the skills and you won't learn.

27:24It's not enough to just try things once.

27:26Get into the habit of trying things

27:27multiple times and in different ways or

27:29simply seeing what happens when you click

27:31something.

27:32If you learn something new, repeat it again

27:34, clear the sheet, build it again and do it

27:36faster this time.

27:38Or try and do it another way.

27:40Repetition helps play a role in reinforcing

27:41your knowledge and doing things in

27:43different ways gives you options when you

27:45can't use a particular technique.

27:47A great example of this is I learnt most of

27:49what I know about Tableau when LOD is the

27:51data model and so many more features didn't

27:54exist.

27:55Now when I had to learn those features for

27:56the first time, I had to break some habits

27:59and the only way to do that was repetition.

28:02But at the same time today when I come

28:03across a scenario where I can't use those

28:05new features, then I also have old tricks

28:07that I can use.

28:08The last thing here is try and make notes

28:09about everything you're learning.

28:12Log it and save the work where possible.

28:14It will form the framework for your

28:15portfolio and also in the future when you

28:17need to recall how you did something, it

28:20will be much faster to search through your

28:21own notes and your own resources than rele

28:23arn how to do it all over again.

28:25The third thing is to do a bit of style

28:26searching and really understand how you

28:29learn best.

28:30For a long time when I started Tableau, I

28:31spent so much time allowing other people's

28:33learning style to take over mine.

28:35Invest in finding out what mix of learning

28:37styles works for you and for what kind of

28:39content.

28:40The more technical things are, the more kin

28:41esthetic you might have to be with your

28:43learning and the more theoretical things

28:45are, the more literature you might have to

28:46read.

28:47There's no right way of doing this, but you

28:49'd be amazed how many people push ahead with

28:51their learning journey without really

28:52understanding or challenging the way they

28:54learn.

28:55Don't let fear get in the way.

28:57Over the last couple of years, especially

28:58during mental health has been a huge factor

29:01many of us have had to work on.

29:03And something I noticed was that actually

29:05things like fear and anxiety often turn up

29:08when you're learning, especially when cert

29:10ifications and goals have the opportunity to

29:12open up possibilities for you at work or in

29:14the near future.

29:15The thing to realize is whilst you're

29:16learning something new, this should

29:18naturally take you out of your comfort zone

29:19.

29:20That's what the process of learning should

29:21do. It should challenge you and that

29:23challenge should be something you rise up

29:25to.

29:26It's also important to realize you're not

29:27alone and people like me and many others

29:29are here to help, whether it's in a comment

29:31, video, blog post, user group or conference

29:34session.

29:35These are all free and readily available.

29:37You just need to be resourceful about

29:38finding them and extracting the value and

29:40the support you need when you need it.

29:42Even better than that, form a network or

29:44support group around you so it's already

29:46there when you're having doubts.

29:48Lastly, don't give up. Persistence is so

29:51key.

29:52If you don't understand something, don't

29:54discount yourself. The chances are that the

29:56person or the resources you're using hasn't

29:58done a good enough job of making it clear

30:00or simple.

30:01So don't blame yourself for that. Find an

30:02even better resource.

30:04Then when you know what you need, ask

30:05yourself how the early resources could have

30:08been improved to make it easier for you to

30:10understand.

30:11And when you figure that out, put a little

30:13bit of positive karma into it and create

30:16your own content to help someone else out

30:18there in the world.

30:20Now there is one last thing and that's

30:22Tableau CRM.

30:23Yes, this is awkward as I haven't mentioned

30:25it even once in this entire video, but it's

30:27still a key part of the Tableau platform.

30:30I could bore you with a history lesson of

30:31what Tableau CRM used to be, but the long

30:33and short of it is that when Salesforce

30:36acquired Tableau, Tableau CRM became part

30:38of the Tableau ecosystem.

30:40It used to be formally called Einstein

30:41Analytics.

30:42And since it's been moved to the Tableau

30:44side, it's essentially gained the Tableau

30:46branding.

30:47And as you can see, I've been using Tableau

30:48CRM for a long time, but as Tableau Tim, I

30:50simply haven't focused on learning it.

30:53And so that's something I'm still yet to do

30:54and that's why I haven't mentioned it in

30:56this video.

30:57Some of you who might arrive at this video

30:58looking for Tableau CRM will probably be

31:00asking that question and that's why I've

31:02brought it up here.

31:04Also, if you've made it this far, firstly

31:05thank you.

31:06This has been a long video, but I think an

31:08important one.

31:09So your viewership, especially in a video

31:10like this that's taken me many days to make

31:12, makes it worthwhile.

31:14And let me know what you're hoping to learn

31:16this year. Feel free to ask any question

31:18and follow that with your favourite colour.

31:20And I'll be sure to reply personally to

31:22every single comment that does that as a

31:24priority as and when they come in.

31:26Thanks for watching and I'll catch you in

31:27the next one.

31:28[Music]