How One Data Leader Makes Analytics Less Intimidating and More Actionable

Data visualization is not just for looking at yesterday’s numbers. It is for identifying trends and anomalies in the numbers and predicting what happens next, ultimately enabling better decisions. This is one of the many lessons about data that Darrick Bartley, Analytics Leader at Charlie’s Produce, has tried to instill in his colleagues. 

The former Tableau employee is passionate about helping others see and understand their data, and his evangelism has paid off. Teams across Charlie's Produce now use data in the flow of their every day work. 

Charlie’s Produce supplies restaurants, grocery stores, institutions, wholesalers, the marine industry, and more with a full range of services. They offer conventional, organic, and specialty produce, floral items, and a full line of fresh processed solutions for the retail and food service industries.

Here, we share how Darrick has taken them on the journey from data observers to data-driven decision makers.

A passion for data and solving new challenges

Darrick’s own data journey began when reporting key metrics for a previous employer. He worked with developers to visualize the metrics each month, but knew there must be an easier, more automated solution. His research led him to Tableau and, not long after, he accepted a data analyst role with the company—essentially using Tableau to analyze Tableau.

“Everyone at Tableau is a data analyst to some degree, but not everyone has time to focus on creating reports and visualizations. Our team was a resource for them and it was a lot of fun,” said Darrick.

Darrick’s skills and passion for data led to subsequent roles helping organizations build and grow their data analytics programs. He joined Charlie’s Produce after the company replaced its legacy analytics platform with Tableau. The company had replicated its old reporting within Tableau, but was ready to uplevel its data analysis.

Produce data in Tableau

Turning roadblocks into possibilities

Adopting new technology and ways of working can be hard, especially for a company of people busy ensuring the provision of fresh, quality produce to customers and communities. This includes people in traditionally non-technical roles like farming, warehouse operations, and truck driving.

An important part of Darrick’s role has been showing everyone the benefits of using Tableau and equipping them with the skills to get started.

“A lot of standard roadblocks exist when moving people away from one solution to another. One of those is simply that people do not like change. So what we have done is gradually move away from the traditional crosstab style of reporting to interactive visualizations. We have also slowly introduced functionality like forecasting,” said Darrick.

This approach of moving slowly and introducing people to the art of possibility, has helped drive enthusiasm around data analytics and adoption of Tableau.

Tableau 101: Making data analytics less intimidating

During his career, Darrick has helped more than 3,000 people learn Tableau and grow their data skills. His “Tableau 101” training forms a core component of the enablement he provides. It teaches people how to navigate Tableau with a focus on making the platform and data analytics less intimidating.

“You need to show people that they don’t need to be afraid to experiment with Tableau and explore their data,” said Darrick. “So people can go in and click on things to dig deeper into the numbers without fear of breaking anything or erasing a database.”

Darrick’s Tableau 101 training comprises many lessons learned during his time at Tableau, where he was completely immersed in the field of data analytics.

“Everyone at Tableau uses Tableau, so it was such a rich environment to learn in. I was able to see how different functions like marketing and finance visualize and analyze their data, and I’ve incorporated that experience and lessons learned into the work I do today,” said Darrick.

Tips for building a data culture

Some of the most reluctant adopters of Tableau at Charlie’s Produce are now its biggest proponents and that stems from Darrick’s efforts to build a positive data culture. The data evangelist’s top tip for building a successful data culture is to get leadership onboard.

“Getting leadership onboard sometimes starts with helping them realize that data analytics is not a cost center. Good analytics help organizations make money or at least save it,” said Darrick. “Once leaders see that and get excited about data analytics, that excitement flows through the company.”

Darrick also advocates embedding data analytics into the flow of work, something he is doing more of at Charlie’s Produce through the use of subscriptions, alerts, and Tableau Pulse.

“When people use data as part of their daily workflow and realize it helps them make better decisions, the data culture becomes self-sustaining,” he shared.

One of Darrick’s other key tips is to be present and personable. Rather than sitting in the office waiting for new data requests, he suggests spending time with different departments to understand their needs and identify where data analytics can add value. These discussions at Charlie’s Produce have resulted in some of its most frequently used visualizations.

Darrick Bartley holding a box of mushrooms

“I like to tell people that our job as analysts is to help them do their jobs better, and we will keep asking them how we can help until they have an answer,” said Darrick.

Keeping on top of a changing landscape

The data analytics landscape is constantly evolving, with new tools, techniques, and best practices emerging all the time. Darrick is a firm believer in the importance of continuous learning and staying on top of these changes. He regularly taps into his professional network and engineering team to understand the latest data trends and technologies.

Darrick is also a fan of the subreddit DataIsBeautiful where he finds inspiration for one of his favorite things about working with data which is creating new visualizations.

“What I enjoy about data analytics is that it is as much an art as it is a science,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with Tableau. It provides so much room for creativity when playing with data sets and building dashboards.”

Visualization by Darrick Bartley

Darrick is now giving back to the wider data community as part of the Data Leadership Collaborative (DLC) which brings together like-minded leaders to connect, learn, and help each other progress on the journey to build data-driven organizations.

Darrick’s blog for the DLC on building an inclusive data culture is a good resource for anyone trying to lead their organization’s data journey. It’s also a reminder that it is okay to start small as Darrick writes: “You don’t have to spend a million dollars and invest in huge amounts of infrastructure. You can start with a pilot, learn from your mistakes along the way, and scale as you figure it out.”

For more inspiration and a community of supportive data peers to help you build your data culture, join the Data Leadership Collaborative.