How Shanlyn Ma Mastered the Art of the Pivot

When I kickoff started doing what information technology is I do, I started with the hammer of all tools: Excel. I learned about pivot tables, INDEX, ROW, LOOKUPs and all the tricks you do. I mastered the fine art of creating a sundry of pivots just so I could pull them into a "dashboard" via GETPIVOTDATA and change them on a whim by selecting a new year from a drop-down. Listen you, I didn't get my degree in this stuff: Bill Hannan spent more fourth dimension than he probably cares to recount pedagogy me. But, I figured it out and Excel became my hammer that I used to quickly bash down all the loose-laying nails.

Then, we looked at this new tool, Tableau, which can only be compared to a screwdriver. At present, you can bash downwardly nails with a screwdriver, but the whole indicate is NOT to fustigate downward nails. The betoken, instead, is to be able to tear downward, and reassemble as good equally new without breaking things. What the EX**L was I going exercise with this?

Here'southward the skinny on Excel:

Look, ma! Excel!

This uncomplicated tabular array shows sales pivoted by month and yr. Information technology'southward created, stored, and viewed within the aforementioned table.

This is the most basic way we interact with Excel. We create the table we have in mind in the format in which information technology will be read and used. Period. Total stop. Done.

Moving beyond the basics, the side by side level of analysis interacts with flat data and turns it into a pin. This flat information likely comes from a database (sorry, ma, nosotros're not talking cubes today).

When using Excel, we may condition the information with some row level calculations, such as IF and TEXT to create the facets nosotros desire (More than POWER!). From there, we either aggregate into a divide sail via LOOKUP, SUMIF, or pin tables (and GETPIVOTDATA if we want EVEN MORE POWER) to brand the same table equally higher up from flat data.

At some point, our users want more than. They ask deeper questions. And it'south up to usa to notice something with MORE Ability!

Did yous say More Power? Psst…I'm on the left hither, kids.

More ability means change. Information technology's taking something anarchistic, like parts to a vacuum and infusing it with something else to get a blow torch. Nosotros're not playing minor time: this is real HOME Comeback!

I've continued to the pivoted table I used in my to a higher place example. I did spare myself a couple of headaches and removed the totals. Now, depending on data, if I'm in for more hurting, less gain, I'd hit Canvass ane and become vizzy with it. But, even Tableau notices something isn't correct.

We're here to get FIT, not hit, and so office 2:

What the EX**50 is this FIT?

We're knocking downward the pivot to attempt to brand the data as flat equally possible. Once reshaped, our data looks a bit more than like depression-lying information we've seen in the past. Tableau loves data when it's like this.

Select the things with numbers and right-click (or Control click if rocking a Mac like me). Hit Pivot, rename, and cheer.

The pinnacle moment when y'all hit Sheet 1 looks like this:

Really, this is information technology!

We've now reached the mid-bespeak in the episode. Writers of comedy call this 'conflict'. At this point, Tim surmised the problem relates to a lack of power, Al already tried to dissuade him, and Jill is calling motels because the power is due out soon or roof-collapse is imminent. Nosotros tin can certainly recreate the bicycle, but that's something Tim would never do. Al, perchance…merely nosotros're with Tim today.

When Tim focuses on a problem, he looks beyond What IS, and moves to What IF. He thinks nothing off putting fire through a vacuum, throwing auto motors on a mower, or adding saw blades to something with a rotor. He suspends sharp adherences to the rules and decides to play. Guess what, kids? The playground is yours.

And so, how the EX**50 practice y'all learn Tableau?

1. Make clean your data. Make it nice and pretty.
2. Shut ALL Excel charts and put all printed copies in a drawer or circular filing.
3. Elevate pills on the canvas.
   1. Like what you meet? DUPLICATE. Add another pill or supersede some.
   2. Don't like information technology? MAKE A NEW SHEET, but DON'T DELETE.
4. Repeat stride three over and over until you have at least l charts. Running out of ideas? Make five different charts for the same data. No, really, try a line, a bar, a Gantt, or fifty-fifty a bullet nautical chart. There are no correct or wrong answers correct now, just a journey.
5. Once you take 50+, click the dashboard icon.
6. Wait at charts until you find something that makes y'all ask a question or answers a question you have.
7. Proper noun the dashboard later on your question.
8. Find relevant dashboards that necktie into that question. Missing some? Make some more! In that location's a tricky balance between as well trivial and likewise much on a dashboard and every Tableau user will tell you something unlike. For today, only get vizzy with it.
9. Spend fourth dimension formatting it.

How do you become better?

1. Look at other people's stuff.
2. Look at other people'south stuff.
3. Wait at other people'southward stuff.
4. Fine, I gauge y'all can look at my stuff…that'due south on you, though.

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Source: https://www.tableaufit.com/how-the-excel-do-i-learn-tableau/