Tableau

I am continually inspired by how passionate people are for the product and the field. Everyday coworkers go above and beyond, not out of a desire to look good but out of sheer love for Tableau and data visualization. Even if you're not head over heels for data visualization, the passion everybody else has can be hard not to get at least a little swept up in.

Tableau is also pretty open as far as opportunities go. There aren't hard and fast rules about who owns what, and you're empowered and encouraged to make changes or fix something if you think it needs it.

There is also a strong culture around helping others with bugs, etc. This is partly due to PAs being based more heavily around your knowledge and influence on the product rather than stuff you've shipped. More companies should do this.

There are two major issues I have: micromanagement and a brown-nosy culture.

Micromanagement: This is the same sentiment you see echoed in a lot of other reviews regarding "growing pains." Back in Tableau's startup days, upper management had a say on every decision in product development. Today, they are trying desperately to preserve that, despite the division being nearly 1000-strong.

The higher-ups are all really smart people and have great ideas, but they cannot micromanage every single feature and process anymore. They are unwilling to admit this or change anything. Giving feedback to them or suggesting improvements is largely met with denial or resistance.

Culture: Tableau puts a lot of hype into its friendly culture, which is all great and nice except that it encourages a lot of schmoozing. The brown-nosing types definitely get the most visibility, promotions, and big publicity opportunities, even if the actual value they deliver is lower.

This is because PAs are heavily weighted on how well you exemplify "Tableau culture," which is important but shouldn't be prioritized so much. The result is that a lot of promotions end up being popularity contests or go to people who are rude in day-to-day operations but are friendly to managers and participate in lots of morale events or parties.

Also, management seems to be exempt from this, and some members are openly rude and will yell or shut you down in meetings without hesitation.

To put it bluntly: hire some better mid-level management to take over for you on day-to-day stuff and stop fooling yourself in the belief you can have direct input on every design or development decision at the same time in a division of 800+ people and still be "agile."

Stop pushing your "great culture" and weighing it so heavily in PAs when it doesn't always amount to any real increase in productivity or happiness.