Social Impact Tech: Neal Myrick of Tableau On How Their Technology Will Make An Important Positive Impact
I think the biggest difference young people can make today is to build bridges with people that don’t think like them. Build relationships that can bring people and communities together. Hold adults in your life accountable to living up to all those things they taught you — be polite, respectful, share, etc. The adults are setting a very bad example right now, and we need the young people to call them on it.
In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Neal Myrick.
Neal Myrick is the Global Head of the Tableau Foundation, a philanthropic initiative of Tableau that encourages the use of facts and analytical reasoning to solve the world’s problems. He has been running the foundation since it was founded in 2014. Neal is also the Vice President of Social Impact for Tableau where he works to connect company resources with global social impact initiatives.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
I had a great childhood with incredible parents. I grew up in Richland, Washington with my parents, Ralph and Judy, my brother Scott and sister Cassy. I remember my parents telling stories about digging in the couch cushions for coins so they could buy milk or bread, but when I look back, I remember what a great life they built for us and I never knew how tight money was at times. I started working at age 12 so I had money to buy “fancy” jeans like Brittania and Lawmen, which were all the rage in junior high. Ever since then, I haven’t stopped working.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Before starting my tech career in 1989, I had been a landscaper, janitor, candymaker, and even a Fortran programmer at a nuclear facility. In 1983, I wrote a code that predicted how quickly radioactive waste would leak from glass cylinders.
Most people tell me the most exciting thing I’ve done though, is leave my tech career in 1999 to travel to Central America. When I came back to the U.S., I helped open an artisan bakery where I worked as a barista. I then opened a high-end fitness company with some friends before returning to tech. After all that, I think it’s wild that I now lead a foundation at an incredible company like Tableau.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Yes! My friend Marty. My first tech job was as a technical support technician for Aldus Corporation, the creators of PageMaker. I left Aldus to join a startup called Shapeware, which later changed its name to Visio. Marty hired me as the first IT person there, even though I knew nearly nothing about IT. He saw something in me and gave me a chance. Marty gave me all the responsibilities, none of the solutions and little nudges to help me figure things out independently. He trusted and believed in me, which helped me trust and believe in myself. I am forever grateful.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I grew up in a church-going family in a small, conservative town. I didn’t accept myself as being gay or come out to friends and family until I was in my 20s. I had a fantastic childhood, but also kept part of myself hidden. Several years after coming out, my mom called me after hearing Lee Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance.” She told me she thought of me every time she listened to that song. Two lines in the song resonate with me: “Never settle for the path of least resistance” and “when you get the choice to sit it out or dance…I hope you dance.” My mom gives me the strength to dance. I carry that theme throughout life and for anyone struggling with your identity, I hope you dance.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Self-awareness — I work hard at being self-aware and knowing what I’m good at and what I’m not. When I started building Tableau Foundation, the first person I hired, Jason, brought deep analytical skills, a different perspective of the world and an attention to detail. I can pay attention to details, but I don’t do it naturally; however, he does. More importantly, I knew Jason brought a different perspective that would challenge me and my assumptions, which has led to fantastic results. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary to constantly evaluate yourself and to hire people that are different from you and that balance you out.
Empathy — working with other people who may not share perspectives or goals can be challenging. I have found that I can find creative ways to build alignment with those people if I simply ask myself, “what if I were them?” What if I were that lawyer who refuses to budge on the issue that’s holding back a grant? What must their constraints be? What risks do they assume if they give me what I want? How can I help mitigate those risks? Putting myself in others’ shoes has been a helpful way for me to navigate everything from corporate bureaucracy to difficult conversations with people that report to me.
Commitment and Passion — I have an innate desire to serve a purpose greater than myself. That desire powers my commitment to my work and passion for seeing the dial move on the social impact initiatives we invest in. It also drives me to invest in my team, their passion, their growth, and their careers. I am incredibly proud of the work Tableau Foundation has done over the years. I am proud of what we’ve done through my leadership, but I’ll be even more proud about what Jason, Ashley, and Channing accomplish in the world as they build their careers beyond their work with me.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive social impact on our society. To begin, what problems are you aiming to solve?
After launching our Racial Justice Data Initiative in the summer of 2020, my colleague Channing and I did a listening tour to figure out how Tableau’s core competency of helping people see and understand data could help. We learned if we were going to make a real difference, we needed to focus on fighting anti-Black racism by helping achieve an equitable education, advance criminal justice, and build economic and political power at the local community level. We work to balance investments between activities that relieve suffering, like supporting food banks, to activities that hopefully can help address systemic issues such as gender equality and financial inclusion.
How do you think your technology can address this?
Last year, we launched the Racial Equity Data Hub as a first step toward democratizing data that can empower grassroots organizations in the movement towards equity and justice in their communities. The Hub is designed as a constantly evolving platform to reflect and highlight the work of local organizations and advocates addressing institutionalized racism in their communities. Its purpose is to connect them with relevant data, analyses, tools, case studies, and each other to advance the use of data in this work. The Racial Equity Data Hub combines our company mission and core competencies with the expertise and competencies of researchers and advocates working to advance equity across the US.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
I grew up watching my dad take care of people in our community. Even into his early 80s, he would drive around town visiting with the “old people” to make sure they were OK. I’ve had that same sense of community service my whole life. Additionally, I have taken a dozen or more racial equity training courses during my career. Many of them would end by asking the white people in the room to admit they were racist. I understood the concept intellectually, but it wasn’t until we adopted our son, who is of mixed race, that I had the opportunity to see the insipidness of racism firsthand. It is everywhere, all the time. What surprised me most is that microaggressions are perpetrated by woke, well-meaning people as often as everyone else. No one is immune to it. I understood the concept that white people are racist but comprehend it now in a whole new way.
So, in addition to this work being the right thing to do from a community perspective, it’s deeply personal for me. My son deserves better, as do all people who suffer the injustices of racism.
How do you think this might change the world?
When I joined Tableau in 2013, I joined a company on a mission to change the world and one that had the vision and technology to do just that. Many products help people turn data into knowledge, but I think Tableau is uniquely capable of making it easy for people to explore their data, ask more questions, and turn that knowledge into wisdom. I’ve seen that work firsthand, and it’s powerful. The challenge now is to make data more equitable, more accessible, and more useful for people who have never had the opportunity or training to use data before. I think we might change the world not by focusing on technology but focusing on people and helping shift power from people that have too much of it to people who need more of it to fight for themselves and their communities. Technology is a means, not an end.
Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
I love that you asked this question. Racial justice advocates see the weaponization of data all the time. When used without context and understanding, data can validate and promote stereotypes. Data used to train algorithms or machine learning models can introduce racial justice issues, especially when the data comes from systemically racist institutions. The mistakes are easy to make, even by well-intended people. Our first attempt to keep this issue at the forefront of the data for justice discussion is the “Do No Harm Guide,” published by the Urban Institute. The guide provides guidance on the ethical and responsible use of race and ethnicity data. It is grounded in the belief that we can work together to build a more equitable and inclusive world by using data with sensitivity and care. We’re hoping to produce other guides next year.
Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, can you please share “Five things you need to know to successfully create technology that can make a positive social impact”? (Please share a story or an example, for each.)
Start with people. My friend Akhtar Badshah, author of Purpose Mindset, wrote, “Humans are not problems to be solved but an opportunity to discover.” When I reflect on what made me a successful IT leader at Visio after starting the job not knowing anything about IT, I realized that my work is always about enabling people to be their best. Technology’s purpose is to enable people. If you have a great technology idea, go on a listening tour, understand the people your technology hopes to serve, not just the problem you are trying to solve. It’s as important for the technology to fit within community culture and practices as it is for the technology to have useful features and functions.
End with people. When we started our malaria elimination project in Zambia, Tableau experts worked with malaria experts to design dashboards for the ministry of health staff to use. We then workshopped the visualizations with the health staff and every single viz had to be changed. The way the experts thought of data informing the work was not the way the practitioners needed to see data to inform their work. Involve end users from beginning to end and you’ll end up with a better technology solution that the users are more bought in to and more likely to use.
Get addicted to maintenance and scale, not innovation. We’ve all heard the term “pilotitis,” which is a phenomenon perpetuated by funders who fund innovation, but not maintenance or scale. Anyone who has worked in a ministry of health or education in a low-income country could provide dozens of examples of technology pilots that were abandoned because there are many opportunities for funding that supports innovation, but rarely is there funding to scale or maintain the technology beyond the pilot. We could do so much better as a sector if we could solve this problem.
Plan for the long-term. It can be easy to implement technology but challenging to integrate it into workflow and culture. It’s only after technology is accepted by people and integrated into the process that it can become the powerful force for change we all know it can be. Most of our grants are a minimum of three years and many get extended to six or more. We certainly see quick wins, but we also know that it can take a few years for organizations to build data cultures and see the true impact data can have on their outcomes. For example, the World Food Programme first partnered with us in 2015. They worked incredibly hard on building culture and integrating technology and data into their processes. After a couple of years, they saw a 1200% increase in the use of data and because of the long-term investment with Tableau, they now understand the steps needed to take to ensure data is fresh and trusted, as well as used responsibly across the organization.
Treat everyone as a customer. People working in the social impact field can ruffle at the word “customer” when referring to beneficiaries but hear me out. When making a business transaction, like buying groceries, the person that gives the money is the customer. It’s a universal expectation that businesses must meet customer needs, or they go out of business. The equation is different in the social impact field, especially when products and services are being delivered to people in under-resourced communities that cannot pay. Typically, a funder (foundation, government entity, etc.) gives money to a nonprofit organization or social impact tech company to deliver a product or service on its behalf to another group of people. Often, the money comes with hefty contracts that describe in painstaking detail how the money will be spent. In that equation, it’s natural for the nonprofit or social impact tech company to think of the funder as the customer — they are the one giving money in exchange for products or services. It is essential that funders, nonprofits, and social impact tech companies align on who the customer is and agree to work together to meet the customer’s needs. When we started our work with PATH to help eliminate malaria in Zambia, we granted software, licenses, and funding, making us a customer in the traditional sense. We intentionally, in collaboration with PATH, put the Zambian Ministry of Health and the people of Zambia at the center of our work and reminded ourselves constantly that we’re in this for them and their input matters most.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
The challenge with this question is that young people will define “positive impact” in different ways. There are millions of young people making a difference in communities around the world. I am grateful for them and hope their friends and families follow their example.
I think the biggest difference young people can make today is to build bridges with people that don’t think like them. Build relationships that can bring people and communities together. Hold adults in your life accountable to living up to all those things they taught you — be polite, respectful, share, etc. The adults are setting a very bad example right now, and we need the young people to call them on it.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I’d love to meet Michelle Obama because I think she’s incredibly inspirational and has always led with grace and strength.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can follow me on LinkedIn here or follow Tableau’s Twitter page for the latest news
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
Social Impact Tech: Neal Myrick of Tableau On How Their Technology Will Make An Important Positive… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.