Summary: This lecture addresses an important, yet largely unrecognized, event in Excel’s history that many respected and informed publications overlook. It highlights the need to acknowledge pivotal developments and the consequences of such omissions.
In the history of any major technology, certain milestones dramatically alter the trajectory of that technology’s usage and adoption. In the case of Excel, a seismic shift occurred in the mid 1990s, but it is astonishing to see how rarely this shift is acknowledged, even in detailed timelines of Excel’s evolution. Publications, articles, and handbooks that seek to chronicle the history of Excel have somehow omitted one of its most important transformations that’s a universally acknowledged game-changer in digital technologies today, which begs the question: Why?
The Story of the Abacus and the Calculator: A Metaphor for Lost Innovation.
Imagine a remote jungle where an isolated tribe has become enthralled by the power of the abacus. Trainers, makers, and witch doctors have all embraced the abacus as not only a tool for arithmetic but as a near-magical object that shapes the entire economy. There, abacuses are central to every facet of life, so much so that it is the de facto religion in the area. Now, let’s suppose you wander into a cave and find calculators–sophisticated devices that far outstrip the abacus in power and accuracy. You ask the elders about them, but they don’t remember what these tools are for. They’ve long since forgotten their purpose, and the tribe has no interest in rediscovering the calculators. Why would they, when their entire system, their livelihoods, and their deepest beliefs are bound up in the abacus?
This metaphor mirrors the modern Excel landscape. Abacuses represent popular, yet limited, techniques of the spreadsheets in the 1980s, while the calculators–representing game-changing innovations–have been forgotten or ignored, even though they were introduced decades ago and is the universal foundations of digital technology all over the world. The professional Excel consultants and developers who understand the power of this magic are aware of the seismic shift that occurred in the 1990s, and how it shapes Professional Excel in the Enterprise today and tomorrow, yet it remains absent from the popular discourse.
The Omission in the History of Excel.
I’m referring to the momentous introduction of Excel’s capability of leveraging the relational database in real-time–transforming it from a spreadsheet program into a hub of dynamic, interconnected business processes. Thereby connecting people in multiple functions and departments that need to work seamlessly together in the same processes. This capability, which was introduced around 1993, which was first demonstrated by a young Satya Nadella at Microsoft, when he had hair. Made more accessible in the mid-1990s with Excel 97 and continued to evolve with later versions, fundamentally shifting how businesses could manage operational data processes such as accounting in a connected way. Yet, when you look at the timelines found in publications like the Financial Modelling World Cup’s Ultimate Excel Handbook, or in popular articles about Excel’s history, this development is barely mentioned, if at all.
If you examine the FMWC handbook, around page 64, you’ll find a detailed timeline that covers Excel’s journey from its inception. Yet, curiously, it skips over what I consider to be the most significant transformation in Excel’s capabilities. This would be like writing a history of the Americas and failing to mention the arrival of European settlers–a pivotal moment that reshaped entire continents.
Why the Omission?
You may wonder, why isn’t this development discussed more widely? The reasons are complex. In part, it’s because the conversation around Excel has been dominated by what I call “Popular Excel”–the techniques and tricks that are widely shared on social media or taught by trainers focused on individual users. Popular Excel focuses on short-term, surface-level solutions, much like the abacus. But, Professional Excel–the domain of consultants who shape large-scale, systemic issues for businesses–tells a different story.
The consolidation and integration capabilities introduced in the 1990s were an absolute game-changer. This functionality allowed Excel to rival and, in many cases, surpass expensive IT systems. Businesses could now manage complex, multi-source data more efficiently and effectively within Excel, without requiring expensive software systems. In fact, many of the most powerful systems sold by the IT industry today can’t match the availability, accessibility, agility and affordability of Excel.
The Pushback from Witch Doctors and Influencers.
Just as the witch doctors in our metaphor may have vested interests in maintaining the abacus industry, there are influencers, IT professionals, and vendors of alternative systems who have little incentive to promote the true power of Excel. They stand to gain more by keeping businesses reliant on expensive, complex systems, rather than teaching them how to unlock the hidden power of Excel. A particular example is the whitepaper of Workday Adaptive Planning which was first published in 2014 titled ‘Nine Circles of Excel Hell’, which effectively sets up a strawman in Excel to compare with their cloud-leveraged product.
When an article in the Wall Street Journal in 2017, promoted by a cloud services company Anaplan, portrayed Excel as outdated and inadequate, the Excel community was outraged. Hundreds of comments and responses flooded social media, defending Excel. Yet, despite this backlash, no one mentioned the profound data management capabilities that had been around since the 1990s–capabilities that could easily debunk the notion that Excel is obsolete for large-scale data driven operations. It’s as if the calculators had been hidden away in the cave, their potential power ignored or forgotten. Never mentioned again.
The Game Changer Still Exists–Why It Matters Today.
To this day, the professional use of Excel, utilizing these advanced techniques, remains a powerful force in the business world. It allows businesses to avoid the multi-million-pound investments in complex IT systems by leveraging Excel’s consolidation, real-time data integration, and agility. This is not merely a historical footnote–it is a current, easily demonstrated, practical advantage that can and should be recognized.
In my own work as a consultant, I’ve shown time and again that these advanced Excel techniques can solve pressing business problems in a fraction of the time and cost of external solutions. Particularly when the solution is urgently required. By Friday. It is not just about nostalgia for a forgotten feature–it is about using Excel’s full potential today, to deliver immediate, measurable results. Today, and tomorrow.
Conclusion: A Call to Correct the Record.
The omission of this crucial development from the history of Excel is more than an oversight–it represents a missed opportunity for education, awareness, and empowerment. It’s time to shine a light on the “calculators in the cave”–the transformative capabilities that have been overlooked in favour of cosmetic, more surface-level solutions favoured by social media. As professionals, we must ensure that these seismic shifts are recognized and integrated into how we educate others about the true power of Excel.
I will reach out to Andrew Grigolyunovich, the principal behind the FMWC, and ask why this pivotal moment has been left out of their timeline. We cannot let this vital chapter in Excel’s history remain forgotten. After all, isn’t the role of education to reveal the unknown and to impart knowledge that transforms the future?
Thank you.
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This lecture illustrates how fundamental innovations can be overlooked or suppressed and calls for a deeper understanding of Excel’s history and capabilities.
This is Hiran de Silva. This lecture was read by Bill.
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