This one is controversial.
There’s a pivotal question at the heart of the Excel transformation debate — and it’s the one I’ve raised in my Hero’s Journey blog: “Shall we tell them?” Shall we tell Excel learners the truth — that what they’re being taught, often by celebrated influencers, trainers, and MVPs, is in many real-world cases suboptimal, misleading, or even fundamentally flawed?
Let’s be clear. Power Query is a powerful tool. Excel Tables are a nice visual touch. And those promoting them — the Wyn Hopkinses, Celia Alvezes, Mark Proctors of the world — may be sincere in their enthusiasm. Their workshops, courses, and LinkedIn tutorials are often polished, popular, and well-received. But behind that polish lies a critical problem: Context.
Power Query in Isolation Is Not Enough
Recently, in both the Bradley and Abby dialogue and the LinkedIn challenge post I shared, we exposed what happens when Power Query is deployed without understanding the context of the problem — in this case, budgeting. Many Excel influencers are clearly fluent in the syntax and features of Power Query. But when confronted with a budgeting use case — a live business scenario with tight feedback loops, updates, accountability, and boss-level expectations — their answers fell flat. As Abby put it, Power Query could refresh in 10 seconds, but that didn’t matter. Her solution didn’t address the workflow need. And she got thrown out of the office.
What these instructors failed to understand — and failed to teach — is that budgeting is not just about combining files or refreshing data. It’s about managing version control, synchronizing user input across multiple contributors, enabling iterative revisions, and maintaining a centralized source of truth. Power Query alone does not address these realities. That’s why Abby had to go back to what she learned on the Hiran Methodology course — the Librarian, a client-server model built using native Excel capabilities dating back to Excel 97.
Foundational Capabilities Are Being Ignored
Let’s be honest: many of the problems being “solved” with Power Query today were solved decades ago using built-in Excel features. ADODB, SQL integration, centralized templates with dynamic connections — all this has existed for over 25 years. But because these aren’t shiny or fashionable, they are often left out of modern training. That omission may not be accidental. After all, promoting what’s new is aligned with Microsoft’s marketing priorities, as well as the content strategies of many influencers. But is it ethical?
If you’re showing someone how to solve a budgeting problem, and you knowingly withhold the solution that would actually work best — because it’s not as sexy, or not promoted by Microsoft, or because you want to sell a course on Power Query — what are you doing? You’re showing a replica, not the real thing.
Excel Tables: The Replicas That Don’t Drive
Let’s talk about Excel Tables — another heavily promoted feature. They look nice. They auto-expand. They spill cleanly into formulas. But for professionals managing data processes, tables are not about looks. A data table is a structure that supports querying, updating, and relational integrity — it must respond to SQL. It must serve as a central, reliable data source. Excel Tables don’t meet that standard.
Saying an Excel Table is a data table is like putting a replica Formula 1 car in a showroom and calling it a racing machine. It may look the part — it may even have the stickers and spoilers — but it won’t move, let alone win races. And yet, for an audience that’s never seen the real thing in action, it’s easy to be fooled.
We’ve all seen examples of this:
- A replica ship, like the Golden Hinde in Southwark, which tourists admire but which never sailed.
- A museum Concorde, which used to break the sound barrier but is now a photo backdrop.
- A static Spitfire, which once flew missions but now sits in a hanger, unmoving.
- Even Borg’s tennis rackets, cosmetic replicas sold to the public that looked identical to the real thing, but weren’t the heavy, tightly strung tools he actually used to win five Wimbledons.
Each one has value as a visual or emotional symbol — but don’t mistake the symbol for the system. Don’t confuse the paintwork for the purpose.
The Real Question: What Kind of Audience Are You?
This brings us to a deeper issue. What kind of learner are you? And what kind of teacher are they?
- If you’re just looking for surface-level polish, then Excel Tables and Power Query might feel impressive.
- If you’re trying to build systems that solve business problems — budgeting, forecasting, reporting, reconciliation — then these tools alone will fail you.
So ask yourself: are you being trained to admire the replica, or to drive the real thing?
The Proof Is in the Process
In the enterprise budgeting model I demonstrate — the one that powers reporting, forecasting, variance analysis, and real-time collaboration — you won’t find Excel Tables at the core. You’ll find centralized, relational data tables. SQL-driven. Updateable. Controlled. Agile. Scalable. All effectively within Excel. All built on features that existed decades ago.
That’s the irony. The advanced capability is not in the new, it’s in the forgotten.
Final Thought: What Are You Teaching, and Why?
This is a challenge to influencers, instructors, and course creators: Are you showing your audience the real solution? Or are you dressing up an exhibition model because it’s easier to market?
As Excel educators, we carry responsibility. We must stop showing ineffective tools as if they are live weapons. We must stop pretending replicas are the real thing. And most of all, we must stop withholding the foundational power of Excel — simply because they’ve been around for a long time (like oxygen), recently under-promoted, or (and definitely currently) outside the social media spotlight.
Because one day, the student will ask: “Why didn’t you tell me this won’t work for my purpose?”
And what will you say?
By Hiran de Silva
Enterprise Excel Educator | Consultant | Advocate for Real-World Business Solutions
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