By Hiran de Silva

In the booming world of Excel courses and certifications, most training is sold on a familiar promise: “Here’s what’s new. Learn this feature. Master that function. These are the influencers to follow.” At its core, this is the user manual school of thought. Know the tool better, and you’ll become better at Excel. Full stop.

But let’s pause for a moment.

What if knowing the tool isn’t the same as knowing how to use it to deliver real business value? What if the flood of new features and formula tricks is keeping people trapped—masterfully efficient inside a small, brightly lit, but wholly inadequate box?

That’s where my message parts ways.

A Different Kind of Movement

I’m not selling a list of shiny new functions. I’m inviting people to join a movement. A movement rooted in the vast, largely untapped opportunity that lies in the global use of Excel within business and industry.

What I teach isn’t new in the way TikTok formulas or “modern Excel” tricks are new. What I teach is disruptive in the truest sense of the word—because it applies basic enterprise principles to Excel in a way that immediately renders many of the so-called “advanced” tools redundant.

It’s not rocket science. It’s not even expensive. It’s just a shift in thinking.

The Paintbrush vs. The Spray Gun

Here’s the metaphor.

If you’re tasked with painting a wall, and all you’ve ever seen are people using paintbrushes—some incredibly skilled at it—you might think mastery lies in brushwork.

But if the actual goal is to paint the entire wall, fast and consistently… the solution isn’t better brush technique. It’s the spray gun.

The same paint. The same wall. But an entirely different result.

So much of what gets hyped in Excel training today—Power Query, dynamic arrays, Office Scripts—is about perfecting the brush. What I teach makes the brush irrelevant. It swaps out isolated technical tricks for scalable, systematic enterprise value.

When management sees this choice clearly—brush or spray gun—the decision is a no-brainer.

Real Results, Real Business Impact

This approach is not theoretical. It’s what tripled my own pay in a previous role—not because I knew more formulas than the next person, but because I applied simple, well-established enterprise architecture principles to Excel.

I designed systems that actually met the needs of management: consolidated reporting, streamlined data capture, automated control processes. All with Excel. And all using methods that could be taught to any moderately skilled user willing to step outside the “inside the box” mindset.

A Tectonic Shift in Thinking

Let’s call it what it is: a tectonic shift in how we view spreadsheets.

Instead of chasing the latest patch or gimmick, we take one small step—a shift to hub-and-spoke architecture, using Excel with a relational database—and the rest follows easily. It rolls downhill.

Suddenly, all the other modern technologies—Power BI, Power Apps, Office Scripts, even Google Sheets—can plug in around this central process. But the core engine of the enterprise solution? That’s still Excel, properly deployed.

The Problem with “Learn This New Thing” Training

Most courses say, “Here’s what’s new. Learn this.” They parade tools and influencers as if proficiency with the tool is the end goal. But businesses don’t pay for tool proficiency. They pay for results. They pay for the spray gun, not the artfully painted corner.

That’s why this message matters.

It’s not just about learning Excel. It’s about transforming what’s possible with it. And it’s about giving learners—especially those who work in business, finance, and operations—a way to break free from the busywork and build systems that executives actually care about.

Would You Like to Get a Slice of the Action?

The opportunity is real. The barrier to entry is lower than people think. And the upside? It’s huge—for those who are willing to stop polishing the brush and start reaching for the spray gun.

Would you like to learn—or start learning—how to get a slice of that?

Let me show you how simple it can be.

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