By Hiran de Silva
A few days ago, under a post by Mike Thomas referencing the “Excel is not a database” meme (with the famous Simpsons blackboard), a powerful comment was made by Jon O:
“If only this were true. I see Excel doing things it was never intended to do.”
To which Oz du Soleil replied:
“Fortunately the Excel developers have adjusted and given us tools to work in Excel with database-like features. For better or worse, Excel is a lot of folks’ database.”
Oz is right. That is indeed the reality. But let’s stop and ask a deeper question:
If this is the current behaviour—are we simply here to validate it, or are we here to show there’s another way?
🧹 The Shovel Analogy Revisited
Let’s revisit a metaphor I often use.
Before motor cars, every horse-drawn carriage carried a shovel to clean up the horsesh*t. When motor cars came along, the shovel was no longer needed. But what if people still carried the shovel anyway?
Excel used to be misused as a database because we couldn’t run multiple applications in DOS. Fair enough. But Excel has been able to connect seamlessly with real relational databases since the mid-1990s.
So why do people still treat it like a local data store?
The influencers—many of whom I deeply respect—acknowledge that people are still “carrying the shovel.” And their response has often been: well, let’s give them better techniques for shovel-handling.
That’s rational. That’s fair.
But here’s where a deeper dilemma emerges.
🧭 Are We Teaching What Is… or What Could Be?
Oz and others are describing current practice—Excel as it is widely used by the majority. But there’s another potential path.
And that’s where I believe our industry needs a different kind of leadership.
This is not just about spreadsheets. It’s about people—real people with real aspirations.
Not everyone wants to stay in the same place. Some users are hungry for growth. They’re not just looking for technical hacks; they’re looking for career transformation, for economic security, for respect, for progression.
They want to:
- Be seen as more than just spreadsheet gophers.
- Escape the noise of batch tools and broken links.
- Contribute systems, not just sheets.
- Get noticed, promoted, and paid more.
They want what I call PVI: Perception, Visibility, Influence. (Hat tip to Joel Garfinkle.)
And if there’s even a fraction of the market that wants this—and doesn’t know it’s possible—then isn’t it our duty to show them?
🎯 Two Audiences. One Industry. A Mismatch?
What I’m observing in the Excel influencer community is an uncomfortable contradiction.
On one hand, many voices say:
“The people we serve don’t want enterprise-grade models. That’s too much. They just want Power Query tips, fun hacks, and Excel tricks.”
But on the other hand, nearly every influencer post is wrapped in a promise of advancement:
- “Become an Excel pro.”
- “Boost your skills.”
- “Land a better job.”
- “Level up your dashboards.”
- “Be the Excel go-to person in your team.”
So, which is it?
- Are we saying “they don’t want more,” and therefore we shouldn’t offer them more?
- Or are we promising they’ll get more, while holding back the very techniques that would truly deliver it?
This is the tension I want to highlight.
When people like Mark Proctor say “the audience isn’t interested in what you’re teaching,” I hear that. But I also ask: are we sure the audience even knows it exists?
If you’re only ever shown the shovel, how would you know a power washer exists?
🧠 The Hidden Demographic: The Aspiring Invisible
There is a hidden sub-demographic of Excel users.
They are:
- Curious but overlooked.
- Capable but undertrained.
- Willing to learn, but never shown the right path.
They may not use words like “relational database” or “client-server architecture,” but they feel the pain of Excel Hell. They know their tools aren’t scaling. They’re aware there must be a better way. And they want to be the person who brings that better way.
I know this because I used to be that person.
And I’ve built my career—and tripled my pay—by being the one who didn’t accept the default approach.
🔄 So What’s Next?
This isn’t just a comment thread anymore. This is a fork in the road for thought leadership in the Excel community.
I’m not here to argue with Oz or Mark. In fact, I appreciate their honesty about current practice. But I’m inviting a wider lens.
Let’s acknowledge there are two kinds of Excel users:
- Those who want convenience, ease, invisibility, and low-stress familiarity.
- Those who want growth, transformation, recognition, and reward.
Both are valid.
But only one of those groups is being truly served.
And maybe—just maybe—it’s time to offer the other group a clear, consistent, congruent path.
That’s what my work is about.
That’s why I teach what I teach.
Would you like this repurposed into:
- A follow-up LinkedIn post to your original?
- A carousel presentation contrasting the two demographics?
- A video script for your next Excel Mission: Impossible episode?
Let me know how you’d like to expand this thread.
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