The Problem: A Fundamental Mismatch

In the world of Excel training and application, there is a glaring disconnect between what is taught and what is needed in real-world enterprise environments. Excel training content, primarily produced by social media influencers, focuses on single-user, standalone spreadsheet techniques—methods that are great for solo entrepreneurs but completely misaligned with the needs of large-scale enterprise workflows.

This has led to a situation where business processes are siloed and fragmented because organizations unknowingly adopt these inefficient single-user techniques in collaborative environments. The outcome? An endless cycle of spreadsheets being sent, copied, and merged manually, leading to delays, errors, and inefficiencies.

The Reality: Excel in Enterprise is a Different Beast

Look around any corporate environment, and you will see that every spreadsheet ultimately exists as part of a larger enterprise process. Whether it’s budgeting, forecasting, financial reconciliation, or operational reporting, these processes involve multiple people, functions, and departments—often across different geographical locations.

Yet, the training available does not address this reality. Instead, it teaches Excel techniques designed for isolated, one-off spreadsheet tasks rather than enterprise-scale data management.

The Pie Chart: Understanding the Divide

To visualize the problem, imagine a pie chart that represents Excel users:

1. 75% of the chart: People using Excel in enterprise environments—finance teams, operations, logistics, HR, and other departments where data flows across the organization.
2. 20% of the chart: Solo entrepreneurs using Excel for their personal businesses.
3. The remaining small slice: Social media influencers creating Excel training content.

Now, here’s the key issue: almost 100% of Excel training is produced by that last tiny slice—social media influencers—who create content tailored for solo entrepreneurs, not enterprise users. This means that enterprise users are being trained in techniques completely inappropriate for their needs.

The Consequence: A Broken System

Because enterprise users are taught single-user Excel techniques, they end up using manual spreadsheet workflows that resemble pen-and-paper processes:

• Sending and receiving spreadsheets via email.
• Storing shared Excel files in folders for “collaboration.”
• Copying and pasting data between different spreadsheets.
• Merging reports manually for analysis.

I call this the Jackson Pollock Paper Flow Practice—a chaotic, unstructured approach that is simply a digital version of outdated manual processes. This fragmented approach exists not because it’s optimal, but because it’s the only method most people have been exposed to.

The Illusion of “Power Excel”

To counter these inefficiencies, Excel influencers promote “Power Excel” techniques: Power Query, Dynamic Arrays, XLOOKUP, LAMBDA functions, Python, and AI-powered tools like Copilot.

Yet, despite their sophisticated appearance, these solutions do not actually solve the problem—because they are still fundamentally designed for single-user scenarios.

When put to the test in real enterprise workflows, they create just as many bottlenecks as manual methods, but with the added complexity of being harder to debug and maintain. The result? A different kind of inefficiency, rather than an actual solution.

The Proof: The Gordon Ramsay Experiment

To illustrate this, we ran a simple Excel challenge in a common business problem:

• Collecting data from multiple users.
• Looking up some standing information.
• Producing a summary report.

The results were predictable:

• 50% of users did the task manually, replicating pen-and-paper methods.
• Almost all of the remaining users attempted to automate it using Power Query, Dynamic Arrays, or complex formulas—but their solutions were just as inefficient and fragmented as the manual ones.
• Only 1% of participants found the optimal solution—one that involved centralizing data properly and enabling real-time updates, eliminating the need for manual spreadsheet merging altogether.

The Real Solution: Beyond Power Query

What set apart the 1% solution was not added complexity, but the removal of unnecessary complexity. Instead of working within the limitations of conventional spreadsheet-mindset, they designed the workflow correctly from the start—by connecting data centrally.

This method is not new—it has existed within Microsoft Office for decades via ADO (ActiveX Data Objects) and SQL integration, yet few Excel trainers talk about it. Why? Because it doesn’t fit the social media-friendly narrative of flashy, quick-fix tutorials.

The Bigger Picture: Disrupting the Status Quo

This disruption is unavoidable. The current approach to Excel training is misleading an entire generation of professionals, conditioning them to believe that Excel is inherently fragmented and inefficient—when, in reality, it’s just being used the wrong way.

Now, what happens when you present this truth to Excel trainers and influencers? They get angry. They resist. They argue that their methods are still valid. But the simple fact remains:

• Enterprise Excel users need training that focuses on connected, scalable workflows.
• They don’t need more tutorials on how to build fancy formulas in standalone spreadsheets.
• They need to learn how to structure data properly so that the “magic” happens automatically.

The Bottom Line: A Massive Opportunity

For those who embrace this shift, the opportunity is enormous.

• Learners: If you are learning Excel today, understand that most of what you are being taught will lead you to Excel Hell—unless you focus on enterprise-scale techniques.
• Consultants and trainers: The demand for real enterprise Excel training—one that goes beyond single-user tricks—is untapped. Those who step in to fill this gap will own the market.
• Businesses: If you currently rely on Excel for operations, understand that better ways exist—ways that will eliminate bottlenecks, reduce errors, and make your workflows 10x more efficient.

The Future: What Comes Next?

This campaign is about rewriting the narrative of Excel. It’s about shifting the focus from Power Query tricks to real enterprise solutions. And yes, it will disrupt the Excel influencer ecosystem.

But disruption is necessary when the status quo is broken.

The reality is simple: Power Excel is not enough. If your data isn’t centrally connected, you’re just replacing one inefficiency with another.

And once businesses realize that, the game changes forever.

Podcast

(Ref: MG_7526 RAINMAKER 27/02/2025)