In a previous blog, I asked a fundamental question: Are you learning Excel to please yourself, or to serve the people who have the power to shape your career? This question is crucial for anyone working with Excel in a business context, as it shapes the way you approach learning the tool and how you use it. Are you working to please the novice users, those at the bottom of the pyramid, or are you aiming to deliver value to those at the top of the pyramid—people whose decisions can impact the trajectory of your career and the success of your organization?

The Pyramid of Influence: Power and Priorities

Imagine a pyramid where the majority of people, those at the bottom, have little influence over your career. They may know only a small fraction about Excel and the broader business context in which it is used. These are the people who consume content from social media influencers and Excel tutorials designed to teach simple techniques like keyboard shortcuts, Power Query, or dynamic array formulas. For them, the focus is often on individual tasks, such as manipulating data within a single spreadsheet on a single machine. While these techniques are useful for personal productivity, they fall short in addressing the needs of businesses that require efficient, scalable solutions.

At the top of the pyramid, however, are the decision-makers: the managers and executives who hold the keys to your career progression and the success of your business. Their focus is on efficiency, scalability, and aligning data management practices with business objectives. This is where the true value lies—developing systems and workflows that streamline processes and contribute to productivity, not just individual work. The question, then, becomes: What skills and tools do you need to develop to serve these higher-level needs?

The Social Media Influence: Excel in a Vacuum

Let’s first examine the influence of social media on Excel learning, particularly at the bottom of the pyramid. Social media platforms are flooded with influencers who focus on individual, localized solutions. These influencers, often not coming from a management background, share techniques and features of Excel that are fascinating on a personal level but irrelevant in the larger business context. They teach techniques that emphasize using Excel as a standalone tool—sending and receiving spreadsheets between individuals—without addressing the bigger picture of collaboration and enterprise-level data management.

While these influencers provide valuable tips for novices, they often reinforce a fragmented approach to Excel, which can lead to inefficiencies and confusion in business processes. The result is what some have referred to as “Excel hell”—a situation where multiple versions of the truth exist, data is siloed, and collaboration is a challenge. The focus here is not on solving business problems but on teaching individual tricks that work in isolation.

The Management Class: Targeted by Enterprise Solutions

On the other hand, the management class is bombarded by a different kind of messaging, primarily from IT vendors and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system providers. These companies tout the dangers of Excel—particularly its inefficiency in handling large-scale business processes—and promote their solutions as the answer to Excel hell. Their main argument is that Excel, while useful on an individual level, cannot support the complex, collaborative workflows needed in modern business.

However, this view is flawed. It assumes that Excel’s capabilities are limited to the individual use cases taught by social media influencers, ignoring the fact that Excel can be leveraged in a much more powerful way within the context of enterprise data management. The problem with this approach is that it overlooks the potential of advanced Excel users who understand how to work with external databases and cloud-based systems to scale their solutions. By changing the mindset and architecture of Excel, businesses can implement robust, scalable systems without the need to abandon Excel entirely.

The Flawed ERP Narrative: A Misrepresentation of Excel’s Capabilities

The ERP and FP&A tool vendors often claim that Excel cannot handle sophisticated business processes, particularly when it comes to budgeting or financial planning. For example, they argue that bottom-up budgeting cannot be effectively managed in Excel. However, this is a gross misrepresentation of Excel’s true potential. With the right mindset and the right tools, advanced Excel users can implement complex workflows that scale to meet business needs, often with greater flexibility and at a lower cost than proprietary ERP systems.

This argument is not about dismissing ERP systems but rather about recognizing that Excel, when used correctly, can be a powerful tool that aligns with business objectives. The real issue lies in the misalignment between what social media influencers teach and what management actually needs. The focus of Excel training on individual, standalone solutions does not prepare users for the demands of the enterprise environment, where data flows across departments, systems, and external stakeholders.

The Gap in the Market: A Missed Opportunity for Transformation

The gap between the two worlds of Excel—the social media-driven world of individual users and the enterprise-driven world of management—is enormous. Social media influencers cater to the largest demographic: novice users who are learning Excel for personal productivity. However, these influencers often fail to address the needs of the management class, who require scalable, business-oriented solutions.

This creates a tremendous opportunity for those who are willing to rethink how Excel is used in business. By shifting the mindset from a localized, individual-centric approach to a more holistic, enterprise-level perspective, we can unlock the full potential of Excel. This involves leveraging Excel’s capabilities to create systems that align with business objectives, support collaboration, and drive productivity across the organization.

The Power of Excel in the Enterprise: A Call for a Paradigm Shift

To truly leverage Excel in the business environment, it’s essential to understand the power of external data connections, cloud-based systems, and database integration. Rather than relying on standalone spreadsheets, businesses can use Excel as part of a broader architecture that connects data from multiple sources and supports efficient, scalable workflows. This is the key to transforming how businesses manage data, reduce inefficiencies, and create value.

As an experienced Excel consultant, I have seen firsthand how this paradigm shift can transform careers and businesses. By understanding the full capabilities of Excel and how it fits into the larger business ecosystem, you can position yourself as a valuable asset to any organization. This is not just about learning Excel for the sake of personal satisfaction, but about using it as a tool to create value, solve business problems, and achieve career advancement.

Conclusion: The Potential for Transformation

In conclusion, the current landscape of Excel training and usage is marked by a fundamental disconnect between the needs of individual users and the demands of management. Social media influencers focus on teaching individual techniques that are useful in isolation but do not address the scalability and collaboration required in the enterprise environment. On the other hand, ERP and FP&A vendors misrepresent Excel’s capabilities and promote their own solutions as the only way forward.

However, by shifting our mindset and rethinking how Excel is used in the business context, we can unlock its full potential and create powerful, scalable solutions that align with business objectives. This is a tremendous opportunity for transformation, not only in terms of business processes but also in terms of career advancement for those who are willing to embrace this paradigm shift.

If you’re ready to take your Excel skills to the next level and make a meaningful impact in your organization, the path forward is clear. It’s time to move beyond the isolated spreadsheet and embrace a more powerful, scalable approach to data management.

Review

No 1 (Raw)

Excel’s Two Worlds: Individual Use vs. Enterprise Value

This source discusses a fundamental divide in how Excel is understood and utilized, contrasting individual-focused learning promoted on social media with the needs of business management. It argues that current trends often prioritize basic, isolated techniques over scalable, enterprise-level applications. The author contends that a paradigm shift is needed to recognize Excel’s potential for sophisticated data management by integrating it with external databases and cloud systems. This new perspective would better serve the objectives of managers and contribute more significantly to organizational productivity. The piece criticizes the limitations of social media influencers’ teachings and the flawed narrative from ERP vendors that dismisses Excel’s advanced capabilities. Ultimately, it advocates for embracing a more strategic and integrated approach to Excel within businesses to unlock its full value and enhance career opportunities.

No 2

Excel: Serving Management Needs Beyond Social Media Trends

1 source

This source presents a discussion arguing that current social media trends in Excel training primarily cater to novice users with limited business context, creating inefficient practices dubbed “Excel hell.” The speaker contends that management’s needs for robust and scalable data solutions are largely ignored by these trends and by IT vendors who oversimplify Excel’s limitations to promote their expensive alternatives. Instead, the speaker suggests that advanced Excel users who understand enterprise needs and can leverage external databases possess a significant opportunity to provide valuable, efficient solutions aligned with management objectives. This misalignment, fueled by the dynamics of social media influence and a misunderstanding of Excel’s true capabilities, presents a “gold rush” for those who can bridge the gap between basic Excel usage and strategic business requirements. The speaker’s commentary critiques the prevailing approaches to Excel training and enterprise software promotion, advocating for a shift in mindset towards management-focused, value-driven Excel applications.