By Hiran de Silva
When I was a boy, one of my favourite reads was Enid Blyton’s Five Find-Outers series. Five children, led by the unforgettable Frederick “Fatty” Trotteville, solved mysteries in their small village with curiosity, ingenuity, and teamwork.
What stood out to me wasn’t just the plots, but the way these characters taught each other new things. Because the children were of different ages, each had gaps in knowledge. They asked questions, explained, teased, and shared ideas—so the reader learned too. I still remember the little girl mistaking “alibi” for “lullaby,” and how that simple conversation introduced me to a new word.
The Five Find-Outers weren’t just solving puzzles—they were showing young readers how to think.
From Mysteries to Mission Impossible
Fast forward to today, and I see the same principle in what I call the Mission Impossible series for Excel. Not a spy thriller, but a series of challenges that expose how real-world business problems can be solved when you look at Excel differently.
At its heart, it’s the same idea as Blyton’s books: a group of people interacting, questioning, and discovering together. Except instead of mysteries about stolen jewels, we tackle mysteries about scalable budgeting, data flows, and enterprise design.
And just like the Find-Outers, the real learning comes from the interaction.
- One character asks the “obvious” question.
- Another explains the hidden concept.
- A third challenges the explanation.
- And the reader—whether a child in Blyton’s day or an Excel learner now—gains a new perspective.
Literal Thinking vs. Lateral Thinking
The challenge today is that most Excel education on social media is stuck in literal thinking. It’s dominated by beginner-friendly tricks: shortcuts, quick formulas, colourful dashboards. That’s fine for those at the base of the pyramid—people just getting started.
But what’s missing is lateral thinking: stepping outside the box, asking “why,” and designing processes that scale. Concepts like hub-and-spoke architecture, the digital librarian, or GET/PUT data flows rarely get mentioned, yet they’re the key to solving the “mysteries” of Excel in the enterprise.
The Find-Outers helped children grow into more knowledgeable readers. Social media, however, risks doing the opposite—it keeps learners permanently at the beginner stage. Not deliberately, but because the platforms thrive on volume. The bigger the base of novices, the better the engagement for influencers.
Why Children’s Books, Why Now?
There’s a paradox here. Children’s books assume readers will grow up, so they introduce new ideas to stretch their minds. Excel education should do the same—meet people at the beginner level but show them a path upward.
Yet much of social media doesn’t encourage that growth. Instead, it reinforces the comfort zone of the bottom of the pyramid.
That’s where the Mission Impossible approach comes in. By framing challenges in a narrative—like the Find-Outers did—we can make advanced, enterprise-grade ideas both accessible and engaging. Learners see themselves in the characters, learn by following the dialogue, and realise there’s a bigger world beyond shortcuts and gimmicks.
A Call for Balance
Beginner tricks aren’t wrong. Everyone needs to start somewhere. But if we only teach the bottom of the pyramid, we stunt potential.
The future of Excel learning needs balance:
- Social media for quick wins and broad reach.
- Narrative-driven, aspirational content to introduce concepts that genuinely lift people’s careers.
The Find-Outers taught children to think. The Mission Impossible series can do the same for Excel learners—solving not just the mystery of how to do something, but why it matters, and how to scale it into the enterprise.
Because the real mission isn’t impossible at all. It’s simply about teaching people to think laterally, not just literally.
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