This blog is inspired by Omid’s Excel Challenge No 116, and hundreds of others.
In the world of Excel, there is a growing tension between simple problems and the unnecessarily complex solutions offered by many popular techniques. As someone who has worked extensively in consulting with spreadsheets, I often find myself puzzled by the convoluted approaches taken to solve what are, at their core, simple problems. This issue becomes even more pronounced when these solutions are expected to scale within an enterprise environment—one that demands collaboration, sustainability, and adaptability. This article explores the heart of the issue and calls into question why, in many cases, the wrong techniques are so widely embraced.
The Problem with Scaling Spreadsheets
At the root of many spreadsheet challenges is the simple fact that most processes in real-world business need to scale. Initially, the spreadsheet is set up to handle a small task or a single user’s workflow. But as time goes on and the business evolves, that same spreadsheet needs to grow—more data, more users, more complexity.
Here’s where things go awry: the techniques used to build the original spreadsheet are often not scalable. To adapt, we start inserting columns, rows, and workarounds. These adjustments, however, quickly become cumbersome, and the spreadsheet turns into a fragile, overly complex beast that’s difficult to maintain, understand, or teach.
The common response to this situation is that Power Query or some other advanced Excel feature will magically solve all the issues. But let’s be clear: while Power Query is a powerful tool for certain tasks, it’s not a silver bullet. In fact, it’s often misapplied in contexts that require bi-directional data flows and collaborative updates—areas where Excel already offers built-in solutions that are overlooked because they aren’t considered trendy or new.
Misconceptions about Excel in the Enterprise
One of the prevailing views among some Excel experts is that once you hit a certain level of complexity or collaboration, spreadsheets are no longer the right tool for the job. They argue that spreadsheets should be confined to simple, individual tasks, and that more robust systems should handle enterprise-level operations. This line of thinking often leads to the belief that spreadsheets don’t belong in industry at all—a view that I categorically disagree with.
The reality is that most businesses rely on spreadsheets for processes that span multiple departments, regions, and even countries. To suggest that spreadsheets are ill-suited for these tasks is to ignore the fact that they remain the go-to tool for a vast number of business processes. The real issue isn’t whether Excel can handle enterprise processes—it can. The issue is whether the techniques being used are appropriate for that level of complexity and scale.
The Imbalance of Problem and Solution
When I look at popular Excel challenges posted online, what I see is a striking mismatch between the simplicity of the problem and the complexity of the solution. It’s as if someone has given you the task of walking two minutes down the street to McDonald’s, but instead of simply walking there, you’re instructed to take a train to another town, then hop on a bus, only to eventually end up at the same McDonald’s.
This convoluted approach is completely unnecessary, and yet, it’s often celebrated as an “advanced” solution. Why? Because it looks complicated. It appears to be rocket science. But the reality is that the problem itself is easy to understand, and the solution should be as straightforward as possible.
The Right Tool, the Wrong Technique
The complexity of these popular solutions raises a fundamental question: if the problem is so simple, why is the solution so difficult? In many cases, this suggests that the wrong tool or technique is being used. Either the tool doesn’t fit the problem, or the technique doesn’t fit the tool. More often than not, I find that the tool (Excel) is perfectly capable of solving the problem, but the technique being used is inappropriate or outdated.
There is an enormous demand in the business world for solutions that are scalable, maintainable, and understandable. Solutions that are cryptic, inflexible, and overly complicated simply don’t meet these needs. So why, then, do we continue to see these convoluted solutions dominate the Excel space?
Challenging Popular Techniques
I believe that the root of this issue lies in the popularization of complex techniques through social media and Excel influencers. Many of these influencers focus on individual-user techniques that are not designed to scale. While these approaches may be flashy and draw attention online, they often fail when applied in the context of a real-world business problem that involves multiple users, changing processes, and growing data sets.
The question we need to ask is: what does management really want? Do they want solutions that are obscure, difficult to maintain, and cryptic? Or do they want processes that are sustainable, scalable, and easy to understand? The answer, I think, is clear. My own experience consulting in this space has shown me time and again that businesses crave simplicity in their processes. They want solutions that work, that are adaptable, and that don’t require an advanced degree in rocket science to implement or maintain.
Conclusion: A Call for Scalable Solutions
It’s time to flip the narrative. Instead of celebrating complex solutions to simple problems, we need to shift the focus toward techniques that are not only easy to understand but also scalable and sustainable in a business environment. We need to question why these complex techniques are so popular, and more importantly, why they continue to dominate conversations in the Excel ecosystem when their utility is, at best, limited and at worst, counterproductive.
This isn’t just about Excel—it’s about how we approach problem-solving in business. The key to long-term success lies in solutions that scale, that can be maintained over time, and that align with first principles. It’s time we start advocating for techniques that meet these criteria and stop settling for convoluted workarounds that don’t deliver real value in the long run.
By addressing this imbalance, we can not only improve the way we use Excel but also unlock the full potential of this powerful tool in enterprise environments.
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TBA we shall see what a scaled up version of Omid’s Challenge 116 may look like in an Alternative Omid 116 Challenge.
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