In business and technology, the best solutions often offer the greatest benefit with the least effort—commonly known as “bang for the buck.” As Nigella Lawson once said, it’s about “greatest pleasure with the minimum of fuss.” However, in the world of Excel and business planning tools, there’s a pervasive belief that powerful results must involve complex solutions. This article challenges that belief, using a metaphorical walk across Abbey Road to illustrate the power of simplicity.
The Abbey Road Analogy: Crossing the Street
Imagine standing outside the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London, just like in the famous Beatles album cover. You want to cross the street, but instead of simply walking across the zebra crossing, let’s consider some other options.
- The Complex Route: You could take a bus up to Finchley Road, then hop on the Bakerloo Line south to St John’s Wood, and finally walk back to your starting point on the other side of the road.
- The Expensive Option: Call an Uber to do a U-turn and drop you off directly across the street.
- The Extravagant Choice: Use an Uber helicopter, land in Regent’s Park, and then walk to your destination.
While all these options achieve the goal, they are excessive and convoluted compared to the most straightforward choice—simply walking across the pedestrian crossing. Yet, in the world of technology and business, we often see people opting for the equivalent of the Uber helicopter rather than the zebra crossing, simply because they’re unaware of simpler, more efficient solutions.
Why Overcomplicate When Simplicity is Right There?
The problem lies in conditioning. People are often influenced by what they see promoted. Just as heavy advertising might convince someone that an Uber helicopter is the best way to cross Abbey Road, social media content has convinced many that Excel solutions must involve the latest shiny features like Power Query, dynamic arrays, or third-party planning tools.
Social media influencers promote these features not necessarily because they are the best solutions for your problem, but because they make for attractive content that gains clicks, likes, and subscribers. The truth is, the simplest solutions—like walking across the zebra crossing—often offer the greatest bang for the buck. Yet, these solutions are not as glamorous, so they remain overlooked.
Excel’s Hidden Power: The Zebra Crossing of Business Solutions
Just as most people know that a pedestrian crossing exists but rarely consider it an exciting option, many Excel users are unaware of robust, scalable, and simple solutions that Excel can provide. They might know the basics of Excel but are unfamiliar with its full potential, especially when used with a hub-and-spoke architecture for enterprise-level data management.
This unawareness is driven by the fact that social media doesn’t prioritize teaching methods that create long-term, scalable value. Instead, it focuses on flashy tricks or the latest features that seem more exciting but may not actually solve your problem in the most efficient way. As a result, people reach for the metaphorical Uber helicopter when they could simply walk across the road with much less effort and cost.
Planning Tools: The Uber Helicopters of the Business World
This brings us to planning tools—software that promises to solve complex business problems but often ends up overcomplicating the solution. These tools are like the Uber helicopter option at Abbey Road. They cater to a demographic that instinctively believes that a specialized tool is necessary for their needs, even if they aren’t aware of Excel’s built-in capabilities to achieve the same result.
The reality is that many users of these planning tools simply do not know that Excel can already provide the features they need, often with greater flexibility and at a lower cost. With its hub-and-spoke architecture—centralizing data while connecting various user interfaces—Excel can offer the same benefits as planning tools, but with more simplicity and control.
Challenging the Status Quo: Educating the 69%
In a recent poll by Paul Barnhurst, 31% of respondents preferred planning tools over Excel, while 69% leaned toward Excel. This 69% represents users who are familiar with Excel but are not fully utilizing its enterprise-level capabilities. Many are not aware that Excel can support robust collaboration, data integration, and automation, achieving the same results that planning tools promise, often with far less hassle.
Rather than trying to convert the 31% who are firmly in the planning tools camp, the focus should be on educating the 69% who already use Excel but haven’t yet tapped into its full potential. Once they see what Excel’s enterprise-level features can do, many of these users will find the planning tools unnecessary, opting instead for the simplicity and power of a well-architected Excel solution.
Why Simplicity Wins: The Real Bang for the Buck
Ultimately, the goal is to create value with the least effort. In business, this means finding practical solutions that improve productivity across an organization with small, effortless adjustments. The most efficient solutions are often the least promoted because they don’t make for exciting content. Yet, they deliver the highest value by simplifying processes, reducing costs, and enhancing productivity.
Excel, when used properly, is like that zebra crossing—it’s the simplest and most effective way to get from point A to point B. Instead of opting for an Uber helicopter or a tube ride, the key is to recognize the power of straightforward solutions that may seem unremarkable but offer unmatched efficiency.
Embracing Excel’s Enterprise Capabilities: A Game Changer
For organizations willing to explore Excel’s enterprise-level capabilities, the benefits can be transformative. Embracing Excel’s hub-and-spoke architecture for centralized data management enables powerful, collaborative workflows that can be a game changer for companies and careers alike. Those who bring this capability to their organization will be recognized as innovators, creating value and boosting productivity in ways that traditional IT or planning tools have failed to achieve.
In conclusion, the Abbey Road metaphor illustrates that sometimes the simplest path is the most effective. When it comes to Excel, don’t overlook the metaphorical zebra crossing in favor of heavily promoted, complex solutions. With a little knowledge and the right approach, you can achieve a lot more than you thought possible—often with far less effort.
Now, go ahead and take that simple step across the road; you might just find it’s the most valuable move you’ve ever made in your Excel journey.
This is a podcast by Hiran de Silva. Narrated by Charlie.
Add comment