In recent times, I’ve come across two insightful posts on LinkedIn that brought to light important points regarding the future of Excel. These posts, one from Layla Gorani and another from Carl Seidman, provide valuable lessons, but they also reinforce a critical gap in Excel training and usage, especially in enterprise environments. This article aims to highlight this gap and challenge traditional thinking in Excel workflows.
Layla Gharani’s Excel Trick: A Hidden Pitfall
Layla Gharani’s video, a 1:37-minute demonstration, showcases a neat Excel trick that allows users to duplicate a list of names from one column to another. The benefit of this technique is that if a new name is added to the original list, it automatically appears in the second list, making it an efficient way to maintain consistency across multiple locations in a sheet.
However, a critical issue arises: the copied list also includes zeros in cells where there is no data. Layla’s solution is to place a dot before the column name in the formula, which magically eliminates the zeros, providing a clean list. This solution is clever, but the real issue here is the lack of an explanation for why the dot works. For many viewers, especially those unfamiliar with Excel’s underlying mechanics, this trick might seem like magic rather than a well-understood method.
While Layla’s content is undoubtedly effective in attracting attention, it’s important to ask why the solution works, especially when considering the educational value of such a technique. As much as Layla’s style of concise, digestible content resonates with audiences, it’s crucial that these tricks don’t perpetuate superficial learning.
Carl Seidman’s Dynamic Arrays: Paper Flow Paradigm
Carl Seidman’s video on dynamic arrays touches on their usefulness in financial planning and analysis (FP&A). While dynamic arrays, such as SEQUENCE and UNIQUE, are incredibly powerful in Excel, Carl’s content is another example of a tool designed for the “single-user, single-spreadsheet” paradigm. Dynamic arrays can certainly improve workflows for individual users, but they are designed with one person working in isolation rather than as part of a collaborative enterprise environment.
The issue with these tools, which are widely promoted across social media and training courses, is that they assume the end goal is to send and receive spreadsheets. In an enterprise setting, this approach quickly breaks down. Businesses don’t scale by sending spreadsheets back and forth—this method leads to inefficiency, errors, and a lack of consistency across teams. In fact, it leads to what many in the Excel community know as “Excel Hell.”
The Hub and Spoke Model: A Better Way
The real challenge here is the reliance on what I call the “paper flow” paradigm, where physical spreadsheets are sent from one person to another. This method is fine when working with small, isolated datasets. But when scaled up, such as in the case of Carl’s FP&A scenarios, this workflow becomes cumbersome and unreliable.
What is needed instead is a shift toward the “data flow” paradigm. This approach leverages a client-server architecture (also known as the Hub and Spoke model) that separates data from the spreadsheet, enabling real-time access and collaboration across multiple users. In this model, data is stored centrally, and users can access and interact with that data without needing to send spreadsheets back and forth.
The Impact of Hub and Spoke Architecture in Excel
The concept of the Hub and Spoke architecture was introduced into business processes in the early 1990s, with the advent of ERP systems and client-server models. This shift allowed businesses to centralize their data, breaking down silos and improving process efficiency. Microsoft embraced this concept, integrating it into Office products like Excel, which now supports client-server capabilities through tools like ActiveX Data Objects (ADO).
By using this model, Excel can function as a front-end interface to a centralized database, allowing multiple users to access the same data in real-time. The benefits of this system are evident: it enables smooth collaboration, ensures data consistency, and removes the need for cumbersome file exchanges.
Case Study: The Reg Call Handler Challenge
A great example of how this model works is the “Reg Call Handler” challenge. In this scenario, a call handler in a warehouse uses a spreadsheet to track inventory and handle customer orders. Initially, this system works fine with a single warehouse and a single call handler. However, as business grows, the number of warehouses and call handlers increases, and the system becomes unwieldy.
By transitioning to a Hub and Spoke model, with a central database for stock levels and real-time access for all call handlers, this system can scale efficiently. There’s no need to send spreadsheets around—data flows directly between the call handler’s system and the central database, ensuring that everyone has up-to-date information without the need for manual data entry or file exchanges.
The Solution: Data Flow Over Paper Flow
The key takeaway here is that Excel, when used in a client-server architecture, can become a powerful tool for enterprise-level business processes. The “data flow” paradigm removes the need for sending spreadsheets back and forth, replacing it with centralized, real-time data access that enhances collaboration, reduces errors, and streamlines workflows.
For years, the Excel community has been stuck in the “paper flow” mentality, perpetuating inefficient processes. But with the right training and tools, businesses can shift to data flow processes, which are far more scalable, reliable, and efficient.
Conclusion: The Future of Excel
As Excel users, we must embrace the capabilities built into the software, particularly its ability to integrate with databases and support real-time collaboration. The shift from “paper flow” to “data flow” is not just a technical upgrade—it’s a fundamental transformation in how we approach business processes. By leveraging Excel’s client-server capabilities, businesses can achieve higher levels of efficiency and collaboration without the need for expensive ERP systems.
The bottom line is that we need to educate the Excel community on this shift. While dynamic arrays and other Excel tricks are valuable in the right contexts, they shouldn’t be the end-all solution for enterprise-level collaboration. The real power lies in understanding the architecture that allows data to flow seamlessly, and in making this knowledge accessible to all users—whether they’re just starting out or they’ve been using Excel for years.
To conclude, the work done by Layla Gharani, Carl Seidman, and others is undoubtedly impactful. However, we need to recognize that these tools are best suited to smaller, isolated workflows. In the enterprise world, where scalability and collaboration are key, we need to move beyond the paper flow paradigm to fully harness the potential of Excel as a strategic business tool.
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