A Letter from Chris Suarez
OUR LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH SPREADSHEETS
Over the past few weeks, we have been working on business planning for 2022, building budgets across all of our companies, and pouring over proforma’s. Needless to say, I’ve spent a few too many hours staring at Excel spreadsheets, figuring out formulas, and correcting those formulas. In most cases, I was able to get the spreadsheet cells to do what I wanted them to do. The spreadsheet definitely serves a purpose, but it also made me grateful to be able to work with people every day as well. My frustration with that spreadsheet led to a valuable leadership lesson.
It occurred to me that once I placed a formula in a cell of that spreadsheet, it lost the ability and the right to do anything other than what I told it to. It had to add, or subtract, or calculate a percentage. It has no other choice than to perform. It is by nature the purpose of a spreadsheet. We expect it to do exactly what we want when we want, and how we want.
What happens when it doesn’t? Well, frustration definitely ensues.
And as my frustration level increased, I had to ask myself “Why?”. It came down to the fact that the cell wasn’t doing what I asked it to do. It wasn’t performing as I had expected it to perform. It wasn’t doing its one and only job. And as frustration levels rise we often tell ourselves things like, “This is why I don’t like Excel,” or “I’m not a spreadsheet person.” We long ago accepted our love-hate relationship with spreadsheets.
It led me to realize that most times our frustration with other people is not wildly different. Our frustration with other people is based on that person not doing what we thought they would do, or perhaps expected them to do. That person not performing as we expected them to perform. That person not doing the job we expected when we expected it.
People aren’t cells in a spreadsheet. We don’t get to plug in a formula, or even hand them some instructions, and look for the work to be completed down in cell J-27. Certainly, we all have roles that we play to contribute to a properly functioning team or business or even family. And certainly, there are rules that we play by in those roles, even at times formulaic activities to contribute to getting the job done.
But human beings are not spreadsheets and we can’t expect them to act like one. Every one of us has nuances, unique ideas, thoughts and opinions, and suggestions on how to get the job done. We respond to things differently, we maintain different perspectives, and we react to solving problems differently. That freedom and flexibility in our jobs and in our relationships are what contributes to a healthy and productive environment. Counterintuitively it is also what contributes to an efficient and effective environment as well. People are people.
If we can’t accept that when working with people or being on a team, then certainly our frustration levels will be high. If things have to be done our way - and only our way - be prepared to be frustrated often, disappointed regularly, and experience friction with people constantly. In fact, we will begin to tell ourselves things like, “This is why I don’t like leading people,” or “I’m not a people or team person.”
Once we put a formula in a spreadsheet, that cell doesn’t have a choice to do anything but what we tell it to do. That is not how people operate. That is not what we want others to expect of us, and not what we should expect of others.
Humans are not formulaic. In properly functioning teams you don’t want robotic people with head-down just doing their job. In properly functioning teams you will find engaged humans clear about how their role contributes to the goal and mission. We accomplish that by tempering our expectations of how we get the job done and arrive at a mission accomplished. Encourage curiosity. Encourage creativity. Encourage collaboration.
Leave the love-hate relationship for your spreadsheets. Choose a love-love relationship with your people.
Chris
