The spreadsheet that survived the new system

Six months after go-live, someone is still updating the old workbook every Tuesday. That isn't resistance to change. It's a specification nobody wrote down.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for The spreadsheet that survived the new system

A system goes live. The licences are paid, the training is done, the old process is formally retired. Six months later, somewhere in finance or operations, a workbook with eleven tabs is still being updated every Tuesday, and the numbers that reach the management pack come from that workbook, not from the system. The usual explanation is user resistance, or thin change management. That reading is comfortable because it locates the problem in people. The more useful reading is that the spreadsheet is doing a job the system does not…

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