The Dangerous Simplicity of Spreadsheet Strategy

Here’s a familiar playbook: set an ambitious revenue target…let’s say $10M.

Break it down into quarterly, monthly, and weekly goals. Assign those numbers to every department. Track them methodically using KPIs, OKRs, CAC…the works.

Hit the goal, celebrate. Miss the goal, panic.

Sounds structured. Feels safe. But here’s what often happens:

• Teams hit targets while destroying collaboration.

• Leaders double down on metrics and lose sight of context.

• Innovation is deprioritized in favor of predictable output.

Spreadsheet strategy is dangerous because it makes strategy look clean and mathematical when, in reality, business is messy, dynamic, and highly contextual.

HBR identified four major flaws with this approach:

1. It fails to value intangible assets like brand, trust, and culture.

2. It assumes linear outcomes in a nonlinear world.

3. It encourages blind imitation of other companies’ strategies without context.

4. It fragments collaboration as departments become hyper-focused on their own KPIs.

If you want more than a performance bump and are aiming to build a lasting presence, ditch the spreadsheets as your North Star.

Design for strategic fit instead.

In my latest video, I dive into some of the traps of spreadsheet strategy that hinder long-term growth and what to do instead.

Startups, corporates, it doesn’t matter. I've seen great ideas crash from not thinking a few moves ahead. That’s why I built the Straightforward Strategy Blueprint, a FREE template so your idea doesn’t become another could-have-been. Get it here.

Keep building, keep going 🚀