data.day
data-hygiene / procurement / process-discipline

“We Need a New System” No. We Need One Clean Spreadsheet.

Buying new software to fix bad habits is expensive. If you cannot manage a list in Excel, you cannot manage it in SAP. Fix the data first.

Ingrid Pipeline Ingrid Pipeline

Stop Shopping, Start Cleaning

The Project Director was angry. The dashboard was red. The dates were wrong. “This ERP is garbage,” he said. “We need to switch to Procore. Or Oracle. Something that works.”

I looked at the data. In the “Status” column, I found:

  • Complete
  • Done
  • Finished
  • Finished (waiting for signoff)
  • x

The software was not broken. The software was confused. It expected one word. We gave it five. If we bought a new system tomorrow, it would fail too. You cannot build a skyscraper on a swamp.

The Bottleneck: Discipline, Not Tech

We love to buy tools. It feels like action. It feels like progress. Cleaning data feels like work.

The bottleneck is rarely the technology. The bottleneck is the lack of agreement on what “Done” means. If Crew A types “100%” and Crew B types “Complete,” you have two languages. The machine speaks only one.

When you migrate this chaos to a new tool, you pay consultants to map “Done” to “Complete.” You are paying a “Chaos Tax.” This is waste.

The Pipe: One Standard Template

We did not buy the new software. We opened Excel. We created The Golden Sheet.

  1. Locked Headers: You cannot rename “Date” to “Start Date.”
  2. Dropdowns Only: You cannot type the status. You must pick from the list.
  3. Mandatory Fields: You cannot save if the Cost Code is empty.

We forced the team to use this sheet for one month. They complained. “It is rigid,” they said. “Yes,” I said. “Concrete is rigid. That is why it holds the roof up.”

After a month, the data was clean. We fed it into the old ERP. Suddenly, the dashboard turned green. The reports worked. The system wasn’t broken. We just needed to feed it the right fuel.

Prove You Are Ready

Before you sign a contract for a new platform, pass this test: Can you maintain one error-free spreadsheet for four weeks? If the answer is no, put the checkbook away. Fix the discipline. Then buy the tool.

FAQs

But Excel is outdated, isn't it?

Excel is the most successful programming language in history. It is only bad if you use it like a coloring book instead of a database.

How do we get everyone to use the same format?

Lock the cells. Use data validation dropdowns. Do not let them type 'In Progress' if the system expects 'Active'. Force the standard.

When IS it time to buy new software?

When the process is perfect, but the volume is too high for the spreadsheet. Scale requires software. Chaos requires discipline.