Lesson 1: How Every Excel Sheet Begins With a Business Question

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Lesson 1 — Every Excel Sheet Begins With a Business Question

Most Excel problems aren’t Excel problems. They are unclear question problems. When the question is vague, the analysis becomes long. And when the analysis becomes long, the insight becomes hidden. Leaders don’t reward hidden insight — they reward clarity.

Story: A manager once sent an analyst a vague request: “Send me a performance breakdown for last quarter.” The analyst produced 7 sheets, 22 tables, and 15 charts. The manager replied, “Thanks — but what does this actually mean?” The real question the manager wanted answered was: “Which product grew the fastest, and why?”

Insight was buried because the question was never clarified.

🎯 Why Every Sheet Needs a Business Question

Excel is not a reporting tool. It is a thinking tool. A clean sheet gives leaders numbers. A question-driven sheet gives leaders direction.

A strong business question has three traits:

• Clear: You know exactly what decision it supports.
• Comparative: It forces insight (e.g., best/worst, up/down).
• Bounded: It focuses analysis to one sheet, not seven.

📌 Before vs After — What Question Are You Really Answering?

❌ BEFORE: “Give me the sales data.”
→ This produces a data dump.

✅ AFTER: “Which region contributed the highest growth, and what drove it?”
→ This produces insight.

📊 One-Glance Example

Here’s how a business-question-driven table looks:

Region	Q4 Growth	Driver	Insight
North	+18%	New SME uptake	Fastest growing region
South	+5%	Seasonal dip	Stable but flat

💡 Insight Rule (Use This Every Time)

After you build your table, answer this one line:

“What changed, and why does it matter?”

If you cannot write that sentence, the question is not clear enough.

📝 Try It Yourself (Mini Exercise)

Pick any Excel file you worked on recently and answer:

1. What business question was this sheet really answering?
2. Rewrite the question to make it clearer and more comparative.
3. Create a one-line insight using the rule above.

Completing all lessons unlocks the Data Visibility Starter Certificate. You’ll be able to post it on LinkedIn and add it to your CV.

Continue to Lesson 2 — Designing Tables Leaders Can Trust →