Great way to finally learn Excel

Mikecouil · 04-01-2021, 02:42 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdKCxJlHZq4

Watching Daniel break down data extraction and pivot charts was more enjoyable than the several hours I spent yesterday learning vlookup with stupid random data sets.

I've gone to GREAT lengths to avoid using Excel for over 20 years but it's our #1 tool in my new role.

If you are looking for a productive way to goof off at work I HIGHLY recommend doing this under the guise of self improvement on the clock.

chuy1530 · 04-01-2021, 11:09 PM

Haha this brings me back. Over a decade ago I worked an internship with the DOT and was given about four hours of work a week that I had to pad out to 36 hours to get a full check. They didn’t care; they were all mostly playing poker in the library after lunch, but I didn’t have the money to lose.

Anyway, I knew very little about excel at the time, but I got deep into a sports game on whatifsports. If you’re unfamiliar, they have all different sports (football, baseball, basketball at least, maybe others) and you play against other real people in a game that is a bit like a multiplayer OOTP game, just all online. My thing was the college football game, and you’d have to recruit. Figuring out who was worth recruiting and who you had a shot at was not easy.

So I started making more and more complicated spreadsheets. I reverse engineered what stats really mattered most to what positions, built my own weighting’s, lots of v and h lookups, conditional formatting. All that stuff. I got pretty good at the game!

My boss was super impressed that every time he would walk by my office it looked like I was working. Most everyone else was on ESPN or Fark most of the time but I had my spreadsheets open and even if he had no idea what I was working on it sure looked important.

micropterus58 · 04-02-2021, 01:17 PM

Wow, a game forcing you to learn real life skills, how ironic. Also a good excuse for teenagers to "play" OOTP.

Mikecouil · 04-02-2021, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by micropterus58

Wow, a game forcing you to learn real life skills, how ironic. Also a good excuse for teenagers to "play" OOTP.

My teenager is allergic to spreadsheets. That kid just wants FPS's.

04-01-2021, 02:42 PM	#1
Mikecouil Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: alex Posts: 245	Great way to finally learn Excel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdKCxJlHZq4 Watching Daniel break down data extraction and pivot charts was more enjoyable than the several hours I spent yesterday learning vlookup with stupid random data sets. I've gone to GREAT lengths to avoid using Excel for over 20 years but it's our #1 tool in my new role. If you are looking for a productive way to goof off at work I HIGHLY recommend doing this under the guise of self improvement on the clock.

04-01-2021, 11:09 PM	#2
chuy1530 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 53	Haha this brings me back. Over a decade ago I worked an internship with the DOT and was given about four hours of work a week that I had to pad out to 36 hours to get a full check. They didn’t care; they were all mostly playing poker in the library after lunch, but I didn’t have the money to lose. Anyway, I knew very little about excel at the time, but I got deep into a sports game on whatifsports. If you’re unfamiliar, they have all different sports (football, baseball, basketball at least, maybe others) and you play against other real people in a game that is a bit like a multiplayer OOTP game, just all online. My thing was the college football game, and you’d have to recruit. Figuring out who was worth recruiting and who you had a shot at was not easy. So I started making more and more complicated spreadsheets. I reverse engineered what stats really mattered most to what positions, built my own weighting’s, lots of v and h lookups, conditional formatting. All that stuff. I got pretty good at the game! My boss was super impressed that every time he would walk by my office it looked like I was working. Most everyone else was on ESPN or Fark most of the time but I had my spreadsheets open and even if he had no idea what I was working on it sure looked important.

04-02-2021, 01:17 PM	#3
micropterus58 All Star Starter Join Date: May 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,264	Wow, a game forcing you to learn real life skills, how ironic. Also a good excuse for teenagers to "play" OOTP.