Spreadsheets Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas

I've previously shared my view that spreadsheets have no part in supporting core business processes. I've summarized two areas where this can be a worry.

Thanks to Adrian Furby (name shared with permission) for pointing out this fascinating example of misusing spreadsheets in life-threatening situations—this time, over 3.5km below sea level, around the wreck of the Titanic.

For those who didn't hear, OceanGate's Titan sub most often took groups of wealthy tourists to visit the Titanic wreck. It was lost in an accident last year, along with the CEO and four tourists, and hearings have just begun into the incident.

According to The Verge, OceanGate's ill-fated Titan sub relied on a hand-typed Excel spreadsheet for navigation. A contractor's testimony spoke of the "idiotic" use of spreadsheets.

Whilst the consequences for us in the charity sector are not (I hope) life-threatening, it's a stark reminder that using a great technology for the wrong purpose can nonetheless have very negative consequences in terms of morale and service levels.

(For interest, 20,000 leagues is estimated to be about 80km, so my title isn't quite accurate!)

Andrew Walker
Technology consulting for charities
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-walker-the-impatient-futurist/

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