A film that documents the spreadsheet and the opportunities that await those who can master it
For many the spreadsheet is a work-related necessity, to some a thing to be reviled, to a small number it is a revered tool, and stepping stone to a better future. You’ve maybe heard of spreadsheet hacks and power users, but maybe less about the formal competitions where devotees of systems like Excel, VisiCalc, and Google Sheets show their spreadsheet wizardry. Emerging from competitions in countries around the world are national champions who annually compete in a taxing World Championship to not only challenge for the title of Spreadsheet Champion, but also vie for cash prizes, scholarships, and a shot at lucrative opportunities in the tech field.
The documentary from Kristina Kraskov is very well structured, first taking us on a global tour to meet six young students that each serve as champions of their respective countries and subjects to be followed in the World Championship. They are, as you might expect, accomplished students. High GPAs, typically with a STEM background. We have math enthusiast Alkmini from Greece, soccer fan Braydon from Australia, dedicated student Nam from Vietnam, the music loving De La Paik from Cameroon, the mercurial Mason from the US, aspiring YouTuber and nap fan Carmina from Guatemala. They differ in their cultures, socio-economic backgrounds, and personal quirks, many shared by their own parents. Common to them all is a love of math and sense of ease with numbers. Interspersed in these personal vignettes are dives into the history of the spreadsheet, related software, which for the majority of us, are helpful to get a better grasp about the topic, and set the scene for the tournament itself.
The latter half plunges us into the tournament itself where competitors brought to the tournament need to use 60-70% of the features available to have a chance of success. By comparison, your everyday worker uses less than 15% of the functions of Excel. The test is carefully built by a quizmaster and specifics kept under wraps, but it breaks down into three different parts. First, a knowledge section that tests understanding of Excel features and history. Second is application, which sets challenging questions that must be solved using worksheets and often requires students to find workarounds to limitations of the software. Finally, crafting a document, which seeks to gauge creativity, challenging students to finding patterns in a dataset as well as a way to process and present it. Entrants have 100 minutes, can’t go back a section, and are reminded to regularly save their work. A Chekov’s knife of a statement that adds a little drama to later proceedings.
Most of us have heard of Mathlete competitions or Spelling Bees, but it is apparent from Spreadsheet Champions that achievements in this tournament are on another level. Spreadsheets are the foundation of modern business and banking, but support so much more. Mastery speaks to information and data literacy, analytical skills, and function as a precursor to programming. Success is a springboard to better things and that can be life-changing. These kids don’t come from equitable backgrounds. The economic status is most stark, with some students wanting for nothing and others only able to access a shared computer for a few hours a day. A grasp of this tool can be a door opener to an array of opportunities that would never be within reach otherwise. The other positive is how the tournaments celebrates these kids and their talents socially, with parties and mixers that serve to overcome the many anxieties they bring with them and build up their self-esteem.
It’s often said that math is the only true universal language and it is rather poetic that here it serves as a great unifier pulling together such a diverse array of competitors. Spreadsheet Champions excels in its depiction of the highs and lows of this competition, but its winning formula really comes from keeping these kids front and center, and celebrating their quirks and qualities equally.
