I'm Brendan Hyland. I help regulated facilities transform their software, spreadsheets, workflows and documents from time-consuming, deviation-invoking, regulatory burdens, to the competitive advantage they were meant to be. Join me every week as we take a few minutes to explore, design, test and improve the critical systems we use in our facilities.
Excel Hazard #13: The Wayward Cell Block
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Hazard Name: The Wayward Cell Block Description: An unintentional change in a block of formulas caused by accidental cut-n-paste, drag-n-drop, fill handle functions, or flash fill. Often results in a similar looking formula, but with the cell references being offset by one or more rows or columns. Detection: When resulting in an inconsistent formula in a row or block, these are usually flagged by a warning. They may also cause a #REF! error if at the ends of a row or column. Warning: Under certain conditions a block of errant cell formulas can be hidden and difficult to track down. Look for clues like repeating numbers, sudden changes in magnitude, or inconsistent formatting. If suspected, use tools such as Show Formulas (Ctrl+`) and Trace precedents/dependents (Ctrl+[ and Ctrl+] to navigate). Mitigation: Lock formula cells and protect worksheets. Until next time, thanks for reading! – Brendan p.s. Enjoy this message? Read more at the Hyland Quality Systems website. |
The HaiQu Newsletter
I'm Brendan Hyland. I help regulated facilities transform their software, spreadsheets, workflows and documents from time-consuming, deviation-invoking, regulatory burdens, to the competitive advantage they were meant to be. Join me every week as we take a few minutes to explore, design, test and improve the critical systems we use in our facilities.
I’ve seen this pattern repeatedly: Instrument data is saved as an Excel or CSV. Data is then copied to a bare-bones spreadsheet with several columns of calculations or transformations. Results from the spreadsheet’s calculations are copied for use further down the data analysis pipeline. And I, the auditor, get handed a signed and dated pdf of the worksheet. Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe Here! Why yes, M. Inspector, this spreadsheet was validated! Ok, they are rarely this bad - I...
Calling quality people everywhere! I've just released something I think you'll find useful. Over the past 20 years working in regulated environments, I've seen the same spreadsheet problems show up again and again: A quick Excel tool gets built to solve an immediate need. It works. Gets "validated" with a few hand calculations. Then gets reused and modified for different datasets or slightly different purposes. Eventually - sometimes months or years later - someone discovers an error. Or an...
I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be presenting at the CCSQA/NERCSQA Joint Annual Meeting in October! The conference is 2 days, Thursday & Friday, 16-17 October 2025, in Laval, Quebec, Canada. On-site and virtual attendance available. Here's the announcement link: https://sqa.org/CCSQA/CCSQA/Events/Upcoming_Events.aspx My session is on Friday morning, and titled "The power of a specification: Freeing your creative self to go beyond compliance." Here's the abstract: As busy quality...