Many of us start using Excel to keep track of something. And along way, we realize that Excel has a powerful feature called formulas, using which we can automate a lot of things. BOOM! Before we realize, we are in the thick of VLOOKUPs and SUMIFs.
But, along way, we also pick up a few bad habits or believe a few myths. Today, lets bust 10 Excel formula myths that we hear often.
1. Shorter Formulas are Better
I think it is human tendency to shorten and optimize things. We take great pride if we can shrink a task that takes 10 minutes to 12 seconds. But is it the case with Excel Formulas?
In my opinion, any formula that does the job is better. It does not matter how short or long the formula is. Often, we can come up with a reasonable formula in few minutes, but we waste several hours trying to shorten it. Time that could be used for better things like impressing your boss or shipping a product.
2. IF Formulas are Bad
I dont know where this comes from, but I hear it often. Oh, why use IF formula, as if it is going to slow down the computer drastically. Well, for most cases, we are dealing with reasonably sized data and Excel is fast enough to calculate formulas whether they are IFs or REPTs or something else.
So go ahead and use IF formula, if that is what you need to use.
3. VLOOKUP is slower
Ok, here is another one. For some reason people believe that VLOOKUP is slower than alternatives like INDEX+MATCH, OFFSET+MATCH, MATCH, Array formulas. Well, in my private tests, I found mixed results. VLOOKUP performance is almost same as that of other alternatives for small and medium (10000 rows) sized data sets.
Of course, if you have a workbook with million rows, then you should spend time looking for the fastest formula. Otherwise, just use VLOOKUP and be done.
4. Helper Cells, Helper Columns are Lame
Again, another myth that has no reason to exist. Each Excel sheet has 17179869184 cells and there is no reason why we should not use a few to support us in our formulas or models. Use helper cells, they keep your worksheet simple and easy to understand.
5. Formulas should start with = sign only
Do you know that you can start a formula with + or – sign too?
Well, you can type -SUM(1,2,3) to get -6 in a cell.
Similarly, you can type +SUM(1,2,3) to get 6 in a cell.
PS: You can also begin a formula with @ sign. I am not sure if there are more…
PPS: You can put ‘ before the formula if you just want to show the formula instead of running it. So if you write ‘=SUM(1,2,3), Excel would show =SUM(1,2,3) in a cell (instead of 6)
6. Formulas cannot refer to other Excel Workbooks
Well, that is not correct. You can refer to data in other workbooks in an Excel formula. For eg.
=SUM(sales.xlsx!q1Sales,2000,$H$2:$H$13)
will sum up the named range q1Sales in Sales.xlsx workbook, the value 2000 and the cells H2:H13
Remember, if your workbook is closed, you need to put the full path, like this:
=SUM(‘C:\full\folder\path\sales.xlsx’!q1Sales,2000,$H$2:$H$13)
PS: Certain formulas do not work with closed workbooks.
7. Formulas should be written in a cells only
Well, this is wrong. You can use formulas in named ranges, conditional formatting, data validation. You can also assign formulas to drawing shapes, chart elements (like titles, labels etc.).
See these examples:
5 ways to use formulas in Conditional Formatting
Custom Data Validation with Excel Formulas: Example 1, Example 2, More
Make your charts smarter with Formulas
8. We cannot copy a formula without changing references
Of course you can. If you want to have the same formula as in the cell above, just press CTRL+’
You will get the same formula and you can modify it as you want.
If you want to have the same formula elsewhere, just go to the formula cell, press F2, select everything (SHIFT+HOME), copy (CTRL+C).
Now go to the target cell and press F2 and paste (CTRL+V)
9. Formulas cannot do ‘x’…
May be they cannot feed your cat or take your dog for walk or change a nappy. But there is a formula for almost everything. And Excel team at Microsoft is adding new formulas in each version. It wont be long before a =ChangeNappy(kidname, <optional dispose nappy>) appears. Well, may be.
But the best part is, you can create your own formulas, called as User Defined Functions. And once you start doing that, there is no limit to the possibilities. You can create a CONCAT() to add up a bunch of text values, a NETWORKINGDAYS() to calculate working days based on a custom weekend setup or anything. [More UDF Examples]
10. Formulas are difficult to learn
Only if you think so.
Excel formulas are very powerful and very easy to learn. You need to start slow and go one step at a time. It might take a while to wrap your head around the referencing styles and various formulas.
But once you learn a few simple formulas, rest of them will be easy to learn. And before you realize, you are in the thick of VLOOKUPs and SUMIFs.
Oh, wait, I said that already. But then who says we cannot repeat. That is another myth!
What myths you hear about Excel Formulas?
Thanks to all your emails, comments and forum discussions. I hear about a lot of myths and bad habits all the time, when it comes to Excel. I found that giving in to these myths limits our ability to do more.
What about you? What myths you have heard when you started learning Excel? Please share using comments.
Learn More About Excel & Excel Formulas
If you just started using Excel, then you are at the right place. Go thru below links to learn more.
1. Excel Tutorials for Beginners – 10 videos to start your Excel Journey
2. Excel Formula e-book – 75 Excel Formulas, explained in plain English
3. Excel Formulas – Examples & Demos – More than a 100 examples on Excel formulas
4. Excel School – Online Excel Training Program by Chandoo. With 23 hours of video lessons and downloadable excel files, you will master every aspect of Excel, very soon.
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37 Responses to “Pie of a Pie of a Pie chart [Good or Bad?]”
If I could have the same quality of graphics and illustration in Office Apps, I would certainly use it.
If I could have the same quality of graphics in Office Apps (Excel, PPT) I would certainly use it.
Chandoo,
First, let me say I love your blog. I like this post, and I think that technically (in terms of readability of data) your argument is correct. The bar of bars, and the table, are much better for readability and accuracy, and as you say would be much easier to produce.
But these points ignore the context of the chart. If the chart was part of a scientific paper, your solution would be a valid one. The context in this case is an illustrated atlas of wildlife. A companion graphic to go with written text. The importance of aesthetic goes up over readability and accuracy. Much of the data and points (I assume) will be covered in the text.
There's always a pure technical tufte-esque argument. But I sometimes think it ignores the value of aesthetics. (Which I admit are quite subjective)
Great post though. Thanks.
The Treemap makes the scope of the data much clearer! The 3D pie chart depiction is deceptive.
This reminds me of the videos ive seen on the internet where it compares the relative sizes of the earth with the larger planets, then the sun, then other stars in the galaxy. Eventually there is an image showing the largest star in the sky with a little pixel representing the sun.
My point is if you varied the size of the charts it would help convey the message. The first chart (salt vs fresh) would be the biggest and the rest would be arranged in descending order. I feel this would be more accurate.
It may be helpful to consider the advice of Steven Few and Edward Tufte regarding pie charts in general. To summarize, they are seldom the most useful way to present data. Here's Few's thoughtful piece on the subject.
http://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/08-21-07.pdf
Try putting the percentages on the bar charts instead of actual amounts. Lakewater would be .013 % instead of 52.
That is very good pie chart example.
Please send example file if it is possible.
It will work , even though colors may be confusing , it can be labeled well . Also it can be called as the drilled chart , as it drills in information further , like the first chart may show business in a region , second may drill into a particular region , thrid may further drill into wat products are there in that region . It works well for me , i would more vote for the 2 nd option .
Overall all this site is awesome ,
p.s : just like me
The risk with pie of a pie of a pie chart is that Jon may have a seizure by looking at it. Also, it isn't easy to read. 😉
I dunno. The only thing worse than a pie chart is a cascading series of pie charts. I don't even think they really lend themselves to this sort of thing. It just becomes a big hide-the-ball game with your viewer.
Those goofy connectors between the pies are pure chart junk. I can't really tell if the second chart has 2 series or 3 - because the connector is a different color than the 2 labeled slices. Despite that, even whereas the drill down kind of works, still the individual components suffer from the same old weaknesses that 3d pie charts have.
Use a large bar chart as your "cover story", and fill in the sub points with smaller bar charts - or even go grab the Fabrice SFE project for extra butter. Use page orientation, color, and some text styles to guide your audience through the drill downs.
FWIW, if you check out the guy's site, you can find several other truly mortifying charts:
http://www.andrewdavies.com.au/index.html
The methane emissions one is particularly heinous. Although, I'm kind of debating what I think about the 'Glacier Changes" chart. I'd kind of like to see the data on that to see how it would look in a more traditional horizon chart.
Thank you, that was scary. I don't understand the "Glacier changes" Chart at all...
Its a very nice way to represent the data, especially when we have sets and sub-sets within the data.
I like these!
Except for the fact that they aren't dynamic and hence must be setup manually each time
It would also be nice if they could be interrogated as in select a different segment and the new data falls out automagically, but then none of the standard Excel charts do that either.
I'd like it better if the bars were stacked. How about this idea (I hope I can convey it in words):
First bar is vertical and stacked.
Second bar is horizontal, stacked horizontally and the same proportion had it been on the first bar.
Third bar is vertical, stacked vertically and the same proportion had it been on the second bar.
Then it would really look like you are zooming on the chart, like the Powers of Ten video, or maybe like the golden ration spiral.
These looks shunting but setting up for each step makes kicks them out. However if these can be arranged automatically by native excel or by VBA, these will be the part of my "Archery"
I agree with Chandoo's Suggestion about the Bar Graph which represents data in a very appropriate manner. Even I prefer doing the same. I seldom use Pie Chart unless required.
That's a real nice example of a missleading infographic. But to be honest, I think chandoos suggestion is not much better!
Why are pie charts bad? I think because they don't show the real size-relations. The biggest pie in that example ist 300k big. The 2nd one has only the size of 10k, about 3% of the first one. Niether the pies nor the bars show the real sizes. I jnow, it's hard to show the sizes because the values of the second and the third pie are so small. But that's what visualization are about - showing relations to allow the reader to see the real sizes!
So how to show the real figures?
First possibility is o use a 1:1 scaling. Well then, you need a very big screen to show also after a 90° rotation, wihich I would prefer because it's a structural comparison and not a timeline. Maybe that solution is not the perfect way.
The other chance you have is to zoom in but to really show that you zoom in! http://www.pro-chart.de/images/Water_Fall.png maybe gives you a first impression what i mean. (i was a quick try, done in 10 minutes)
The next way is, maybe to fold the bars like in the financial report 2011 of the Post of Switzerland page 22. That chart is based on an excel chart. Maybe can explain you how to do it 😉
Financial Statement: http://www.post.ch/en/post-startseite/post-berichterstattung/post-berichterstattung-service/post-berichterstattung-downloads/post-gb-2011-finanzbericht.pdf
page 22: http://www.pro-chart.de/images/FS_Schweizer_Post.png
A way that is not so very common is to divide the bars in a lot of single datapoints. So maybe the 390k bar then consists of about 5,000 single datapoint. That's not possible - it is! Have a look:
http://www.pro-chart.de/images/Dotted_WF.png
It's pure excel!
Now one single point ist 0,2% of the whole (in the example above). Add more datapoints and you can visulize the very big and the very small numbers!
Wish you a lot of fun - visualizing with excel can be very powerful!
Joerg
...if you would like to know how these charts work, just send an email to J.Decker@pro-chart.de
Hey Joerg,
I don't dig so much the dotted waterfall thing. But this is kind of awesome:
http://www.pro-chart.de/images/FS_Schweizer_Post.png
Can you help me on the bar of bar graph? Would it be possible to create that from pivot table? Can you show me how to create the bar of bar graph?
do nothing but say "Awesome!"
You are a Rock star.....This seemed an answer as if someone was reading my mind and just had the solution to my questions on what I exactly was looking for .....What a Fab !!
can u explian me step by step
Can anyone please explain how to make this chart please.
Do you mean the pie of a pie chart or the folded bar chart?
Joery PIE OF PIE Chart please
Can someone please explain how to make PIE OF PIE Chart.
@Mandeep
The last line of the post is:
PS: If you want to know to create this pie of pie of pie chart in excel, see here.
Due to forum migration, link is now:
http://chandoo.org/forum/threads/multiple-pie-chart.7343/
Hi... i love these charts.... can any one show me how to draw these charts in excel 2010
@Vamshi
The very last line of the post refers you to:
PS: If you want to know to create this pie of pie of pie chart in excel, see here. http://chandoo.org/forums/topic/multiple-pie-cahrt
Where is the attachment....it used to be there...i have seen this before but now i am not able to find...
See this:
http://img.chandoo.org/playground/WaterDistribution-chandoo.xlsx
And this:
http://chandoo.org/forum/threads/how-do-you-create-this-chart.9743/
Normally I don't learn post on blogs, however I would like to
say that this write-up very compelled me to try and do so!
Your writing style has been amazed me. Thank you,
quite great article.
This is very impressive, I would like to learn how to build this for myself. I have tried for some time now, is there a step by step process on how to create these waterfall pie of pie charts?
I am novice to excel and use it very seldom. But your blog contains to the point information one needs to get going.
I was searching for a trick to do a Pie chart drill down - for example the first pie chart shows how the prices are distributed between perishable and non-perishable items.
Now if we want to know how the perishable items are distributed - one can click the segment and it will draw another pie chart with distribution of all different perishable items (milk,meat,fruit,veg etc)
So do you have any such trick?
Regards,
electrojit
I like the look of your pie of pie of pie chart, although I understand that the relative size of each pie does not represent the actual percentages.