This is a corollary of the phenomenon I've dubbed "spreadsheet reality". I have noticed that ever since the advent of the spreadsheet the numbers in the pivot t

This is a corollary of the phenomenon I've dubbed "spreadsheet reality". I have noticed that ever since the advent of the spreadsheet the numbers in the pivot table are more real to decision makers than what's going on outside their office door. It's just so easy to tweak a few numbers in a cell in VisiCalc or its descendents to get the results you're looking for on the bottom line. So what if that means destroying the lives of a few thousand (now former) employees? The development of the spreadsheet was the beginning of the end.