Running company goals in a spreadsheet: pros, cons and an alternative
The goals spreadsheet is the real competitor for most small companies. It’s free, flexible and out of date by Thursday
The short answer
A spreadsheet is the default way small companies track goals and priorities: free, flexible and familiar. It’s also manual, easy to break and almost always out of date. Clearahead gives you a ready-made model of one goal, the constraints holding it back and the moves that clear them, kept current by AI from a sentence. If your spreadsheet is current and everyone uses it, keep it. If someone spends Monday morning chasing updates to fill it in, Clearahead is built for that.
What does running goals in a spreadsheet look like?
In most small companies, the goals live in a spreadsheet. It usually starts at a planning day: someone sets up a sheet with a tab for the year's goals, a tab for the quarter's priorities, columns for owner, status, due date and notes, and maybe a few numbers that track progress. It's shared with the leadership team, and for a few weeks everyone updates it.
Then the pattern sets in. Updates get patchy. The founder or ops lead starts chasing people on Friday or first thing Monday so the sheet is right before the weekly meeting. New tabs appear, old ones are never deleted, and a second version gets made for the board. It's still the closest thing the company has to a plan, but it's rarely current.
Where spreadsheets came from
The electronic spreadsheet arrived with VisiCalc in 1979, and it was so useful it helped sell the first personal computers to businesses. Lotus 1-2-3 followed, then Microsoft Excel, then Google Sheets and other online spreadsheets that let several people edit at once. For forty-odd years, the spreadsheet has been the tool businesses reach for when they need to organise anything.
That's because it's brilliant for numbers and flexible enough for everything else. But a goals sheet is a document someone has to keep alive, built for a time when gathering the update meant asking people for it. We've written about that cost in Why are you doing that?
Spreadsheets pros and cons
What spreadsheets do well, and where they struggle.
Where spreadsheets shine
- They’re free, or near enough, and everyone already knows how to use them.
- They’re endlessly flexible. You can track anything, any way you like.
- They’re great for numbers: forecasts, budgets, metrics and models.
- Shared online spreadsheets let several people edit at once.
- There’s no new tool for anyone to learn.
Where spreadsheets struggle
- They only change when someone changes them, so they’re usually out of date.
- One person, often the founder or ops lead, ends up chasing updates and maintaining it.
- There’s no structure beyond what you build, so they drift and multiply.
- History is hard to follow. Who changed what, and why, is lost.
- They show a list of rows, not what’s holding the goal back.
Spreadsheets vs Clearahead: side by side
| Spreadsheets | Clearahead | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A general-purpose grid of cells: Excel, Google Sheets and others | Software for one company goal: the constraints holding it back and the moves that clear them |
| Where it comes from | VisiCalc (1979), then Lotus 1-2-3, Excel and Google Sheets | The Theory of Constraints, rebuilt for teams that work with AI |
| Structure | Whatever columns you set up | One goal per workspace, constraints in your order, moves with one owner and a due date |
| Keeping it current | Someone edits the cells, often after chasing others | Owners tell AJ in a sentence; AJ updates the model and logs the evidence |
| History and evidence | Version history, if you go looking | Evidence and a readable history on every goal, constraint and move |
| What needs attention | You work it out by reading the sheet | This week from AJ flags up to three things that need a decision |
| Cost | Usually free or already paid for | Free for up to 3 people and 1 workspace; £297/month or £2,997/year for the whole company |
How a spreadsheet and Clearahead differ in practice
A spreadsheet and Clearahead can hold similar information: goals, owners, dates, notes. The difference is in how it's structured, who keeps it current and what it tells you.
Rows, or what's in the way
A goals spreadsheet is a list. Every row looks as important as every other, and nothing shows you what's really holding the goal back. Clearahead is built on the Theory of Constraints: one goal per workspace, the handful of constraints holding it back in the order your team chooses, and the moves under each, with one owner and a due date.
Chasing, or telling AJ
A spreadsheet needs a person to keep it current, and that person spends their week chasing. In Clearahead, owners tell AJ, the AI inside Clearahead, in a sentence when a move starts, gets stuck or finishes. AJ updates the model and logs the evidence, so nobody has to chase and nobody has to fill in a cell.
Reading the sheet, or being told
With a spreadsheet, you work out what needs attention by reading it. In Clearahead, AJ writes This week from AJ, with up to three things that need a decision, and My work shows each person what needs them and what's due in the next 30 days.
What Clearahead doesn't do
Clearahead isn't a spreadsheet. It won't build a forecast, a budget or a financial model, and it doesn't chart numbers over time. Keep your spreadsheet for the numbers; it's the right tool for those.
Should you choose spreadsheets or Clearahead?
Choose spreadsheets if
- Your goals are mostly numbers you already model in a spreadsheet.
- The sheet is genuinely current and the whole team uses it.
- You need forecasts, budgets or financial models.
- You have no budget at all and a spreadsheet does the job.
Choose Clearahead if
- Someone spends hours every week chasing updates to keep the sheet current.
- There are several versions of the priorities sheet and nobody’s sure which is right.
- You need to see what’s blocking the goal, not a long list of rows.
- You want advisers or investors to see where things stand without being sent a file.
Our honest read
If your goals spreadsheet is current, the whole team uses it and the goal is moving, it's doing its job and you don't need to change anything.
But if you recognise the pattern, the chasing, the multiple versions, the Monday scramble before the meeting, the spreadsheet has become a job in itself. It's free in licence fees, not in hours. Clearahead takes that job away: one living model of the goal and what's in the way, kept current by AI, free for teams of up to three.
Questions about Spreadsheets
Can I import my spreadsheet into Clearahead?
There’s no file import, but you don’t need one. Tell AJ about your goal and what’s in your sheet, or paste it into the chat, and AJ will help you turn it into a goal, constraints and moves.
Is Clearahead free like a spreadsheet?
For small teams, yes. The free plan covers up to three people and one workspace, with no card needed. Bigger teams move to the Clearahead plan: £297 a month or £2,997 a year for the whole company, with unlimited people.
Can I export from Clearahead to a spreadsheet?
Architects can export a workspace or the whole organisation, including every goal, constraint and move with its evidence and history, plus a readable summary.