We’ve all been there. Every other week, someone opens the “master spreadsheet,” scrolls endlessly, runs a VLOOKUP, prays it doesn’t break, and then emails it around with a subject line like FINAL_v3_REALLY_FINAL.xlsx.
That’s just an example of SOP. It works until it eats half a day and three cups of coffee.
Now picture replacing that with a simple script. The script runs at night, pulls fresh data, and updates the report before anyone’s coffee is ready. No broken formulas, no endless email chains, no drama.
Of course, we still need SOPs just not step-by-step button clicks or key presses. Instead, the SOP explains what the script does, how to run it, when it runs, and how to maintain it.
That’s the real shift: SOPs aren’t disappearing, they’re evolving into automated playbooks.